Like most ten-year-old boys, Jody Tiflin has the urge for rebellion as well as the need to be loved. In these stories, Jody begins to learn about adulthood - its pains, its responsibilities and its problems - through his acceptance of his fathers gifts. First he is given a red pony and later he is promised the colt of a bay mare. Yet both of these gifts bring tragedy as well as joy, and Jody is taught not only the harsh lessons of life and death, but made painfully aware of the fallibility of adults.