The Greatest Western Writer Of The 21st Century. Before he became a legend, Preacher was a trapper peacefully plying his trade in the Rocky Mountains. But people needed a hero. . .and Preacher was the only one around. Now a wagon train of pioneers is struggling westward toward Oregon through the howling winter--and a band of Arikara warriors are hot on their trail. Little do the Arikaras suspect that they're about to come face-to-face--and gun-to-gun--with a ferocious fight they never expected. . .courtesy of a wily mountain man. As Preacher struggles to bring the settlers to safety, he learns the real reason they were attacked--and begins to suspect that the secrets they've been keeping equal to a worse kind of danger. With treachery in the air, more Arikaras on the warpath, and a deadly deep freeze bearing down, trust is a thing of the past--and survival is all that matters.