A group of outlaws wants to take over the town of North Fork, but decide if they are to succeed, they must eliminate LucasÑin a manner that will not obviously involve them. They bully the town barber, a cowardly drunk, into calling McCain out for a gunfight. Lucas, sensing more than meets the eye about the drunk's behavior, refuses to fight, shocking the town and his own son into wondering if he, too, is a coward.