When Kitchener Tearl overhears a cryptic radio message beamed from Massachusetts to the snow-buried outposts of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, he becomes convinced his fugitive brother Jerry is alive and working as a sergeant named Buck Tearl at a remote post in Saskatchewan. Abandoning his comfortable New York life, Kitchener journeys deep into the frozen north during a bitter winter. Upon arriving, he discovers a tangled web of past tragedy, centering on a mysterious unsolved murder and a fabulous, lost sledge-load of gold nuggets from twelve years prior. To investigate without raising alarms, Kitchener impersonates his brother, donning the scarlet tunic and stepping into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with Simeon Bent, a ruthless ex-convict who carries their missing father's engraved revolver and is hunting for the buried treasure.
As Kitchener pushes deeper into the spruce forests and the treacherous owl-infested creek beds of Great Owl Run, he is unexpectedly joined by Diane Durand, the elusive niece of the man he is hunting. Diane’s presence complicates his mission, forcing him to balance his growing emotional attachment against the gnawing suspicion that she is an accomplice to her uncle's crimes. In the background, hostile Yellow-Knife Indians prowl the snowy barrens, seeking blood-revenge against an innocent Esquimau refugee whom Kitchener has sworn to protect. The freezing wilderness tests every limit of his endurance as he struggles to stay alive while keeping his amateur status secret from veteran police constables.
The tension peaks when Kitchener discovers the frozen, blood-stained evidence of his brother's murder hidden in a lonely cabin, revealing that Bent ambushed Jerry while he slept. Driven by a desperate need for justice, Kitchener tracks the killer through blizzards and blinding drifts, ultimately locating the sunken gold sledge beneath the icy waters of the creek. Just as he believes he holds the upper hand, a devastating discovery threatens to shatter his entire deception. While reviewing police records at the outpost, Diane uncovers a photograph of the real Sergeant Buck Tearl, exposing Kitchener's impersonation to the local constables and placing him under arrest just as a fresh tragedy strikes the camp.
