The story of Quebec Bill Bonhomme, an impossible dreamer and schemer who needs fast cash after a freak lightning storm destroys his barn. Despite forebodings from his skeptical and mystical sister, Cordelia, Quebec Bill hatches a plan to steal twenty cases of whiskey from the feral whisky pirate, Carcajou and smuggle it back across the Vermont/Canadian border. He takes along his 15-year-old son, Wild Bill, his inscrutable brother-in-law, and his cranky hired man. Together, they cross the border into vast reaches of Canadian wilderness for three magical, mysterious and unforgettable days "full of terror, full of wonder." What they find is the stuff of genuine legend.