Orina Vandeholt is young, beautiful and, after the death of her much-loved millionaire father, extremely rich. To escape her grief, she travels on her father's yacht to the Gulf of Mexico, stopping off at a small town called Sadaro. There Orina is invited by two local boys to go riding with them – and when she agrees a wild adventure begins. After being knocked out with a drugged coffee, she finds she's been duped. The boys have kidnapped her on the orders of their leader – a handsome, charismatic man the people have named 'Juarez' after a Mexican hero. But it is not ransom he seeks. He needs her money to build a dam that will end a drought and save the lives of his starving people – and to get that money he intends to marry Orina! Orina is furious but there's nothing she can do. However, soon the plight of Juarez' people melts her heart and when at last the water flows, and Juarez sets her free, she realises that he is still the captor of her heart!