Lidi is a brilliant magician onstage, with copper-colored hair and hypnotic hands. She can perform all manner of astonishing illusions and tricks. But one trick eludes her, the the greatest in the world: the rope trick. And only one person can teach it to her, the legendary Ferramondo.

On her quest to find him, she meets some companions who help along the way: an orphan girl with true prophetic powers and a desperate need for a family; a handsome outlaw with a price on his head; and a circus owner with a troupe of dancing pigs.

But when the child is kidnapped by greedy men who want to use her gift for their own ends, Lidi must abandon the quest and summon all her resources to save the girl- and to discover that the power she has within herself is greater than any trick that can be learned.