Rusty Sabin was a child when Cheyenne Indians raided the Sabin homestead and killed his mother. Just before she died, she put a rawhide cord with a green scabbard around his neck. Raised by Spotted Antelope and Bitter Root, Rusty, now known as Red Hawk, refuses the compulsory and brutal initiation into the tribe when he is 15. Abandoned as dead by his Cheyenne family, Red Hawk takes the advice of a white trader and rides to Witherell, the nearest settlement of whites.

Rusty Sabin's father lives on the outskirts of Witherell and has dedicated his life to killing Cheyenne warriors for destroying his family. He has become such a powerful adversary that the Cheyenne call him Wind Walker. Red Hawk, who has no recollection of his white father, wants nothing more than to restore his reputation among the Cheyenne - and if his plan works, he may be able to rejoin the only family he has ever known. He'll kill Wind Walker, the bitterest enemy of his people.