Chapters 10, 11 and 12 Summary

These three chapters follow Gertie and the children as they move to Detroit and begin to settle into their unfamiliar, intimidating surroundings.

Chapter 10 - Gertie wakes from an intense dream about being late for milking, slowly realizing that she is on a train. Aware of intense cold from the window on one side of her and intense heat from the packed carriage on the other, she is also painfully aware of Amos and Cassie heavy in her lap, Enoch and Clytie beside her, and Reuben across from her, all asleep and all wearing new clothes bought with Henley's money. Overwhelmed by the unfamiliar sights, sounds, and smells of the train, Gertie makes her way into the lavatory where she vomits. Afterwards she sits quietly and reflects on Clovis' insistence that she and the family join him in Detroit, and on how...