The story of Lela McGuires teenage years in Idaho during the 1890s continues in Rusty. In the first book, Cart-Wheels, Lela moves with her family from their comfortable, established ranch in Oregon to the raw frontier of Idahos high Camas Prairie. Having left behind not only her home but also her first sweetheart, she has to adapt to her new life in the town of Cottonwood, where she finishes the highest class in the local school. In Rusty, Lela gets to further her education. Her uncle, recently elected sheriff, has moved to the county seat and has invited her to stay with his family there, so that she can attend high school. Her memorable year in the sheriffs household brings lots of hard studying, punctuated by sometimes violent incidents of law and order. When it is over, she returns to Cottonwood and meets handsome young Rusty, just back from the Spanish-American War.
