Miss Roxie Stoner, a single Black woman who does odd jobs around town, knows almost everybody in King County, Mississippi. A white woman calls her to help set her ducks in the spring. On her way there, she sees a young woman sitting outside a small house. Miss Roxie hears a baby inside and asks if she can see it on her way back. That evening, she visits the house again. The young mother is alone with her baby, who is named Andrew. Miss Roxie sees that the week-old baby has been underfed. The mother says that the baby's father went to go get some milk, but Miss Roxie is worried. She invites the mother and Andrew to come to her house where she has some food, but the mother wants to wait there. Miss Roxie instead takes the baby, saying she'll bring it back in a few days when it's grown, while the mother waits. Miss Roxie takes Andrew to her house and feeds him. At night, she wakes up with him and tends to his needs, being used to not sleeping after taking care of her aging mother. In the morning, she hears a knock on the door. The sheriff and the mother's grandmother are there, looking for a "stolen" baby. They see Andrew and take him back to his mother. Miss Roxie is a little upset, since she was just trying to care for the child, but she is content with knowing that the baby loved her for a few short hours. When she sees Andrew around town, she gives him coins if she can.