Annie O'Reilly is a young woman from a small cattle ranch in New Mexico. Her mother died when she was nine. She was raised by a Navajo woman, Maria, who cared for her mother during her illness then stayed on to care for the household and Annie. She grew up on horseback under the tutelage of her father, Big Mike, and Maria's husband, Jim Roanhorse, who worked on the ranch. As Annie was getting ready for college, Big Mike was killed one snowy winter night when his truck overturned while hauling a load of heifers. After his death, Annie found there was no money for college. She had to sell everything to pay off the mortgage. Jim and Maria returned to the reservation, and Annie headed for California in her old pickup with the one horse she owned in an old horse trailer. Tio Miguel was a beautiful golden lineback buckskin she'd raised from a foal and broke to ride herself. On the ranch, she had gathered herbs and plants with Maria and learned how to use them for salves, poultices, nutrition, and medication to heal numerous equine illnesses and injuries. Jim Roanhorse had taught her the Indian way to read animals-what they were thinking and feeling. She learned well and developed an ability to respond telepathically and interact with them. The story is about Annie finding and making her way to a life she could not have imagined using the only experience she had and what she knew and understood about horses.