In the water, Sean grasps holly berries in his hand. He spots the capall with Fundamental’s neck in its mouth. Sean realizes that there is no saving Fundamental, a colt he has raised since birth. He reluctantly decides to spare the capall, who swims away with Fundamental’s body.

At home, Finn fidgets by the windows, insisting that a bad storm is coming. Puck decides not to tell him about the house yet. Instead, she asks how Finn would feel about selling his car, nicknamed Morris. She hopes to buy better food for Dove leading up to the race. Finn hesitates but then agrees that he will do whatever he can to help Puck win.

Sean is unable to sleep that night. He goes to the stalls, where he finds Corr. He thinks of Mutt, standing silently on the shore instead of warning him, and wonders whom Malvern will blame for Fundamental’s death. He contemplates leaving Malvern and going off on his own. However, as Corr quietly wails, Sean realizes he can’t leave without him.

When Puck wakes up, she decides to go to the beach before it is fully light, braving high tide and the risk of capaill uisce in the water in exchange for time to practice alone. Despite her fear, she rides Dove up and down the beach. She decides that this will be the ideal way to train moving forward.

Sean goes to the town’s teahouse, where he meets with Malvern. Malvern tells him the story of his childhood. He grew up poor on another island. When a horse breeder was unable to train one of his horses, Malvern offered to do it for him in exchange for a job. He then asks what Sean wants out of his life. Sean considers, reflecting that he wants to get away from Malvern more than anything; instead, he tells Malvern that he just wants food and a home.

Malvern then brings up Fundamental. Daly and Mutt tell conflicting stories, with Mutt blaming Sean and Daly insisting that Mutt was supposed to watch out for capaill and did not yell out to Sean. When Malvern asks what happened, Sean responds that he can’t speak ill of Malvern’s son. Malvern acknowledges that Sean dove into the ocean for his horse, while Mutt didn’t move.

Malvern asks Sean which capall is slowest, fastest, and safest. Without hesitating, Sean tells him that the capall that has not yet earned a name is the slowest, Corr is the fastest, and Edana is the safest. Malvern instructs Sean to let the unnamed horse go and then tells him that Sean will ride Corr in the race and Mutt will ride Edana. Although Sean feels great relief to learn that he can ride Corr, he still feels unsettled by the conversation.

Because she has not seen Gabe in a few days, Puck goes to the hotel to find him. However, she fails to do so, with various people telling her that he is either on a boat or drinking somewhere nearby.

At home, Puck takes the last of their saved money to buy more expensive feed from the feed store, Hastoway. As she rides her mother’s bike down the road, the wind picks up, signaling the coming storm. Partway there, Thomas Gratton pulls over and offers Puck a ride. As they travel, Thomas mentions needing an apprentice, suggesting Finn, but Puck is adamant that he can’t handle blood.

Puck spots a boy walking along the road. Thomas pulls over, and, to Puck’s annoyance, she realizes it is Sean. She is still angry with him for kicking her off the beach. When Thomas learns that Sean is going to Hastoway, too, he offers him a ride. Puck does her best to ignore Sean as he gets in, thinking of him as a “wild animal.”

As they ride, Thomas talks about Mutt and how upset he is about the horse Sean chose for him. He was complaining about it in the butcher’s shop, but Peg scolded him and kicked him out. Puck asks about Thomas’s son being his apprentice, but Thomas reveals that Beech, Gabe, and another boy, Tommy, are all going to the mainland together. He thanks Puck for giving him another few weeks with his son. After a few moments of silence, Sean tells Puck that he has a capall uisce she can ride in the race if she wants one.

Sitting in Maud’s shop, Puck tells Finn that she is going to look at Sean’s capall. Finn seems disappointed in her willingness to ride a capall, seeing it as a betrayal of their parents, but Puck argues that she wants a chance to win.

Sean goes to the stables to show some horses to Holly and two other foreign buyers. To his surprise, Mutt is already there riding one of the horses. Sean is annoyed, as he knows that Mutt is just doing it to show off. When the buyers ask about Sean’s record in the races, Sean knows that he should say something to make Mutt look good; instead, he makes a comment about choosing Mutt’s capall, which visibly angers him. Then, when they take two of the horses out to ride, Sean beats Mutt easily in a race. He knows that he is making things worse with Mutt but doesn’t care.

Puck arrives above Fell Cove, where Sean told her to meet him. After a moment, she hears him arriving on Corr. She marvels at how skilled he looks riding the capall.

