In the late 1890's, eight-year-old Timothy and three-year-old Gay, whose parents are dead, are under the guardianship of Dr. Cudd and his wife Flossie, a pair of unsavory child brokers. After learning that they are to be separated, Timothy takes his sister and runs away from the city. As he heads for Pleasant Valley, he fantasizes that he is on a quest like his hero Don Quixote, and hopes to find the perfect mother for Gay. After the long journey, the children fall asleep on lawn chairs in front of a beautiful ranch house belonging to Vilda Cummings and her adopted helper, Martha Blair. Vilda takes the children in, despite the fact that she intensely dislikes anyone of the male gender, and puts Timothy to work on the ranch. In the meantime, she attempts to contact the Cudds, as she does not believe Timothy's tale of child-selling. In addition to Vilda's harsh attitude toward Timothy, her friend Hitty Tarbox's daughter Samantha constantly gets Timothy into trouble. Martha stands up for Timothy, but she too receives Vilda's wrath for her growing friendship with David Young, a ranchhand. Timothy gets in trouble again when he hides Sancho, a young calf of which he is fond, which Vilda intends to sell to Jabe Doolittle. Samantha finds the calf and returns it to Vilda, who punishes Timothy. One night while Martha stays up to stir the apple butter, she is visited by David, who proposes marriage to her. She accepts, but they are separated by Vilda, who furiously demands that David leave her property. During the ensuing argument between Vilda and Martha, it is revealed that Vilda is ashamed of Martha, who is actually her niece, because she believes that Martha is common and cheap for falling in love with a man, as did Vilda's sister. Martha fights back, however, by accusing Vilda of being mean and twisted. After Martha leaves, Timothy sweetly comforts Vilda, who is hurt by Martha's accusation, and the next day Vilda demonstrates a change of heart when she buys back Sancho and her mother for Timothy. The Cudds arrive at the ranch and Vilda announces her intention to keep the children, but refuses to meet the Cudds's demand for $200. The Cudds kidnap the children and return to the city, where they lock the children in a room and hurriedly pack. They are interrupted by the police, however, who arrest them and return the children to Vilda. In accordance with Timothy's dream, Vilda has the children baptized with her own last name, and apparently has given her blessings to Martha and David's union.