After fighting in the war with the Yankees, Penny Baxter came to the Florida scrub country to live deep in the woods, in the wild, far from towns and wars. There weren't many people who lived in the area, but Penny found a wife and together they cleared and cultivated their fertile acres, and over the next few years they had four children, but only one survived - a boy, who they called Jody. But the only surviving child of the family longs for companionship, and finds it in the most unexpected way.