I) Bela leads a raid on nomad camps to bring back young girls to make into brides once they grow up. Post-raid, the soldiers struggle to carry the children. The first night, a young girl comes out of the grasses; she had followed them in order to be reunited with her captive sister. The soldiers name the children. One of them, Ralo, names a very sick baby Groda but soon after abandons her. II) The two sisters, Mal and Modh, whisper about the dead, abandoned girl, saying that because she was named she will follow them as a ghost. III) The other women in the house raise the two Dirt girls, teaching them the rules and customs of the new place they live in. Modh and Mal sleep together, often hearing Groda’s ghost. Modh has her coming of age ceremony at fourteen. Later, at thirteen, Mal has her ceremony. Bela takes notice of the younger sister, so Modh dances to draw attention away from her. She seduces Bela in a few dances. A few days later, he announces he will marry her. Ralo had noticed Mal at Modh’s wedding and he makes an offer of marriage to the family, but it is refused. Ralo visits, but Modh tells him Mal is sick. Mal’s state worsens from hearing the ghost, which she says Ralo brings with him. Ralo returns with an offer for marriage so enormous that it cannot be refused. Mal accepts the news of the wedding calmly but says the ghost rejects it. Then, Modh discovers she is pregnant. The ghost wails as the preparations for the wedding occur but it ultimately takes place. The next morning Modh finds out that Mal had stolen a sword and used it to kill Ralo. In retaliation, they strangle her and refuse to bury her. Modh’s baby, too large, kills her as she gives birth.