Kansas 1899. Deborah Sutton barely remembers her family's feud with the Van Cleves. Her mother died that summer, and her father was killed. Nothing else mattered to seven-year-old Deborah eighteen years ago. Still, Deborah despises the Van Cleves.

Trey Van Cleve does remember the land war. Trey saw bloody bodies hanging from the roof of his home and fled fire in the night. The monster under Trey's boyhood bed had a name, and the name was Sutton.

When Deborah and Trey meet by accident one night, each is intrigued by a stranger who is no more than a disembodied friendly voice. Each returns to the same place, hoping for another encounter. Each is appalled to learn the identity of the other. How can a Sutton befriend a Van Cleve? How can a Van Cleve love a Sutton? Deborah and Trey are going to find out.