A small old town on the banks of the Oka. The elderly Nikolai Nikolaevich Bessoltsev has been living alone for several years in a centenary family house with a mezzanine and four balconies.
He moved there after the death of his aunt. After becoming a widower, he was ill for a long time and often recalled the paintings of his great-grandfather - a serf artist, a whole collection of which was collected by generations of the Bessoltsevs. Nikolai Nikolaevich continued this tradition, deciding to collect all the work of his great-grandfather. He spent all his money on this, and he went in a coat with patches on his elbows, for which the children nicknamed him Zlatochatnik.
One day, Lenka’s granddaughter came to him - a clumsy long-legged teenager with a moving face, which was adorned with a large, always smiling mouth. She was immediately charmed by a house with four balconies, but soon the same story happened.
Lenka rushed home in tears and began to pack. She wanted to leave the city forever. Persuasion did not help - Nikolai Nikolaevich had to buy a ticket for the ship. At the cash desks of the river shipping company, Lenka was met by a group of classmates. They started calling the girl Scarecrow, and in the evening Lenka told her grandfather about everything that had happened to her.
Sixth grade met Lenka with ridicule. Upon learning that the new one was the granddaughter of Zlatochatnik, the guys were not shy and called Lenka the Scarecrow - "mouth to ear, even the stitches of the sewn ones." Lenka thought that her new friends were just joking, and laughed along with everyone. Of the whole class, a close-knit group headed by Mironova stood out. For her strong will and integrity, this girl was called the Iron Button. She mercilessly punished everyone who acted, in her opinion, wrong. Even in this company was a boy Valya, who believes that the main thing in life is money. He sought to get them at all costs. Shaggy believed that everything can be solved by force - it was the strongest boy in the class, the son of a forester. Everyone laughed at Ryzh only because he was red. Red himself was afraid to go against the group and laughed loudest. The girl Shmakova was the most beautiful and elegant in the classroom. Cunning, flirty and dodgy, she respected only her interests and loved to have “slaves” for herself. Such a “slave” was the Popov. He followed Shmakova, as if he was attached to her, and carried out any of her whims. Another boy, Vasiliev, was not evil, but, like everyone else, obeyed the Iron Button.
Dimka Somov also joined this company, but Mironova did not obey. The smartest boy in the class, he kept himself independent, and even did not fall into the “slaves” of Shmakova. Lenka sat next to him. She liked Dima - he looked like a sculpture in a local park called “The Sleeping Boy”. Moreover, he was the only one who stood up for her. Their classy Margarita Ivanovna was getting married at that time, was in love and did not notice anything around herself.
That day Margarita Ivanovna announced that the class would go on an excursion to Moscow, and she would go with them - her fiance lived in Moscow. Then Dimka came up with not to take money from his parents, but to make money on an excursion by himself. The class picked up the idea, and the children began to earn extra money - picking apples, sweeping streets and even gluing toys at a local factory. Now Dimka Somov was in charge of the group. Somewhere he got a huge porcelain piggy bank and put the money he earned there. Lenka was allowed to join the group, she even made friends with Dima.
At the toy factory, Dima saved Lenka. Children glued the faces of animals, and Lenka tried on a bunny head. Then the others also put on their faces and surrounded the girl. She was surrounded by strange and creepy animals, she was frightened and called Dima. He dispersed his classmates, but for a long time it seemed to Lenka that Shaggy was a bear, Valka was a wolf, Shmakova was a fox, and she herself was a poor bunny.
Once she and Dima caught a classmate of Valka for a shameful affair - he would catch orphaned dogs on the streets and take them to a livestock, a ruble apiece. Dima took away the unfortunate little dog from Valka and threatened that he would tell everyone about his “live-feed” craft. Valka stood up for his older brother. He recently came from the army and also caught dogs. And then Lenka first saw how Dima, so right and brave, was frightened as his face “turned over” from fear.
Autumn holidays have come. It's time to break the piggy bank. The last lesson of the quarter was physics. Having burst into the classroom, the guys saw a message written on the board that the physics lesson was replaced with a lesson in Russian literature. After school, Dima planned a “patronage” work in kindergarten, but no one wanted to work for free. One of the first to abandon the patronage of Valka. Dima wanted to tell everyone about that. that Valka is a flayer, but then his brother entered the class. He threatened Dimka, and he was afraid again. Then Valkin's brother erased the inscription from the board and left. The class considered itself free - someone erased the announcement, and they did not read it.
