 Toni lives with her father, writer Matthew Martin, in the Sequoia forests of California. While walking, she finds and brings home, a small puma which she calls  Gato  and a young fawn, called  Malibu . The three become friends which violates the normal rules of nature. After a few years, Toni and her dad leave and Gato and Malibu are returned to the wild. They do their animal things, but the two are still friendly. When Toni and Matthew return, they find that logging and hunting have decimated the animals in the area. They also find that their neighbor, Bergman, who has trapped animals for years, is now leading hunting parties and kills even the fawns. It is up to Gato and Malibu if they are to survive.