In 1877 the first and largest train robbery of the Union Pacific Railroad took place in Big Springs, NE. Sixty thousand dollars of un-circulated twenty-dollar gold coins were stolen. Some of the coins were never recovered. One hundred and thirty three years later (2010), three young teenagers meet when two are forced to spend the summer with their grandparents in western Nebraska. The trio is comprised of two girls and one boy from single parent homes, whose mothers are struggling to make ends meet. Visiting a local museum, they learn about the train robbery and the missing gold. When they discover it was very near their grandparent’s home they concoct a scheme to search for the missing loot. Deceiving the mother and grandparents, these over-confident young teens secretly slip away for a weekend treasure hunt on horses, with a pack mule that’s never carried a pack, cell phones with no way to charge them, and a GPS device that only confirms they’re in the middle of nowhere. They quickly discover I-pods and lip-gloss don’t make good survival tools. Mother Nature forms an attack while the three are camped near Arterburn Lake; the spot that legend explains might be the burial ground for the missing gold. They encounter a Nebraska summer storm, complete with high tornado-like winds, large hail, an electric sky, and gallons of rain, causing their horses to bolt and run, not to mention the wildlife that pays them nightly visits. Nerves frayed, hungry--junk food doesn’t provide much energy--tired and disappointed, the three make plans to return empty-handed. Then one of the girls spots what she thinks could be a clue. Is it really a clue? Will it help them find the gold or has someone else already discovered it. If it turns out to be a clue, is a one hundred year old clue worthless after so many years have gone by