An old man takes his city-slicker grandson on a fishing trip to let him “shake hands with nature”. To while away the hours, he recollects a story from his childhood days – an adventure set in 1960 involving a precocious 12-year-old boy called Bug. Having purchased a packet of old letters at an estate sale, Bug uncovers hidden clues to solving the mysterious death of a depressed tycoon, one Royal Conrad, as well as the whereabouts of Conrad’s missing treasures that have lingered unresolved since along with his older cousin Danny and his tall friend Cobbie, embark on an adventure through the rugged but beautiful forests of North Georgia, chased all the while by the diabolical Professor Washpeddle and his Twinkie-obsessed henchman, Mister Bug, Danny, and Cobbie as they face fire-shooting bears, speeding locomotives, stump spiders, raging hounds and other dangers along the backwoods trail that leads to an astonishing discovery  that changes their lives.