Thea and her dad are always on the move, from one small Cariboo town to another, trying to leave the past behind. They never stay long enough in one place for Thea to make friends, but when her dad gets work renovating a guest ranch on Gumboot Lake, she dares to hope that their wandering days are over. At the ranch she makes friends with Van, a local boy, and works hard to build the trust of an abused horse. When Thea unearths a decades-old mystery, she finally starts to come to terms with the losses in her own life.