In an Alaskan village in 1948, the narrator, Fred (Frederika) and her mother ("Mamma") watch the local pilot, Sam White, take the only schoolteacher away in his plane. Fred worries about what will happen without a teacher, and her mother suggests there won't be any more school. Not having enjoyed her own schooldays, Mamma doesn't mind this, but Fred is upset. They watch as the teacher asks Sam to take her back to town, then runs to get her belongings from her cabin.

Fred thinks about the teacher telling Sam why she left. The teacher hated the smell of fish, which is a big part of the students' lives. It made her mad when students smelled of fish, even though it was what they always ate for lunch. Some also help their families with fishing and packing fish. When the teacher confronts a student named Plasker about this smell, her eyes water, and the students know the teacher will not be staying. They have had many teachers since the school opened; Fred reflects that the mean-looking ones stay longer, while "the ones who smiled all the time" (4) leave quickly.

On October 1, Sam tells Fred that he's brought a new teacher to their village.