Nine year old Lara is the daughter of the ri-the leader of her cattle-raising clan. She spends her days tending to the cows but her heart lies with her beloved gray mare. She dreams that the foal will one day be hers but she know that girls aren't allowed to keep horses - in fourteenth century Ireland, that is a boy's job. When her clan is raided and the mare is stolen she is heartbroken and she prays with all of her heart, and hopes, beyond hope, that the mare and her foal will be returned. Her prayers are answered.