Unable to bear the silence and sadness at home, Grant catches a train to Chicago. From there, he catches one to New York, and from there he catches a bus to Atlantic city. He’s never travelled like this before, so he’s fairly naive. Along the way he spends almost all of his money.

Grant grew up in a family of eight — two parents, six boys. Now, it’s a family of four. First the sickly baby Wesley died, then Roger accidentally shot himself in the arm, then Edwin shot himself in the stand of a lodgepole, and Thornton died at sea. Grant feels regretful that his father didn’t let him go off to war instead of Thornton.

In Atlantic City, Grant gets a job helping take care of a parrot at a booth on the boardwalk. One morning he goes out to the beach to plan what to do next. He sees a boat coming into the harbor. He imagines soldiers coming off the boat and shooting him, as he sinks into the sand in tears. He doesn’t ever want to go home, but he knows he will.