The life of the Sinelnikov sisters, hospitable and friendly hostesses of the district Teacher's House, located on the outskirts of a small town somewhere on the border of the Moscow and Smolensk regions, flowed peacefully and calmly. But then the war broke out, the fall of 1941 came. The enemy is eager for the capital of our Motherland - Moscow, and the town becomes the site of fierce autumn-winter battles of 1941-1942. The heroes of the book are soldiers and commanders of the Red Army, teachers and schoolchildren, partisans - people of different ages and professions, united in a single patriotic impulse.