Nineteen-year-old Christy Huddleston arrives from Asheville to teach in the poverty-stricken community of Cutter Gap, where she must learn to live on her own and fit it with the locals. Christy makes friends with Miss Alice at the Mission, the local doctor and the Reverend. Meanwhile, Christy and Dr. MacNeill spend some "quality" time together and the discovery of a secret stash of moonshine beneath the school causes problems for David and Christy.

Rob Allen enters a writing contest and Little Burl is injured when he falls through a crevice in the rocks.

As the residents of Cutter Gap prepare for Thanksgiving, Christy's father visits. Meanwhile, David tries to find a way to bring the new church bell to town on his own.

Christy's father suffers a stroke, that leads to a visit from her mother, culminating in her being ordered to return home to Asheville to care for her ailing father. Meanwhile, the the Cutter Gap men have a surprise in store for the Reverend.

Rob Allen is offered a college scholarship if he can pass a test. Zady Spencer feels left out when Christy begins spending so much time with Rob, tutoring him for his entrance exam.

Christy and her students set out to disprove a superstition and take a field trip into a cave but trouble ensues. Meanwhile, Ruby Mae discovers that she is related to a famous heroine.

Dr. MacNeill puts the mission under quarantine after an outbreak of scarlet fever.