In the late 1600s, Walks About, a young Native American boy encounters a new, strange large animal. Overcoming his initial fright at the animal that he and his people named Ten Dogs (because he is big and strong as ten dogs), he embarks on an adventure that brings him into contact with the Garza brothers from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, who are Spanish (Sephardic) Jews and the first settlers of the northern frontier of Mexico and South Texas. Upon encountering, Walks About, Blas sees that the escaped stallion Ten Dogs is the horse of his brother, Miguel. Following an introduction from Walks About's people, Blas, Walks About, and Ten Dogs form a friendship and begin an epic adventure following the trail of Miguel, who has been captured by the man-eating Karankawa Indians. Later, during a vision quest and the sacred Piedras Pintas, Walks About learns that Ten Dogs is his spirit animal, thus, beginning his path to becoming a shaman and peacemaker for his people and the new colonizers. In the present day, the stories of both the brothers Garza and Walks About are remembered by Tia and her family when they discover a cache of strange artifacts that sent them all on a journey of rediscovery of their family history.