In the summer of 1916 an old man named Hardy Brunner, a recent widower, is beset by problems at his home in Webster Co. Missouri. The old man, a Union war veteran, hatches a plan to go to Arkansas, ostensibly to visit his youngest son. In reality the old man is searching for a farm where during the war, a life changing event occurred. Events in Arkansas, then back home in Missouri will determine whether the old man can finally come to terms with himself.