When Sarah McKinney finally turns on her abusive husband and beats him unconscious, she and her adopted son Jason are forced to flee and begin a perilous new life on the run. But Sarah is resourceful and Jason is a born survivor, and over the coming weeks their lives settle down as Sarah finds work as a doctor's assistant, and Jason is reunited with his real father and takes a job as a ranch hand. But Jason's quick temper soon gets him into trouble with his employer, and their future hangs in the balance as their unhappy past threatens to catch up with them.