Fifteen-year-old Fran rescues an abused horse from a gypsy traveler and nurses him to health. She names him Charlie and realizes he is a horse of rare quality. She and her mother suspect that he was stolen, but Fran's love of Charlie grows. Then a mysterious gypsy boy appears out of nowhere and a string of tack thefts hits the area. Fran befriends the boy, Kez, who has a talent with horses. Fran and Kez must find the real thieves before Kez is convicted, all the while growing more certain that Charlie's real owners will come and take him away.