The morning after the impromptu hoe-down, Lou asks Louisa about Diamond’s family. She learns that the boy’s mother died when he was a baby and that his father died in a mining accident. Diamond still blames the coal company for his father’s death.

The children enjoy some idle time by riding the mare named Sue over to Diamond’s favorite swimming hole. One day, Lou takes a different route home and discovers a makeshift cemetery containing the graves of her grandfather, great-grandfather, and someone named Annie Cardinal. She resolves to ask Louisa about Annie someday.  

A week later, the community stages a large Fourth of July celebration in Dickens. Cotton drives everyone down to see the speeches and fireworks. Although local politicians crow about endless prosperity, Cotton is skeptical that good fortune can last forever.

A few days later, the children are hard at work tending crops. Lou asks Louisa why Jack never returned to the mountains. Louisa explains that Jack’s mother abandoned the family, and Jack’s father died of a broken heart. She pushed Jack to leave when he grew up because he needed to share his writing gift with the world.

After this conversation, Lou resolves to seek out the cabin where orphaned Diamond now lives.