On the Oregon Trail in 1852, twelve-year-old Retta helps negotiate with a renegade Arapaho when he captures her new Shoshone friend, Shy Bear, and a girl from the wagon train, then she faces a wounded buffalo.

When her father dies, Alena Tipton must deciede whether to stay in California or return to her family in Boston.

"Her grandmother is the legendary Red Dove of Monterey. Her mother is the queen of Stockton society. Now it's up to Christina Swan to find her place, her man, her calling. At age 24 she has none of these. Even a college degree hasn't helped her find her way or prevented a series of bad choices. Instead, her life is ruled by a relentless past that forces her to retreat into the great San Joaquin Valley. There she will oversee some newly acquired family...

Tap spends an eventful two weeks before his wedding.

Nathan soon realizes the buffalo he has recently acquired belongs in a zoo, and after he prays for the financial means to move his animal there, a dramatic solution presents itself.

Month ago, the Skinner family would never have considered staying in the boomtown of Goldfield, Nevada. However, the Lord leads in mysterious ways. Now, although they still long to go on to California, the Skinners have decided to stay, temporarily. God's purpose for this becomes clearer as the Skinners discover that Goldfield's true treasure is in the hearts of its peopleand as they help the citizens of this town realize that there is a treasure...

In nineteenth-century Nevada, Nathan continues to have adventures with miners, Indians, and the homesteading Rialto sisters, while trying to see the world from God's point of view.