Polly and Jessie are young pioneer girls who live with their family on the open prairie. They don't understand what happened when Mama leaves for a walk and doesn't come back. The girls find her and bring her home to the family soddy, but something is terribly wrong, something to do with Mama losing her baby.
Mama doesn't seem to know who or where she is. Polly and Jessie have to care for her, at least until Papa returns from across the prairie. But the girls are afraid. Ruthless neighbours are threatening to seize the family's land for themselves, and Mama seems to be getting worse. Are Polly and Jessie strong enough to manage alone?
