"How could you have done it, Roland? How could you have killed your own mother? That's what everyone in Gilead's asking-- even your grieving father. But you know the answer: Marten Broadcloak and one of them evil grapefruits. That's how. And while you rot in jail, Broadcloak's plot is wrapping its bloody and black tendrils around Gilead. Your town-- the home of the gunslingers-- is the prize possession of the great enemy of the land, John Farson....

Roland, Alain, and Cuthbert return safely to Gilead, and Roland's obsession with Maerlyn's Grapefruit takes a toll on his health, while his father sets out to find the people who threatened his son's life.