This Tender Land

Examining the skeleton, they conclude that it belonged to a Native American youth, who may have been murdered. Albert suggests that they leave the skeleton alone, but Mose insists on burying it. At Mose’s request, Odie offers a eulogy.

That night, Odie remembers his father, who was shot while making a liquor delivery near Lincoln. Mose reveals that Sister Eve told him his Sioux name, Amdacha, which means “Broken to Pieces” (272). Emmy has another fit. As it ends, she says, “They’re all dead” and “I couldn’t help them” (272).

They travel downstream. Mose remains in a dark mood following the discovery of the skeleton. After an argument with Albert, Odie visits the nearby town of Mankato, where he witnesses police put down a rally of veterans campaigning for economic assistance. Odie hurries back to the campsite but finds it empty.

Odie sees adult footprints and dogs’ pawprints near the campsite. He follows the river on foot but finds no sign of the others. Hearing music, he follows the sound to a group of temporary shelters. A family by the name of Schofield offers him food. He learns that Powell and Sarah Schofield, along with their three children and Sarah’s mother, Alice Beal, left for Chicago after losing their farm in Kansas, but they were stranded when their truck broke down. During dinner, Odie recognizes the leader of the rally, Captain Gray, who dubs the community Hopersville rather than Hooverville. Odie plays “Shenandoah,” hoping to impress the Schofields’ daughter, Maybeth.

After the music, Mother Beal asks Odie to read a passage from the Bible; he selects Psalm 23, which compares God to a shepherd. Mr. Schofield appears, drinking whiskey. At Mother Beal’s request, Maybeth helps Odie find a place to sleep. They talk for a few minutes, look at the stars, and then briefly kiss before Maybeth returns to her family.

The next morning, Odie helps the Schofields prepare breakfast. Afterward, Odie and Mr. Schofield try to fix his truck, but they soon give up. