Chapter 13, "The Farm in the Clearing" Summary

That night by the creek, Little Tree is surprised to discover that Granpa had once been a boy. Granpa says he was nine years old in 1867, and had the run of the mountains. His Ma, Red Wing, was full Cherokee; so he was raised the Cherokee way. At the time, the land was occupied by Union soldiers and run by politicians. One day, while going to the settlement for supplies as a boy, Granpa finds a little valley with an old house. There are no farm animals, just some broken-down farming tools. He sees a woman with two young girls. An old, black man lives in the barn. He also sees a man wearing what is left of a ragged gray uniform. Half his leg is missing, but a hickory sapling is attached...