Constance Van Ness takes her three kids to visit the mayor at Angel’s Ridge in The Abandons episode 1. She asks one of her sons Willem to watch the horses because his sister Trisha is skittish. But he refuses to watch the horses because he thinks the task is too simple. Garret persuades his brother that his mother only trusts her baby to his care. Van Ness asks her daughter Trisha not to be rash adventures.
Van Ness and his son Garret meet Mayor in the house. Garret brings up that their West Hill and Summit mines are down 27 percent. Van Ness adds that her associate Vanderbilt will worry about it if he’s told that the investment didn’t run well. Garret claims that vein of silver running through Jasper Hollow is the best plan. Mayor explains it to the guy that the four families in the Hollow received generous offers. He thinks nobody doesn’t like money. Van Ness reminds Mayor that Angel’s Ridge will be poor again without her help. She decides to continue the pursuit of the Hollow.
A group of cowboys burns the ranch. They release the cows from the ranch. Fiona Nolan is woken up by the sound. She witnesses what those guys do. She grabs a gun. She walks out of her room. She asks Elias to get up. She informs him that the rustlers visited the lower pasture. He gathers Dahlia and Little Bull. Dahlia claims that she heard the gunshot.
Fiona takes her family to go to chase the rustlers and the cows. One of the cows falls off the cliff when he flees. The rustlers leave before Fiona catches them. Fiona asks Elias and Albert to go to find the king. She thinks the cows will be calm once they take care of the king. Albert finds the king soon. Fiona asks Dahlia to follow her. She rides her horse to the cows. She stops them from falling off the cliff. Albert and Elias team up. They catch the king together. Van Ness watches the scene from afar. Garret suggests that they should leave. Elias and Fiona inspect the mess that the rustlers left. Elias knows the mastermind was Van Ness. He mentions what they suffered over the past year.
The next day, Elias and Albert carry the dead cow into a cart. They decide to join forces with other families for dealing with Van Ness. Fiona and Dahlia visit Sheriff. Fiona reports to Sheriff that her cow was murdered. The cop thinks Cayuse did it. But Fiona doesn’t think so. Dahlia points out that Sheriff knows who did it.
Van Ness walks out of her house. She drinks the wine. Trisha joins Willem after she found out that her brother is staring at the beauty. She thinks he’s interested in the orphan girl. She persuades him to go to talk to the girl. But he’s too timid.
Trisha walks to the girl. Willem fails to stop his sister. So he has to blame Issac for not taking care of his mother’s horse. But he’s told that the horse was taken care of well. The girl Dahlia reveals the horse is skittish. He mentions the rustlers stole a cow from her ranch. Issac reveals the horse’s hoof was hurt because of the theft. Willem blames Issac for wronging his family. Dahlia knows Willem isn’t related to the horror. Because he’s not smart.
Van Ness sees her son walking into a bar. She wonders what happened to Willem. Trisha lies to her mother that she doesn’t know it. She reveals her brother was upset suddenly. Garret tries to drag Willem out of the bar. Van Ness stops Garret. Because she thinks it’s a good thing that her son drinks.
Elias takes the dead cow to visit Walter. He reveals Van Ness killed his cow. He persuades him to stop the threat with all their families. But Walter points out that he doesn’t have a family. Willem drinks at the bar. His friend Jack comes to stop him. Willem claims that he can find himself once he drinks the stuff. He promises to return home.
Elias and the other three families have a meeting by the river. Elias offers to set up nightly patrols. Fiona points out that they should hire the people who will tell the truth. Oma decides to go to Cayuse settlement to look for those people. Because she grew up with those guys. So she trusts them.
Willem visits Dahlia in the evening. He asks her to apologize to him because she mocked him. She agrees to do that. But he needs to return the cow to them first. He tries to sleep with her after he locked the door. Fortunately, Albert breaks the door with a gun. He saves Dahlia. He decides to let the law punish the jerk. But Willem points out that law cannot hurt him. He claims that he came to take back what Dahlia owed him. But he’s stabbed by Dahlia from his back.
Elias and Fiona return after the meeting. Fiona comforts Dahlia after the girl was hurt by the jerk. She checks Willem’s injury. She thinks the guy won’t be saved even if she takes the guy to see a doctor. Miles decides to leave. Because it’s not his business. But his daughter scolds him. She mentions she witnessed what Willem did. Oma thinks they cannot remain aloof. She reminds those guys that Willem is Van Ness’s son. Fiona agrees with what Oma said. She decides to call Sheriff once the guy gets stronger.
Van Ness waits for her son at home. But Willem doesn’t come back. Fiona walks out of her room. She puts the blanket on Dahlia. She lets Elias and Albert go to sleep. She tells Dahlia that she killed her husband from the roof when he was drunk. She does the same thing to Willem. Dahlia is scared.
The next day, Sheriff visits Van Ness. He reports to her that nobody knew where Willem went after he left the bar. She asks Garret to go to look for his sister. He leaves the room. Sheriff guesses Willem went to foothills after he was drunk. But Van Ness knows her son wouldn’t disobey her. Trisha shows up. Van Ness mentions Willem was furious to leave the Jew’s place. She asks Trisha what happened to her brother. But Trisha pretends to know nothing. Van Ness reminds her daughter that her brother didn’t come home last night. Trisha reveals Dahlia provoked Willem. Van Ness slaps her daughter. She decides to visit Dahlia. Sheriff volunteers to go with Van Ness. Because he thinks the law might work to the girl. Jack shows up. He reports to Van Ness that Roache and his team were interested in the job. She decides to meet Roache.
Van Ness takes her people to visit Fiona. She wants to meet Dahlia because she heard that the girl looked down on her son. Fiona refuses Van Ness’s request because her daughter is sick. Dahlia shows up. She reveals she and Willem had a fight because of the cow case. Sheriff notices the wound on Dahlia’s face. He’s told that she was hurt by her sister. Fiona feels sorry for Van Ness’s pain. But Van Ness thinks Fiona doesn’t understand her pain as a mother. She praises her for raising so many children. Fiona claims that love doesn’t depend on the bloodline. Van Ness reminds Fiona that her children will live better if she accepts her money. Fiona claims that she does it for God.
Van Ness visits Walter for looking for her son. He didn’t see her son. His dog attacks her. She’s furious to ask him to manage his dog. Van Ness meets Roache on the mountain top. She asks him to go to look for her son. Jack gives a bag of gold to the guy. He orders him not to kill anyone.
Fiona takes Dahlia to visit Walter. Fiona reveals something happened to Willem. She wants to work with Walter to deal with Van Ness. But Walter rejects it. Because he only cares for his animals. Fiona and Dahlia leave Walter’s place. Fiona confesses it to Dahlia that she killed Willem for protecting her. She asks her to keep the secret.
Trisha walks into the bar. She sees Elias drinking alone. She walks to him. She buys him a drink. Garret tries to drag his sister away. Because he doesn’t want his sister to approach the man. Elias has a fight with Garret. Van Ness stops the two guys with her gun.
Elias returns home. He mentions what Willem did to Dahlia. He feels sorry. Dahlia comforts her brother. Fiona summons the two families to her house. Those guys aren’t happy after they saw Willem’s body. Fiona claims that she wants to guard the silver mine under her feet. The three families vote to decide if they should report it to Sheriff. Walter shows up with his dog after his dog was murdered by Van Ness. The next day, the four families bury Walter’s dog with Willem’s body in the forest. They leave the forest.