After a reckless liaison with a girl who turns out to be the daughter of White Oak County sheriff Zero Bull, the self-styled Preacherman Amos Huxley is beaten by the sheriff and his deputy and banished beyond the county line. He is found by local farmer Judd Crabtree, who brings the injured man to his home. There, Huxley crosses paths with Mary Lou, a young woman whose flirtations with several local boys have earned her a thorny reputation.
With a veneer of spiritual concern, Huxley pretends to want to baptize Mary Lou and steer her toward a more proper path. Yet his real aim is to manipulate her, pressing her into a string of sexual encounters while he keeps Judd distracted, sending him outside to “watch for the Angel Leroy.” This tangled web grows more complicated as Judd confesses to Huxley that his real money comes from an illegal moonshine operation, supported by [Zero Bull] and Bull’s brother-in-law. The revelation gives Huxley a dangerous idea: transform Judd’s bootlegging into a church-funded revenue stream, using Martha as the new supplier instead of the sheriff’s network.
The scheme heats up as Clyde Massingale, one of Mary Lou’s former lovers, reappears and resents Mary Lou’s newfound “salvation” and distance from him. Huxley tries to recruit Clyde into the enterprise, but Bull grows wary—aware that Clyde might know more about Huxley’s true past and the thinning bootlegging profits. The pressure mounts as the prisoner dragnet loosens its grip, and Huxley begins to believe he can slip out of the county with Mary Lou in tow.
Seeking one last burst of cash, Huxley convinces Judd and Martha to stage a large revival meeting, hoping the spectacle will pull in money and keep their operation alive. The plan seems to work at first, until Clyde betrays Huxley to Bull, who crashes the gathering. Judd creates a distraction long enough for Huxley and Mary Lou to flee, but a painful confession from Mary Lou—she loves Clyde—creates a crack in Huxley’s resolve. Undeterred, Huxley reminds Mary Lou that a substantial share of the profits awaits in her bedroom, a gesture meant to bind the pair to his scheme and to Judd.
As the escape unfolds, Clyde returns to Mary Lou and, with a mix of affection and cunning, misleads Bull and his deputy to protect the fleeing Huxley. With danger closing in, Huxley makes a break for the next county, leaving behind a tangle of loyalties, broken trusts, and fragile dreams of a new church-led community that may never come to be. The town’s fragile balance between faith, crime, and desire threads through every decision, shaping who gets hurt and who gets away.
In the end, the narrative pulls together the loyalties of those who dabble in sin and salvation, showing how greed, romance, and a longing for redemption collide under the pressures of small-town life. The characters—[Mary Lou], [Amos Huxley], [Zero Bull], [Judd Crabtree], [Martha], [Clyde Massingale], and [Deputy Leon]—each make choices that ripple through the community, leaving a lasting imprint on a county where the line between reverence and vice is often blurred.
