Lev and Hy Rivers have been taught by their Choctaw grandmother that signs portend good and evil and that birds, animals, and the wind speak to us. One brother believes--one does not. When Lev is shot and left for dead, Hy finds him and carries him toward Texas and home. Olivia Brand, a doctor"s daughter, tends Lev"s wound inside a tavern owned by a man named Filson. The brothers flee when Filson accuses them of horse theft and murder. Olivia flees with them and Lev falls in love with her, but cannot accept her past with Filson, a man surrounded by evil signs. At war"s end, officers warn Lev and Hy that the rivers of Texas will run red with the blood of former Confederates. The specter of defeat hangs heavy on the returning soldiers, and violence strikes before they reach home. It continues to stalk them as they try to piece together shattered former lives. The brothers bear the burden--until violence visits their families. Then they seek vengeance.