The following version of the book was used to create this study guide: Harrington, C.C. Wildoak. Scholastic Press, New York, NY, 10012. 2022. Kindle AZW file.

Maggie Stephens is in class, knowing she is about to be called on to read aloud. From past experience, Maggie expects that her stuttering will become increasingly worse as she tries to read and her classmates will make fun of her. To avoid reading aloud, Maggie stabs herself in the hand with a pencil. The school nurse stitches up the wound and says it is terrible that a childlike Maggie is in class with proper children. Faced with the need to move Maggie from yet another school, her father Vincent wants to send Maggie to Granville Place, an institution with a terrible reputation of abuse and neglect. Maggie's mother Evelyn has another option. Maggie will spend a few weeks with her maternal grandfather, a man Maggie calls Fred. Maggie barely knows Fred because of an argument between Fred and Vincent years earlier.

Immediately, Fred shows himself to be gentle and kind. He allows Maggie to talk when she can and fills in the gaps when she cannot. He encourages her to spend time in the nearby Wildoak Forest. Maggie spends her days at home alone while Fred works as a doctor.

While Maggie is becoming situated in the country, a pair of snow leopard cubs are spending their days in the pet department at an upscale department store. Rumpus is very upset when he is separated from his sister Rosie. He is presented to a woman named Arabella as a birthday present. She is thrilled until hunger drives Rumpus to explore her apartment and make a terrible mess. Arabella calls on her brother's driver to get rid of Rumpus, and the man releases Rumpus in Wildoak Forest.

Maggie first encounters Rumpus after he has spent a couple of days caught in a leg trap. Maggie manages to free Rumpus and bandages his leg. She is not sure what kind of cat he is, having never seen a snow leopard before. After she asks for Fred's expertise as a doctor, she is unable to locate Rumpus. Fred dismisses the situation, believing that Maggie has encountered a large farm cat.

Over the next week, Maggie does everything she can to save Rumpus. Though infection sets in, Rumpus has soon recovered enough to play with Maggie. Sometimes he leaves the forest in search of food. After several people have seen him, they become fearful and the people call for a hunt to kill the animal. They manage to trap Rumpus instead of killing him. Maggie and Fred rescue Rumpus from certain death, put him in a secure cage, and begin to search for a long-term option for him. When villagers arrive demanding they hand Rumpus over, Maggie speaks up. Though she still stutters, she makes a case for allowing Rumpus to live the best life available to him. Vincent realizes that Maggie still stutters but has improved in other ways. The Epilogue takes place years later when Maggie is an old woman. She addresses a group about the need for conservation. She talks about Rumpus's life at a wildlife refuge in Scotland and calls on those gathered to understand the inter-connections of the world and the need to protect the creatures and plants.