Nineteen-year-old Libby endures a harsh hairbrush spanking from her furious mother for refusing to marry Dr Arthur Kenton, an older man whose wealth and social standing in Boston's high society is well-placed to lift Libby's family out of their current financial difficulties. Libby remains resolute even when her mother calls upon Patrick, the gardener, to take a turn in spanking her.

Libby clutches hold of a brief hope - in the form of just one short letter from a man named Tom Evans, a farmer in Fort Steele in need of a loyal and hardworking wife to help on the farm. She decides to use what little savings she has to buy a train ticket and escape. She packs her belongings by candlelight, taking with her only what she can carry, and gets the train to Buffalo, and from there, journeys on to Wyoming. However, disaster strikes when she discovers her bag has been stolen - and with it all her money, clothes and her train ticket!

Thrown off the train, she learns that a mountain man in the saloon by the name of Jarrod Starr is heading towards Fort Steele, and she determines he will take her with him. However, Jarrod Starr is none too keen on the idea. Not only does he refuse but he is rude and offensive - though he does relent the next day when Libby is arrested for stealing a loaf of bread, and from that point on, Libby's path is firmly intertwined with that of the gruff mountain man. But Jarrod Starr seems to take a perverse delight in constantly spanking her bottom! Yet as their journey continues, an unlikely relationship develops between them... but is it enough to build a future together?