As the novel opens, 12-year-old Cal and his father are walking a long distance through the southern United States. Pop is hard of hearing because his ears were damaged by the sound of loud guns in World War I years ago. Cal does not dislike these walks, but he hopes that his father will not start remembering. Sometimes Cal has daydreams in which he can actually see things that happened or may happen as if he is there. As they walk, Cal sees himself in a ditch with his father during a battle. In his vision, he has a pocket watch that is engraved with the initials “S.K.E.” He sees his father fall and lifts him over his shoulders. In real life, Cal’s father suddenly snaps him out of his daydream.

Cal is carrying a bag with books that he received when his school shut down. He dreams of a time when he and his father might have a farm again, and he fantasizes about buying many books. Suddenly, a man approaches the two. Because Pop and Cal are dark-skinned from their time in the sun, Pop unbuttons part of his shirt to prove to the man that they are not Black people.