A violent death throws a horse-riding community into conflict, stirring up fear, uncertainty, mental illness, and a mysterious stranger ...
Summer vacation has finally started, and Bird is looking forward to an extended stay with her Aunt Hannah at Saddle Creek Farm. But before she can settle into the routine of riding Sundancer and preparing for shows, the community is thrown into chaos when a local woman is brutally attacked and left for dead. The police aren't acting fast enough to satisfy the community's calls for justice, so a vigilante group emerges to take matters into their own hands.
Bird, as usual, finds herself embroiled in the mystery. Who had reason to attack the woman? Does the strange man Bird and Sunny met in the woods have anything to do with the crime? And does the reappearance of her grandfather fit into the picture? As Bird struggles to get to the bottom of the mystery, she learns more than she bargained for about her community, her past, and human nature.