Gunned down in a dusty Mexican town by a man known only as Royce, a young cowboy is left for dead in the street. But is he? When he reappears on an Arizona hillside, a gang of rustlers think they've seen a ghost and give gun-blazing chase. Badly wounded, the mysterious cowboy finds himself in the town of Purgatory, where he goes into hiding, taking on the name John Livery. Local storekeeper Milt Wells nurses John back to health and helps him recover his speed with a gun just in time for him to face Royce, the man who gunned down his twin brother. But when Royce calls him out, it is the two new women in Livery's life that ultimately dictate the unexpected terms of the showdown and inevitable shoot-out.