A family lives on a large farm, where the barn and the house are spread far apart. The family has hired a farmhand, Judd, to help out, and he sleeps in the barn to keep the machinery safe. One night in December, Judd and the children's father go out drinking so the two older children, Emerson and Cato, are left to guard the machinery. In the early evening, the children play outside because their stepmother, who had been in a rotten mood since that afternoon, had kicked them out while she prepared dinner. Finally, she lets them back in and they eat dinner together. Emerson and Cato leave for the barn, and drop pieces of bread so that they can find their way home in the morning. When they arrive, Emerson is too cold to climb the ladder up to the loft where Judd keeps the blankets, so the boys bury themselves in hay. By the morning, the boys both freeze to death. Their father fires Judd as he grieves the loss of his sons.