Mary lives with her family in the far north of British Columbia. The family is settling the land, and Mary and her brothers and sisters work hard to help their parents succeed. Each of the family members has jobs they must do, and everyone must earn their keep. When Mary finds an abandoned wolf cub, she begs her father to let her keep it. But her father is firm: everyone, even the animals on the farm, must earn their keep. He tells Mary she must take the cub into the woods and leave him. Mary does as she’s told, and believes the cub is gone for good, but there are surprises in store for her yet.