With his mother missing and his father dead, 12-year-old Flip's new home is a remote storm-tossed Dutch island. Menaced by the local bullies and with a shadowy mute girl as his only friend, Flip tries to adapt to life on his uncle's farm - but his whole life changes when a sunken transport ship leaves a drowning stallion floundering in the waves. Risking his life to rescue it, Flip is told he can keep the troublesome horse if he can teach it how to work for its keep.