The story begins as a woman named Sara looks upon her payload as she is taking a carriage ride across the Finnish countryside to where her six-year-old daughter Katri has been residing with her grandparents.

The ambiance is tense and awkward Katri awaits her grandfather's return with Aapeli and the calf Juura who seem to have sensed the presence of a deviant diagnostic as if by telepathy; while Katri prepares the sauna galvanized by the prospect of some new clothes, Katri's grandfather Julius struggles to make his way home to repair the damage caused by the bear.

An impromptu geography lesson about Finland swiftly yields to a church service that illuminates the scope of damage Katri's grandfather has taken at the hands of a bear prior Katri beginning her home commute when Martti intercepts her to signal an interest in a fishing trip to temper the news of no headway being made to learn of any job openings; unfortunately, Martti wanders into the wrath of his elder sister Mari whose deflection succeeds the ashes of the mission charged him.

A typical quiet evening becomes the backdrop for an ordinary home commute with Juura to become extraordinary when Martii accosts Katri with the preamble to a viable job opportunity on the Räikkölä-ke farm along with the necessary vector to be added to the payrolls; as an additional unexpected bonus, Katri's grandfather Julius is in the neighborhood entreating Governor Halme that he be bailed some wheat; while licking his wounds from having his exhortation refused, Julius is forced to rethink his perspective on Katri working now faced with the prospect of there being no food at all and reluctantly agrees to accompany his granddaughter to Halme-ke the next day where the cobbler explains them the parameters of Räikkölä-ke's herding job.

Upon the affirmative reply arriving in record-breaking time and a lunch pack galvanized with her grandparents' sage counsel for the road, zero hour for Katri's journey to Räikkölä-ke with Aapeli is finally at hand!!! A chance encounter with the cobbler becomes the forum for Katri to have delivered unto her a syllabus of what to expect from Räikkölä-ke prior to Martii catching up to Katri; upon having explained the cobbler's counsel, Martii feels a little guilty about how things have turned out as he endures the physiological wages of the subterfuge that he has had to avail.

The carriage ride with Pekka's derision as the salary quickly gives way to Katri finding nobody from Räikkölä-ke to greet her with instructions of what to do next; while shooing Aapeli outside, Katri runs into Anneli who finds it hilarious that the confused child mistakes her for the estate governess when she returns from furlough. Katri's confusion is only compounded when she finds the estate governess Ulla Räikkölä in the sauna making hotcakes apparently unable to focus on anything about her other than her fondness for Aapeli who has come upon a doghouse built near Katri's quarters perfect for housing the dachshund if Katri can get the estate governor Teemu Räikkölä to see things her way when he returns -- easier said than done when Teemu is in a bad mood and Aapeli is less than diplomatic with his volition for the doghouse!!! The ensuing caustic denigration of Aapeli is ultimately perverted to Teemu's detriment when Aapeli helps Katri to account for each and every cow during the cattle drive tomorrow; however, Teemu charging Katri flawless memorization of individual names and attributes proves far more daunting.

The previous ten days have affirmed quod erat demonstrandum what Ukonniemi-ke, Halme-ke, and now Teemu already know: Katri and Aapeli's prominent proficiency at herding cattle. When Katri finally has her lunch and is able to get going, Teemu charges her the guidance of the cattle to the southern pasture along with walking them five kilometers; while Katri enjoys the nice weather as she watches the cattle do their thing, Pekka comes over for a visit to appraise her status.

Even though it should be clear that the safety of the cows is the alpha priority for which she was hired and that the errand Ulla charged her is an illegal order to never be complied, Katri dreads the prospect of Teemu purging her from the payrolls on Ulla's behalf if she stands her ground but also remembers having it explained that Ulla is not all there upstairs; commiserating Ulla's anguish for her late daughter Leena and reasoning that Aapeli alone is enough to keep the placid herd in check, Katri decides for the errand in spite of Aapeli's protests and oblivious to Pekka sensing a deviant diagnostic when she races by him.

Thanks to her collaborative efforts with Pekka, Katri successfully rescued all of the Räikkölä-ke cattle only to have endowed unto her a scathing castigation complete with a cane strike before Teemu has the true nature of the situation explained to him; still, Katri is in for quite a surprise when she finds herself inhibited by a cumbersome deviant diagnostic as the wages for her muddy intercession for Viikuna who had led the other bovines to the cliff at the north pasture in the first place.

While Katri might have successfully dodged the bullet of adverse employment action from being sidelined with a cold due to Ulla coming to grips with the final agony of her daughter Leena, Martii Halme cannot escape the reality that he does not have the optimal configuration to successfully meet the hefty physiological demands of herding cattle like Katri does nor the stormy family politics he is forced to prosecute with Helena at home -- the commute thereof wielded as the backdrop of another impromptu geography lesson about Finland.

