Newly orphaned Will Braddock doesn't want some old judge dictating his future, so the fourteen-year-old embarks upon a quest to determine his own destiny. He heads west to find his uncle, a surveyor on the first transcontinental railroad, and persuade his only living relative not to sign the judge's papers sentencing him to a blacksmith apprenticeship. Will wants to be free to ride across the windswept prairies and through the forested mountains. He wants to be a part of the excitement of building the Union Pacific Railroad. But with such freedom come grave risks, and Will finds he must rely on his own wits and courage to make his way in the dangerous West.