A Land Remembered

The ice storm devastates the region, killing orange trees and countless other plants and animals. “Only buzzards profited from the freeze” (310). Zech infers that the closest place to buy new orange trees is Fort Dallas in what is now modern-day Miami.

When Keith and members of his tribe come to pay their respects to Tobias, Zech sees no sign of Tawanda. He learns from her parents that she died in childbirth, giving birth to a stillborn son conceived during Zech’s most recent visit. They also tell Zech that Toby stayed behind because that is what Tawanda would have wanted.

Zech, Glenda, and Sol ride down the coast to Fort Dallas to buy more orange trees. On the way, they stop at the luxurious Royal Poinciana Hotel in Palm Beach, where the man at the front desk turns them away because of their uncouth appearance. Disgusted by the opulence on display, Zech says, “Someday the damned railroads will haul folks in here thicker than deer flies, and it’ll spread elsewhere. I’m glad Pappa never saw such as this. It would ‘a killed him quicker than the malaria and the cold” (321).

At a pet store, Sol is flabbergasted that the same birds he encounters every day in the wilderness sell for $100 or more here.