In the small town of Felicity, Indiana, a group of eccentric Hoosiers are caught up in a bizarre kidnapping scheme that makes "The Ransom of Red Chief" seem like a model of efficiency. Howell Bourne believes an international banking conspiracy is causing American farms to fail, and when two profesors from the Soviet Union visit a nearby college, he thinks God has encouraged him to kidnap them. His sister, Bailey, an aspiring witch, Maggie Esterhaczy, a beautiful psychologist obsessed with the threat of nuclear war, and a colorful cast of canines are all swept up in the ensuing events of several whirlwind days, which change the lives of all concerned.