In a drought-ridden Saskatchewan of the 1930s, self-possessed, enigmatic Elena finds herself living alone in the small village of Trevna. Her mother has been dead for many years, and her father, burdened by the hardships of drought, has disappeared, and the 18-year-old is an object of pity and charity in her community. But when a stranger shows up at a country dance, she needs only one look and one dance before jumping into his Lincoln Roadster, leaving the town and its shocked inhabitants behind.