Peace Like a River

The day after Christmas, Jeremiah begins selling pieces of furniture around the house for cash, which he uses to stock the Airstream with canned goods and other necessities. Then the Lands receive a postcard from August and Birdie Schultz indicating in code that Davy had been with them at their farm in North Dakota. On January 22, they start the 80-mile trip to the neighboring state, driving their Plymouth and towing the Airstream trailer.

Between the state line and the Schultz farm, the family sees a dead crow in the road on two occasions. Jeremiah says growing up in the area, he’d never seen that, as crows are smart birds that know to get out of the way of vehicles. As they arrive at August’s home, Reuben is beset by worry about where they’ll go from here, having no other clue to Davy’s plan or whereabouts. His father says all they can do is let themselves be guided by faith, like the Israelites as they left Egypt.

August provides details about Davy’s escape and subsequent journey, as he’d heard them from Davy. After escaping, Davy hitched rides when he could, and walked when he couldn’t. He showed up at the farm clean shaven but under-dressed for the cold.