When Sean returns to the cliff’s edge, he finds Puck waiting for him. He is impatient, wanting to get back to deal with more buyers. He tries to take Puck to show her the capall he planned to release. However, she is adamant that she won’t even consider it if Dove is faster. Sean tries to argue but eventually agrees to a race.

With Sean on the capall and Puck on Dove, they race down the shoreline. Sean can feel the capall wanting to drift toward the ocean; he struggles to keep her on course. Despite this, they are easily beating Puck when he turns back to check. Just as he decides to slow down, the capall reacts, making a dash for the cliff’s edge. Sean tries desperately to stop her but fails. In the end, he is forced to jump off as the capall leaps off the cliff and into the water. As Puck approaches on Dove, he feels compelled to admit that she won.

Sean returns to the stables. Things are a mess, as the workers haven’t accomplished much and Mutt is nowhere to be found. Sean reflects on the fact that Mutt has yet to ride Edana and wonders what his plan is. Holly greets him, noting how dismayed he looks, as Sean begins his work.

The next night, Puck prepares to go to the Scorpio Festival. There is a parade for the riders, as well as costumes, booths, and more. She is nervous about attending but has to finalize her registration for the race. As she prepares to leave with Finn in his car, Jonathan and Brian Carroll arrive and ask for a ride. On the way, they talk about betting on the races, with the boys adamant that Sean will win again.

Brian offers to go with Puck to find Gabe at the festival. As they walk, they spot the bonfire and people tossing paper into the sea. Brian explains that they are “sea wishes” that are actually “curses”; people write them with charcoal from the bonfire.

Puck and Brian fail to find Gabe anywhere, so they decide to check the pub. At the door, men question Puck about the race, so Brian intercedes to free Puck. She finds Gabe at the bar, drinking. She confronts him about being behind on the house payments, but Gabe insists that he kept it a secret so that he didn’t upset them. He is adamant that there is nothing they can do anyway, and his resignation makes Puck realize that he has already abandoned them.

Outside, Puck runs into Finn. He excitedly gives her a large pile of money. He sold Morris to a tourist for much more than the car was worth.

Sean makes his way through the festival, overwhelmed by the crowd of tourists. He comes face-to-face with the mare goddess, a human woman who wears a horse’s head. The illusion is so real that she actually looks half-horse. By tradition, she walks through the festival and drops sand and pebbles. She drops just one seashell, and whoever finds it gets to make a wish.

Sean’s mind flashes to his childhood, when he came to the festival with his father. He found the seashell and made a wish; it is implied that he wished to win the Scorpio Races. In the present, the woman stops directly in front of Sean. She calls him by name and then grabs his face with her bloody hands. She asks if Sean got his wish, and he insists that he did. She leaves, but Sean is troubled by the encounter. He struggles to figure out who was beneath the horse head; the fact that he can’t unsettles him.

Sean arrives at the butcher’s shop. He checks the list of confirmed entrants and their betting odds. He is at the top, a 1-5 favorite, while Puck is listed at the bottom at 45-1. To his surprise, he spots Mutt’s name listed with a capall named “Skata.” Skata is the local word for a magpie that is black and white. Sean instantly knows that Mutt has entered with the piebald capall.

Sean finds Mutt by the bonfire and confronts him. However, Mutt is adamant that Sean is only concerned because he knows that Skata is faster than Corr. Sean reflects on the fact that he has spent years trying to protect Mutt but now is “done.”

The riders make their way through the town, with Puck noting how disorganized the parade is. Eventually, they come to a cliff above the town with a boulder that is darkened by old blood stains. Elizabeth, Dory’s sister, stands by Puck. She explains that the riders always go up one at a time, cut their finger, and commit to the race by adding their blood to that of the past riders. Someone dumps a bucket of animal blood on the ground as a sacrifice. When Puck is repulsed, Elizabeth insists that the riders believe that the island demands it and that it will keep the riders safe.

Next, the mare goddess appears. People discuss how either no one found her seashell this year or she didn’t drop one. Puck questions who the woman is, but Elizabeth insists that it is a goddess.

One by one, the riders are called to the rock by Peg. She cuts their finger, and they state their name, horse, and pledge to ride. Puck waits for Sean and then goes up when he is finished. As she pledges to ride, a man named Eaton steps forward. He is adamant that Puck cannot compete, as it is an unspoken rule that women are not allowed. They are instead supposed to remain behind to care for the island. Several people in the crowd agree with him. Just as Puck thinks she will have to step down, Sean steps forward. He instructs them to let Puck compete. After a moment of silence, Eaton relents, allowing Puck to finish her pledge. Puck thinks of how she cannot back out now. She feels a mix of excitement and dread, as the race is officially two weeks away.