In 1953 Denny Farrell has rented an old rowhome in Philadelphia. After tending the furnace in preparation for the arrival of his wife and newborn baby, he slips and falls down the basement stairs.

The fall dislodges a hidden shelf in the rafters behind the stairs and an old western gun, holster, and a package wrapped in brown paper and tied with string fall to the basement floor. Denny opens the package that appears to be a manuscript written by Jason "Buckskin" Curry in the year of 1917.