In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, within the close-knit religious Amish society that shuns modern ways and inventions, young Amish girl Tess Ziegler works as a schoolteacher. Feeling that there is more to life than what is offered within the confines of her closely knit community, Tess rebels and runs off with hippie Terry McAllister, the fanatical leader of a religious, free love cult. After a mock marriage, Tess becomes pregnant by another member of the cult and tries to abort her child by throwing herself from a horse. Finally, a repentant Tess returns home and is accepted back into the community by her parents and Claude Souders, a young Amish man whom she marries.