Nineteen-year-old Zach Morton witnessed the killing of his parents and managed to kill all but one of the attackers. As a half-breed, he figured he wasn't going to get a fair trial in the town of Lava so he headed for the mountains, a posse hot on his trail.
He arrived at the White Mountain Apache village of his mother's people seeking the wisdom of an old Indian his father had told him about. In one day he had seen his parents killed; killed his first man; and watched his home burn in flames as red as blood. He figured that made him a man but the Apache saw only a white boy. Before his training was over, he would be the one to discover the man inside. Surprising answers to his questions came from unexpected sources.