In which the peasant Michelle Fléchard wanders amidst a murmur of fearful names and mistrustful glances, her weary mind and desperate heart searching for her lost children near the elusive La Tourgue, her plight both pitied and doubted by the wary villagers. The somber air of suspicion and kindness mingles as she presses onward, sustained by charity and a fierce maternal hope that guides her into the shadows of the forest.