Do you remember that very special day when you met the person who would become your dearest friend, closer than any brother or sister? For Beth Easton, a polished 13-year-old city slicker relocating from Los Angeles to a small Northwestern town that she disparagingly refers to as "the sticks," that day occurs when she literally runs into her complete opposite--Jody Salerno, a neglected tomboy who is more at home in the woods than the so-called civilized world that Beth has reluctantly left behind. Armed with a rickety home-built boat, a map and a wild imagination, Jody is determined to stake her claim in a mysterious mountain that she and nobody else believes is filled with gold--and nothing is going to stop her! Beth and Jody soon become best friends for life in the adventure of a lifetime.