It's the '60s. A young man tries to find out what happened to his grandfather. In the process, his Puritan heritage clashes with the counter-culture.
Young Mark Wigglesworth, descendant of the Puritan poet, is awakened late one night in his Vermont home by the sound of digging in his back yard. When he looks out the window he sees his parents burying what appears to be a body. Then they plant an apple tree in the hole. The next day, the family moves to Montana. Ten years later, Mark enrolls at Harvard, the alma mater of his ancestor. He had been told that his grandfather stayed behind when the family moved and eventually died, but now, back in New England, he is determined to learn the truth about what happened that night. His grandfather, he finds out, had a reputation as a libertine, and locals believe he went west with the rest of the family. A rumor in town is that the grandfather buried a lot of money somewhere in or around the house. He also meets Eileen, a distant cousin, and her friend Phoebe, a free-spirited young woman with whom he falls in love.