David Barry (formerly Y'Barra) and his family return from a bad ranching experience in Mexico to his grandfather's ranch near Salinas in California- to find Grandy disappeared and his ranch in debt. David's father is ill so the boy takes over. His problem-solving includes running the ranch into the black, training Spook, a sometimes intractable colt, and finding Grandy who has been wandering about as a part time sheep herder with amnesia. Forestry and conservation are side themes in this virtuous story.