A gentle, pacifist drifter faces a town's patriotic wrath on the World War II homefront. Ten-year-old Pug longs for the day when her father, who's been missing in action for three years, will return home to the family's North Carolina farm. Her lonely mother Ruby isn't even sure that her husband is still alive, but she keeps hope alive by winding his watch every day -- and fending off the advances of a wealthy local. Then a conscientious objector named Tom wanders into the lives of Pug and Ruby, to work their farm, bringing their loneliness to an end -- but also stirring up bitter feelings among their neighbors.