This Tender Land

Part 3 opens with a comment from the elderly narrator, who expresses concern for his younger self, reflecting that “our former selves are never dead” (164).

Two days after leaving Jack’s farm, Albert finds a newspaper reporting the discovery of DiMarco and Billy’s bodies, though it fails to mention Albert, Odie, or Mose in connection with Emmy’s so-called “kidnapping.” That night, Emmy cries, and Mose comforts her.

The next night, they make a fire. A Native American man dressed like a cowboy appears, introduces himself as Forrest, or Hawk Flies at Night, and shares his food. He addresses Mose in Sioux and is surprised when Emmy, who learned the language from her father, responds. After dinner and music, Forrest reveals that there is a bounty for their capture, but he does not intend to turn them in.

Albert, who doesn’t trust Forrest, wakes the others to leave early the next morning. They stop to rest a few hours later. Albert shows Odie one of the Brickmans’ letters. The letter is not signed but mentions $20 to be given to Albert and Odie, which they never received. They assume it was written by their Aunt Julia and resolve to look for her in St.