When Ellie loses her husband at sea, she is determined to protect her son Dannie from the same fate. Homesick for the highlands of Scotland, she leaves her husband's fishing village to raise her son among the mountains, lochs and animals of the highlands. As he grows, Dannie is devoted to the animals at the refuge where they live, in particular a young stag. But he also develops a secret fascination with the sea and comes to feel constrained by the opportunities ahead of him. Just as the young stag must eventually be released into the wild, Dannie's mother must learn to let him go his own way, no matter the risk.