Two women, Miss Harper and young Katherine, are driving home from a party. Katherine is determined to drive and she suddenly starts driving fast. The car hits something. It is a person and Miss Harper tells Katherine to take the body to the well.
Miss Harper is living with her father on their well-managed property. She is hindered by a lame leg which emphasizes her strict character. One day Miss Harper, first name Hester, decides to go to town and she discovers an orphan girl working in a shop. Girl's name is Katherine. Hester decides to take the young girl under her wing.
As the time passes, cold Hester grows more and more fond of the girl, they are inseparable. Hester tells Katherine stories of her past and her nanny Hilde. Hester's father dies and her father's friend, Mr. Bird, convinces her to sell the property to Bordens and live in a secluded small house at the edge of it. The two women like the idea of living in a cozy small home and having money at their disposal. There is a well near the house and they spend a lot of leisure time there. Katherine is writing letters back and forth with her friend Joanna from orphanage and Joanna wants to pay her a visit. Hester reluctantly agrees.
Hester and Katherine get invited one night to a party at the now Borden's home. On their way back is when the scene from the beginning happens. Hester decides to drop the body of the unknown man into the well. Soon they discover that their money is gone and that it was probably stolen by the man they hit.
Hester decides to go to town the next day to buy a rope to go down the well and retrieve the money. In town, she learns stories of an unknown man robbing people all over the place. When she returns home she discovers Katherine next to the well and Katherine tells her that the man is alive and she's been talking to him and giving him food and necessities the entire day. Hester suddenly gets a migraine attack and throughout her feverish state she is bothered by Katherine and stories of the man from the well.
There is a strong rainstorm the next night and Hester goes out to check on the well. As she is about to drop the rope one of the young Borden's arrives. He tells her that he can take care of the well for her and completely seal it. She makes a deal with Katherine to never talk of the incident again.
The next day the two women go to town and Hester pays a visit to Mr. Bird. She is told that Mr. Bird is in the hospital very ill. She is given documents of Mr. Bird making sure that Hester's money is well-invested and the she doesn't go bankrupt. Hester is saddened by this act of kindness and regrets treating Mr. Bird poorly.
Some time after, Hester and Katherine make another trip to town to wait for Joanna at the train station. The car breaks down and Mrs. Borden insists on driving Hester back and forth. Mrs. Borden's boy saw the dent and evidence of an incident on Hester's car and they are eager to hear the story about what kind of monster she hit with it. Hester feels uneasy but finally decides to play along begins telling them a story.
