Virginia Lofton is a 13-year-old girl living with her older sister Caroline and their father Ford. Deborah, the mother of Virginia and Caroline, was killed three years earlier after a fall in a riding accident. Ford has sold their horse, Twister, to a neighbor and forbidden his daughters from riding in an effort to keep them safe. Ford and Caroline both blame Twister for Deborah's death. Twister dies in childbirth while she delivers a foal and Virginia names the foal Stormy.