Sometimes Nickel sees a horse that isn't there...Could it be the ghost of Joe's old horse, Cougar, who died in a recent barn fire? Nickel isn't sure. What he does know is that since he moved with his aunt Starla and her husband, Joe, to Joe's parents' farm, he is happier than he's been in a long time. But a run-in with a school bully threatens to pull Nickel down. Then he finds Joe's battered old bike. It's hard to ride, harder to steer, and warm to the touch -- more like a living creature than a metal machine. Can this mysterious bicycle with a mind of its own help Nickel free himself from his violent past and protect his new life?