A sailing adventure ends as a pack of dogs wins the war with drug runners while saving their Pack Leader and leading him through the Everglades swamp. While investigating an insurance claim, Bart Casey is marked for death by a drug lord named King. Accompanied by his two dogs, Dutch and Kate, Bart sails his boat, the Pelican, down the Florida coast. King makes several attempts to sink Bart's sailboat and kill Bart and his dogs. Bart is shot and King's boat is damaged. The Pelican drifts into the Everglades, grounding deep in the swamp at an Indian mound. A pack of dogs meets the boat. Meanwhile, King searches for the Pelican intent on disposing of Bart. The dogs intervene. The dogs learn to give Bart food and water, and guide him through the swamps, fighting King and his reinforcements all the way. Buster, a giant black dog, takes charge of the pack with military precision, utilizing snakes, gators, quicksand, and deception as their weapons. While the pack fights for Bart's life, he experiences visions of his life and of a peculiar man with many names. He has only a shadowy knowledge of what is happening in reality beyond the smells of dog breath and peanut butter. "Where is this place," he asks his new friend. "Is, is wherever you are," answers the philosopher.