The guys went to the cinema. Only Shmakova with her faithful “slave” remained in the class. On the way to the cinema, Lenka fell, broke her knee and went to the school first-aid post, and Dima remembered that he had left a piggy bank in the classroom and returned for it. Here Margarita Ivanovna found him. She asked where the rest, why not in the lesson, began to scold Dima, called him a coward, and the boy could not stand it - he told the whole truth. This was heard by Shmakov and Popov, who were hiding under the desk, and Lenka, who was passing by the class. All evening Lenka waited for Dima to tell her about it, but he was silent. Silent and Shmakova.
In the morning, the school was filled with smart children - everyone was going to Moscow. Margarita Ivanovna entered the class and said that for them the tour was canceled "for deliberate disruption of the lesson." The coolest director reprimanded, but released to Moscow. The class began to resent such injustice, forgetting that Margarita was their teacher. The classroom left the classroom offended, finally slamming the piggy bank on the floor.
Money was divided among themselves. Then Iron Button began to find out who had betrayed them, and remembered that Dima was returning for the piggy bank. He was frightened, but Popov soon began to suspect - his pulse was increased. And then Popov hinted that he knew something interesting, and Dimka was again “turned over” from fear. Lenka was waiting for Dima to confess, but when she saw his fear, the girl took the blame on herself. Vasiliev did not believe Lenka, but Mironova believed right away and announced a boycott to Scarecrow. Margarita, who suddenly returned, heard this word, but did not delve into it - mentally she was already in Moscow with her fiancé.
Harassment began immediately after school. Lenka was driven around the city shouting “Burn the Scarecrow!”, Trying to humiliate him. Only Vasiliev did not want to beat the girl, but he did not go against the Iron Button. Dima got as well - he dared to intercede for the Scarecrow and also fell under the boycott. In the evening of the same day, Lenka admitted to Dima that she had heard his conversation with the classroom, and took the blame on herself because she wanted to protect him. Dima promised to confess, but time passed, and he still could not gain courage. Only Shmakova and Popov knew about Lenka's innocence, but they were silent - Shmakova led her game. She was interested in how the rebellious Dimka got out, and she could not understand Lenka’s act.
Listening to her granddaughter, Nikolai Nikolaevich remembered the evening when he brought the painting "Masha" to the house. On it, great-grandfather Bessoltsev portrayed his younger sister. It turned out that the cut-off girl from the picture is very similar to Lenka. Nikolai Nikolaevich was happy with this picture and did not notice what was happening with his granddaughter. He remembered how Lenka was scared through the window, putting on a bear's head. Nikolai Nikolaevich managed to pull off the mask, and under it was Dima Somov. Lenka also saw him, decided that Dima was forced, and flew to save - the grandfather did not have time to stop her. Then he vaguely heard screams, but did not even suggest that classmates were poisoning Lenka like a wolf pack.
The girl returned home in a dirty dress, exhausted and very disappointed. She looked through the window of Dimkin’s house and saw that her friend was not tortured at all. There, in a bright, clean room, Dima was visiting the whole company, headed by Mironova. They drank tea and watched TV. At heart Lenka began to realize that Somov was not going to confess. The girl grabbed a stone and threw it out the window. After breaking the glass, the stone fell into a puddle and sprayed Lenkino dress with mud.
The next day, Lenka hung out a washed dress in the courtyard when Dimka approached her. He called himself a vile coward, asked Lenka to wait a little longer and kissed. Valka saw this. He jumped into the yard, grabbed the washed dress and sped off to tell the news to Iron Button. Dima raced after him, Lenka - after. Dima went "to the barn, where the Mironovskaya company gathered." They laughed at Ryzhiy, who put on Lenkino's dress. At first they attacked Dimka, and he bravely defended himself, even tried to take the dress from Redhead. And then Dimka told Mironova that he was guilty, but this did not sound like a statement, but as an assumption. The company joyfully buzzed: a new object for persecution appeared, and Dimka could not stand it, was afraid, turned his confession into a joke, said that he simply felt sorry for the unfortunate Bessoltseva.
