Two village boys - brothers Semyon and Pavel - serve a Moscow merchant-shopkeeper. They face harsh exploitation and hard forced labor. The brothers' life paths diverge. Unable to withstand the merchant's bullying, Pavel goes to the factory, becomes a worker, and later a professional revolutionary. Semyon remains in service. In the post-revolutionary period, Semyon, having been to the front and returning to the village, joined the kulaks, brutally dealt with representatives of the Soviet government, becoming the head of a gang of “badgers” hiding in the forests. A Red Army detachment led by Pavel is sent to fight the bandits...
Two friends are army officers, and the turbulent times throw them from the Civil War in the early 20s to the Soviet conflict in Finland, from China to the Urals.
A mysterious castle has stood on the island for 300 years, about which there are many legends and rumors. In reality, the castle is home to a boarding school, but local residents are sure that the ghost of the Green Hunter lives there. The boys also think they hear footsteps at night. And they were not mistaken - their search for adventure leads them to the sinister secrets of people who collaborated with the Nazis during the war.
