Set in the 1930s town of Vevay, Indiana, the story follows Sooner, Susan Deer a girl of unknown parentage who is raised by the elderly backwoods woman Old Mam Hawes, [Cloris Leachman], who earns a living making illegal moonshine. Hawes takes Sooner into town and attempts to collect foster care funds for raising Sooner, but this brings her guardianship into question with the Sheriff Phil Rotteman, [Don Murray]. Soon afterward, a childless couple—Mac, [Richard Crenna] and Elizabeth McHenry, [Lee Remick]—offer to take Sooner in, in the hope that having a child in the house might help Elizabeth out of a long depression. Sooner is welcomed into a fragile, loving home and grows excited about school, eventually enrolling and finding ways to blend into classes after a rough start.
The new arrangement deepens as Sooner brings home a few classmates to show them her pet bird, insisting it doesn’t fly because it doesn’t want to. The children tease and prod the bird, and it dies in the process. Elizabeth is horrified by the accident, while Sooner initially seems numb to the tragedy. The next morning Sooner disappears, returning to Old Mam Hawes and digging up the bird’s body to bury it again. When Elizabeth discovers the disappearance, she retrieves Sooner’s body and returns with her to the Hawes cabin; Hawes scolds Elizabeth for being a poor guardian and implies that Sooner belongs with her, elevating the tension between the two households.
Time passes and the McHenrys struggle to cope with the loss of Sooner. Sooner remains with Hawes, who speaks of Florida as a warmer, brighter future. As the annual county fair approaches, Jim Seevey, [Michael Gross], a bootleg buyer Hawes sells her whiskey to, warns that there will be extra state inspectors at the fair and that she may not be able to sell there. Hawes lashes out, and Sooner is tasked with pulling the old horse William to the cart so they can haul the whiskey themselves, despite Sooner’s concern that William is past his prime.
At the fair, which Sooner has never attended before, Hawes gives her a little money—something she has never done before—and tells her to stay close. Elizabeth spots Sooner and buys her more food as they share a brief moment, riding the Ferris wheel together and getting a little dizzy before returning to the cart. Hawes is waiting there, trying to whip William into motion, but the horse collapses from the strain. Mac tends to the animal and confirms the death, and Sooner confronts the sorrow of loss, recognizing a parallel to the earlier death of the bird.
The Sheriff arrives with a warning that Old Mam Hawes may be forced to leave town. Hawes mutters about Florida as a possible escape, while the Sheriff makes it clear he would be glad to see that outcome come to pass. Hawes tells Sooner to stay with the McHenrys, but as she walks away, she glances back, a subtle sign of unresolved ties. In the end, a quiet reconciliation brings Mac, Elizabeth, and Sooner back under one roof, choosing to return home together and carry forward with the fragile bond they’ve built.
