When his father returns from the war in 1946, a ten year old boy and his family move from their home in a Montana town to an old, run-down farm in the middle of nowhere where they work hard trying to make ends meet.
Unsure of himself and annoyed at having to spend a day climbing a Montana mountain with his bossy father, twelve-year-old Sam must become the guide on their perilous journey down when his carelessness temporarily blinds his father.
When Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose visit a dude ranch in Montana, they find themselves with another mystery to solve, this one involving the theft of money from the ranch's safe and of a large gold nugget that Josh had found.
