It is the year 1868. The Lakota tribe still lives freely and unbound on the prairie. Lightning-in-Winter, a nine-year-old boy, is allowed to tend to his uncle's war pony. Out of mischief, he organizes a horse race with his friends, but the little adventure ends dramatically: the horse bolts, and Lightning-in-Winter falls, left alone to fend for himself. Plagued by hunger and thirst, he tries to find his way back to his village. He feels afraid and suddenly senses that he is being watched. What is this eerie creature that resembles a wolf but seems to live in the trees? Even when the village is relocated shortly afterward, this ghostly apparition continues to haunt him. Exciting and dangerous times begin for the Indian boy and his friends.