Can Ruby save a white kiwi? When her grandfather Rex is hospitalised, 11-year-old Ruby retreats to the forest with her trusty dog sidekick and a weird old doll she wants to get rid of. Near the treehouse built by Rex, she discovers a kiwi burrow. And is that a white kiwi chick she sees? Ruby and her friend Spider uncover a plot by the local vet to catch the white kiwi for an international smuggling ring. Together with a social misfit, ex-convict, nature lover—and perhaps some mystical help from the local patupaiarehe—they manage to expose and catch the crooked vet.