Isabelle tries to pass along some food to Prentiss in jail, as Hackstedde is purposely starving Prentiss. Wade then orders for a judge to be contacted so that Prentiss can be speedily sentenced to execution. At Wade’s direction Hackstedde arrests and imprisons Prentiss.

In a fury, Prentiss spits on Wade Webler. Later, Wade Webler arrives at the Walkers’ home and demands an apology for the allegations against August. When Caleb tells Hackstede that the killer was August Webler, Hackstedde becomes even firmer in his refusal, as Hackstedde is obedient to the wealth and power of the Webler family. However, the sheriff-Lamar Hackstedde-refuses to investigate the death of a Black man. They call in the local sheriff to investigate. August sees Landry and kills him to keep the relationship a secret. One day, Landry accidentally observes Caleb and August while the two men are having sex in the woods. August is the son of the town’s wealthiest resident, Wade Webler. Caleb has a secret romantic/sexual relationship with August Webler. He returns home, and although he is at first wary of Prentiss and Landry, he soon begins to form a friendly rapport with them. George and Isabelle’s son, Caleb, was a Confederate soldier in the war. George hires Prentiss and Landry as paid workers on the farm, much to the anger of the other townspeople. They own land, which they have recently decided to turn into a peanut farm. One day, Prentiss and Landry encounter a local man named George Walker. Along with the other newly freed people, they make camp in the area and try to decide where to go. One day, they are freed when Union soldiers arrive in Old Ox. Prentiss and Landry are two brothers who have lived their entire lives so far as slaves in the town of Old Ox, Georgia. The Confederacy has surrendered to the Union, and Northern soldiers have begun to arrive in the South to set up provisional governments.

This novel takes place soon after the end of the Civil War. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2021. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Harris, Nathan.

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