White troops are approaching the locality. A small garrison of Red Army soldiers decides to evacuate civilians and a wounded soldier to a safe place. This responsible business is entrusted to the young Komsomol Efimka. The carts leave the village and drive along forest roads, but they go astray. At night, on halt, Efimka, his mother and Verka talk about the future, about a house of forty floors with a tower, a star and a searchlight - let it shine. .. Efimka decides to get to the Red Army detachment. In the forest, he bumps into whites, kills a white officer in a shootout. And when white people attack the refugees, a red squad appears. He was led by Efimka.