They did not believe him, and Lenka rushed to the rescue. Looking into Dima’s eyes, she again took upon himself his guilt. And Dima was silent. Lenka demanded her dress back. Red took it off, and the guys began tossing the dress over to each other, and Lenka swirled between them, "like a squirrel in a wheel." Finally, the dress fell into Dimkin’s hands, but he did not give it to Lenka, but threw it to Mironova. And then Lenka hit Somov in the face. Classmates piled on the girl, twisted her, and with the cries of "Burn the Scarecrow" they dragged her into the garden.
From somewhere, Iron Button and Shmakov dragged a scarecrow on a long stick, dressed in a Lenkino dress, with large eyes and mouth to ear. A plaque with the words "Scarecrow traitor" hung on his neck. A stick was thrust into the ground, and then Mironova forced Dima to set fire to the scarecrow-Lenka. When it caught fire, the girl broke free of her hands and rushed to extinguish the fire - it seemed to her that she was burning. After that, Lenka felt a change in herself - she stopped being afraid.
In the morning came the last day of vacation. Lenka was waiting on the pier Margarita Ivanovna. The girl hoped that the classroom would tell everyone the truth, since Dima could not. She met Margarita, but she came with a young husband. Having finally noticed Lenka, the teacher didn’t even remember the terrible word “boycott” she had heard in class before leaving. Lenka came to class only to say goodbye.
All the while Lenka's story lasted, the Somovs had fun - Dima celebrated his birthday. Lenka finished the story, and then Vasilyev entered the room. He saw the collected suitcases and accused the girl of cowardice. And then Lenka decided. She put on a burnt dress and cut off her hair to really look like a scarecrow. In this form, she came to Dima for a holiday. By that time, Somov had only close friends - the Mironovskaya company. Seeing an unexpected guest, “everyone silently gasped”, and Dima was warped with fear. She looked into the eyes of everyone who persecuted and offended her, told everyone what she had to say. She told the whole company about Valka the flayer, and then turned and left.
Immediately after that, Valka also wanted to slip away, but Shaggy detained him. Out of fear, Valka let slip that his brother and his friends had once wounded a forester, Father Lokhmaty. No one stood up for Valka. Gradually, everyone parted, except for Shmakova and Popov. It was then that Shmakova told Dimka that she had known everything for a long time. She hoped that Somov, the son of the chief surgeon, would become her "slave." And then Popov could not stand it. He jumped out of the house, caught up with Iron Button and laid out to her the whole truth about Dimka.
Having woken up in the morning, Nikolai Nikolaevich decided that he would leave with Lenka, and would give his priceless paintings to the local museum. Bessoltsev himself decided to leave only "Mashka". On the pier, Lenka saw how the Mironovskaya company was driving Dimka, and he was running away, cowardly clinging to the fences. Lenka rushed after. Somov was driven into class, Lenka came in after everyone. She was amiably surrounded, and the Iron Button herself smiled at her - she was delighted, because "justice had triumphed."
Margarita Ivanovna came in at the moment when Somov was declared a boycott - all but Lenka. She saw the girl’s trimmed head, but she didn’t understand, but told the news that Lenka did not know yet: Bessoltsev presented his paintings and an old house to the museum. The class gasped, and Valka was at a loss - he had no idea that he could just give an expensive thing. And then Nikolai Nikolayevich entered the class and did what he was not going to do before: he presented “Masha” to the school.
The Bessoltsevs were late for the ship and quickly left, Margarita went to see them off, and the whole company attacked Dima - because of him they offended “such people!”. The sudden returning cool Iron Button scornfully laid out everything that happened. Margarita felt ashamed - because of her personal happiness, she did not notice how the class lived. Mironova spoke again about the boycott, but no one supported her, even Lokhmaty realized that power does not always govern the world. Mironova’s company was falling apart. Seeing this, the Iron Button burst into tears - such an “iron”, obsessed with justice, she became because of her mother, who believed that everything is possible for everyone, if only it would be “sewn-up”.
And then they unfolded the picture presented by Bessoltsev, and everyone saw how Masha looked like Lenka. "And the longing, such a desperate longing for human purity, for selfless courage and nobility more and more captured their hearts and demanded an exit." Red went to the board and wrote in huge letters: "Scarecrow, forgive us!"
