N. Richard Nash

A confidence man, hired by a south-western rancher to produce rain within twenty-four hours for a drought-stricken farming area, brings hope and faith into the barren life of the rancher's frustrated daughter, who seems destined for spinsterhood in spite of her family's efforts to find her a husband.

"A one-time rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder who, in 1978, takes a job from an ex-boss to bring the man's young son home and away from his alcoholic mom. Crossing rural Mexico on their way back to Texas, the unlikely pair faces an unexpectedly challenging journey, during which the world-weary horseman may find his own sense of redemption through teaching the boy what it means to be a good man." --

Under the spell of a wandering charlatan named Starbuck, a lonely ranch girl blosssoms into full womanhood.