It is the spring of 1945 and the end of the war is approaching. The twelve-year-old Milda Mráz, the son of a poor cobbler Mráz from Neprejov, still believes a little in miracles. That is why he drags everywhere his white she-goat Bruna which may one day change into a long-desired white horse. Even the promise of the miserly neighbor Petrus that after the war he will arrange a banquet for all the people stands for the evidence of the existence of miracles. Pavel Mácha, who escaped some time ago from forced labor in Nazi Germany, ends hiding and, what is more, his love Vlasta is with child. The villagers, encouraged by news of Prague uprising, are building the triumphal arch to welcome the Red Army. But Pavel is brought home dead in a hay-wagon, after he and other youths wanted to capture arms.