Set in the Scottish Highlands, the story follows Steenie Steenson, a tenant of the cruel laird Sir Robert Red gauntlet. After witnessing the hanging of three men for unpaid rent, Steenie is shaken but still must deliver his own payment. On his way to the laird’s castle, he encounters a mysterious rider who warns him that unless he pays restitution to the families of the hanged men, he’ll never leave the woods alive.