Kansas, 1878: A natural wonder, sacred for centuries, is about to be profaned--but not if Eden Murdoch can prevent it. She has returned to the mystical Solomon Spring to seek solace after the death of her Cheyenne husband. She longs to make a fresh start for the sake of her nine-year-old daughter but a quiet life does not come naturally to a headstrong woman like Eden.

When the owner of the Solomon Spring Company decides to bottle its mystical waters, build a health spa, and bar Indians from making pilgrimages to the spring, Eden decides she must stop this travesty. Inspired by Thoreau's essays on civil disobedience, she enjoys some early success, but makes deadly enemies in the process.

Her past races to catch up to her: Brad Randall, Eden's one-time lover, is determined to find her again. He brings the astounding news that the son Eden lost as an infant fourteen years before has been located and is living nearby. The joy of her reunion with Brad and with her son is clouded by the reappearance of Lawrence Murdoch, Eden's long-estranged first husband. The warring couple plunges into a vicious custody battle. When Murdoch is found shot to death in an alley, Brad is tried and sentenced to hang.

To save him, Eden must discover the solution to the murder, and bring the real killer to justice at the edge of Solomon Spring.