Letty Schultz and her four young children are physically and verbally abused by husband, Rudolf Schultz. When Letty finally fights back, she thinks she has killed him by hitting him on the head with an iron skillet. Letty flees with the children so she won’t go to prison and leave the children with Rudolf. They go down the Rock River and across Lake Koshkonong. She wonders what lies beyond the Rock River, on her way to her brother in Colorado.Widower David Whitfield loses interest in his law practice in Wisconsin. He would rather raise horses. He agrees to help a deputy take a prisoner to Omaha. He decides to continue on to Colorado to visit his best friend, Letty's brother, Ed Winthrop.Letty and David remember a time in their youth when they had planned a life together, and now they looked forward to doing that. And when irate husband Rudolf arrives in Colorado, Letty is prepared both mentally and physically. She also has divorce papers.