Short story, Gunstorm Ghost, recounts a dramatic moment in the life of gunfighter Dan Barrister as he refuses the pressure of big rancher Lon Preebe to become one of his hired guns. In Outlaws of the Brasada, conditions are so harsh in Texas after the Civil War and with Reconstructionists imposing even harsher restrictions, Emery Bandine is desperate to protect his motherless children and gather a stake to get them out of poverty--no matter what he has to do.