While his fatigued arms might digress quite vociferously, Martii Halme prosecutes his workday with the perspective that he is not wrong to have rushed across the lake to Räikkölä-ke where he has promised to herd the cows while Katri recuperates in spite of Helena's objections equally split between emphatic counsel to stay home and declaring her intention to blow the whistle to her family government; meanwhile, Ulla and Anneli prosecute a conversation about the latter's perspective of the former's recovery while the former having decided for housing Katri in the summer house charges the latter the refurbishment of a room to this effect.

A foggy morning becomes the ironic backdrop for Katri's illness to have completely resolved itself and for Aapeli to roam all over the Räikkölä farm barking up a storm much to Katri's chagrin when Ulla and Anneli are also awakened; while both ladies are grateful for the wake-up call, Teemu is not quite done sleeping as he directs Katri to work hard.

Aki has done a wonderful thing by introducing the Kalevala to Katri and defeating the vindictiveness by which Helena expresses her clumsiness with that book; still, a little excavation will reveal that everything is not as hunky-dory as it initially appears when Aapeli is frustrated at having to do double duty since Katri is so engrossed in reading the Kalevala. Upon Pekka sharing his perspective of books being a headache for him, Katri remarks about the complicated portions that make sense with a little computation in most cases when Aki posing the question of what Pekka and Katri plan to do with their lives becomes the preamble of his discourse about the feeling of national pride galvanizing the Finnish people as they prepare to fight for their political independence from Russia; an impromptu tutoring session with Aki gives way to Teemu giving Katri a day off as thanks for Ulla's recovery. Martii arrives the next day with the news that Julius and Hilda are doing well for themselves along with that he has secured some books for Katri to read; while Pekka digests the food for thought of Martii playing with Aapeli, Martii returns back home to find Aki sending off his mother on her journey back to Turku. Upon hearing that Katri has Sunday off and realizing that Katri is not going to enjoy being around Helena, Aki suggesting that Martii and Katri spend time with him at his villa becomes the ultimate backdrop for the two kids to learn that insulting criminal laws with destructive conduct is not the only route to being arrested . . . the sole prerequisite is to gently rock the boat; much to Martti and Katri's horror, Aki's political activities are making the prospect of capsizing in a heavy storm an imminent and intimidating prospect for the Russians!!!

Morning breaks unto the Räikkölä farm when Teemu charges Katri guidance of the cattle to the north pasture where she and Pekka had to combine efforts to rescue the cattle that wandered too close to the steep cliff there and could not arrest their descent down the precarious terrain of the slope; realizing that she could have had hefty fatality ratios for nothing more than a careless error, Katri foregoes reading to endow extra vigilance unto the wayward Viikuna not realizing that Martti has been searching for her because he has to return back to his urban home. Pekka explaining Martii the presence of multiple pastures igniting a fast friendship between the two boys obfuscates Katri endeavoring to understand why Aki had been arrested as she holds the Kalevala in her hand -- the quandary that becomes the forum for Martii to deliver Katri the bad news. Viikuna's curiosity punctuates Martti and Katri's personal perspective comparison exercise before Martii's cousin Helena arrives to relay that the departure time has been moved up along with taking one last contemptuous dig at Katri. An upcoming thunderstorm becomes the ultimate forum for Katri to receive a new dress from Ulla along with the opportunity to some spend more time with Martti; as an unexpected bonus, Katri is also blessed with courier commerce courtesy of Martti who is combining efforts with Pekka to mind the herd.

An ordinary afternoon of minding the herd on the north pasture where Katri feels that she can work on reading the Kalevala without having an incident on her hands becomes the preamble for a novel discovery -- neither Viikuna leading the other cows over the cliff nor Aapeli giving chase after a curious fox -- but rather a lost lamb grazing on the pasture that Pekka denies is a Penttilä asset. Katri leading the cattle back to the Räikkölä farm sets the stage for a soliloquy about the climate patterns of Finland whose most prominent feature Aapeli demonstrates as he repels a pack of hungry wolves stalking the herd during the home commute -- forest fauna not being as reluctant to venture into the open. Back at the ranch, the little lamb quickly becomes the talk of the town when Katri has it explained that she will most likely end up as the sheep's owner considering the circumstances defined by Teemu who gives Katri the syllabus of her duties the next day where she unsuccessfully tries to emulate the bundling techniques of the adults. Ulla brings lunch out to everybody and signals an interest in having Aapeli's company while out on the town but finds that the dachshund is more interested in catching the fox that previously eluded him. Unfortunately, for Katri, Aapeli is ultimately not the only one with a score to settle as the pack of wolves Aapeli repelled earlier decide to try for the sheep in spite of Katri's fierce opposition; a lengthy battle and a nocturnal escort home courtesy of Vihtori later, Katri enjoys a hearty and well-earned meal after reading a letter that Martti has decided to apply himself academically.