Odintsov's reconnaissance group, which includes Ivan Rodin, makes its way deep into the rear with a special task - to transport a young man named Savichev across the front line. Who he is, where he came from and how he got to Odintsov’s partisans is not reported. Since the Germans are looking for them, they have to return by a different route. The morning after a difficult transition, Rodin, while others are sleeping, catches a thief. Gypsy child Marco says that he escaped from the hospital where blood was taken from him and other children. The scouts save the children, but it is impossible to break through to the front line with them. Rodin remembers the teacher he saw in one of the villages and says that he can wait for ours to arrive at school. It turns out that in the basement of this school, since the very beginning of the war, the director has been hiding several gypsy families: he pretended to be a German supporter so that they would not poke their noses into his school. Odintsov allows the radio operator to get in touch, they report about the rescued children and give their coordinates. The Germans search yards, cowsheds and warehouses, and then go to the school. The director reports that everything is fine, but upon hearing the children’s cries, the fascists begin to storm the school.
