Doc Baker assists with an outbreak of mountain fever in a nearby town. The people of Walnut Grove are hopeful that the disease will pass their community by. Grace and Isaiah's young daughter, Alicia, becomes seriously ill, so Isaiah takes her to an abandoned house in town to nurse her back to health. Laura appears to have the fever as well, and Charles frantically sets out to find Doc Baker.

The young son of a recently-killed Sioux Indian moves to Walnut Grove with his Caucasian mother, Amelia. Amelia's father agrees to let them stay with him, but is ashamed that his daughter married a Native American and ostracizes the child. Spotted Eagle also endures harsh treatment from his insensitive classmates, but the Ingalls girls become his only friends.

At the end of this episode, Miss Beadle gets extremely angry at a student, Seth, for beating up Spotted Eagle. She slams her hand down on his desk and screams in his face. This is an extremely rare bout of fury from Miss Beadle, who was usually very mild-tempered and calm, even when such issues arose in the classroom.