Old shepherd Serkebai seeks a second lambing from his flock, but kolkhoz chairman Aisary, citing lack of pasture and water, urges slaughtering the sheep. Defying him, Serkebai leads the flock across the Syr Darya into the Kyzyl Kum desert with several kolkhoz workers and his daughter Marzhan. After days without finding a well, Serkebai gives leadership to Kundebai and departs alone to die in the sands, followed by the sheep. Searching for her father, Marzhan meets hydrogeologists drilling an artesian well, where she falls in love with geologist Imash. The team rescues Serkebai’s group, and water bursts from the well, forming a lake to which the entire kolkhoz soon relocates.

The events take place during the Great Patriotic War. The mother is illiterate, unable to read or write, but since the only way to stay informed is to wait for and read letters from the front, she begins to teach herself and eventually becomes a postwoman. More than once, she has to deliver tragic news to other families, and she takes upon herself the burden of compassion for the mothers, understanding their grief and trying to ease it.

The film takes place near the border outpost "Red Stones". Three guys: the grandson of a herdsman, his cousin, who came on vacation from the city and the daughter of the head of the frontier post, met by chance in the Kazakh border steppes, where they spent time playing games. But when the real danger comes to replace the games, the guys proved to be real border guards.