Penny, a blue-eyed palomino paint mare, narrates her experiences with her owner, Buckeye Jack, and Jack's grandson, Jesse, during the 1850s Northern California gold rush.

After learning their stepfather plans to marry them off, Laura Stiles and her sisters escape to find better matches and claim their father's lumber dynasty. Laura sees potential in the local minister of the poor town they settle in, but when secrets buried in his past and the land surface, it will take all they have to keep trouble at bay.