Trampas, returning to Shiloh, stops at a remote store to warm himself. A Mexican gentleman being gouged on price as he buys a horse and milk is killed when a group of gunmen enter. They force the dying man to give the location of two children. The men leave as does Trampas who stops later at a farm house. In it he comes across a young boy and his baby sister, on the run from their wealthy hidalgo grandfather in Mexico, determined to reach their mother in Laramie. Realizing their guardian is dead, Trampas becomes their de facto guardian, defender and babysitter. He has to evade the gunmen sent after the children and later a war party of Oglala Sioux. Along the way, he meets a hungry lady faro dealer Melinda who decides to team with Trampas and the children in their quest to reach Laramie. They come upon a dying man attacked by the Sioux. They take his wagon which provides them with better transportation. The experience draws Trampas and Melinda closer especially as Melinda feels for a change like a wanted and needed woman.
—heathentart