Isaac is out exploring the countryside, as boys tend to do, when he encounters an old mule. Skinny and rough, Kate the mule has been scrounging a living in the Kentucky hills ever since her owner moved and left her behind. But Isaac and Kate immediately become pals and Kate follows him around like a pet dog.
Isaac is a country boy although his father has a shoe repair business in town. But Isaac's parents are not farmers and don't have a barn or stable where Kate can live. His parents sympathize with Isaac's love for his huge new friend but they can't afford to provide a home for the mule and they tell Isaac to find Kate a home somewhere else by wintertime.
But before that needs to happen, Isaac and Kate will have fun, exciting summer together including getting into a bit of trouble. They get caught stealing field corn, Kate takes on a skunk, and she also falls and hurts her leg.
But these minor troubles pale in comparison to the heap of trouble they land in when Isaac heads off to school in the fall and Kate refuses to be left behind.
This was a fun and touching story, kind of a combination of Mulberry RFD and No Time for Sergeants. Set in the 1940s or early 1950s, and copyrighted 1964, it is a trip to a time and place many would like to experience.
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