Two youngsters vacationing at the Black Sea sneak onto a mysterious ship and spy the peculiar activities of a treasure-seeking crew. They are discovered and imprisoned as the ship heads for an uncharted island. Their parents put together an expedition and after numerous adventures the treasure hunters are apprehended and the mystery of a secret cove is solved.

In the summer of 1944 soldier Csorba is rewarded with furlough at a price of having committed a murder. He escapes. He tries to get to the heights of the Carpathians with Mother, to the cave of those who wish to die. That is where his mother and his father, the deserter, might be hiding.