Zane Haney has been forced to take care of the family in the bayou country because his father is in the Veteran’s hospital. Zane receives help from his grandfather, but his burden is heavy. On top of Zane’s daily problem of putting food on the table, after a tornado stricks near the Haney shack, a huge whooping crane hobbles out of the thicket into Mama Haney’s chicken yard, scaring Bubba, Zane’s younger brother, and Luci, his baby sister. Zane stops Bubba from shooting the whooper, which Mama later names Old Crip, because Zane had learned the whooper was almost extinct.
Although Mama doesn’t like it one bit, since Zane is the breadwinner, she lets him keep the giant crane, doctor its leg and wing, and feed it. Zane overcomes many obstacles as he struggles to keep the family fed, knowing the doctors had given up on Papa Haney walking again—except Zane never gave up hope, and somehow he had a weird feeling that if he could get the whooper well enough to fly, his Papa, who had finally become crippled, would get well and walk.
As it turned out, Papa walked before Old Crip flew. Papa had surprised himself when the Scruggs bunch threatened his family. Papa walked. Later, he helps Zane rescue Nanette, Zane’s girl friend from a murderer. At the end, when the little family sees Old Crip get up and fly toward the Texas Gulf Coast, Bubba asks, “What caused Old Crip to fly? ”
“Instinct, I reckon,” Zane returned.
“What is instinct, though?” Bubba asked.
“It’s love.” Papa Haney said, knowing that was what enabled him to walk again.
