Chapter 9, Light Bread and Apple Butter Summary

Jeff finds satisfaction in everything but the food. There always seems to be too little of it. One day he takes Dixie for a walk in hopes of finding some ripe persimmons. He smells the nice aroma of a cider press. It feels good to get away from the camp for awhile and as he walks through the Missouri woods, he thinks of his mother's brightly colored rag rug that lay beside her bed.

During his walk, he finds a small unpainted clapboard house with apple trees in the backyard. Tempted to just take some apples, he instead decides to knock on the door and ask permission. The woman refuses him at first, worrying that if she feeds one soldier, all the others will want food, too. Jeff promises not to bring anyone...