Onepenny is exactly the kind of horse Nathan dreamed of owning. He's smart, loyal, and easy to handle. What's more, this unusual horse with the spotted rump can do tricks. So Nathan works out a trade with Onepenny's owner, Temple Cholach. To his delight, the spotted horse becomes his.
Before he can even show his parents his new horse, Nathan encounters a posse looking for a stagecoach robber who had ridden a spotted horse. It seems Temple Cholach is not the drifter he claimed to be. And when Nathan discovers Onepenny can lead him to Cholach's home, he wonders what he will do if he actually bumps into the outlaw again. But the biggest problem appears with the strange feelings stirred in him by Cholach's daughter, Tashawna, with her teasing eyes and cute smile.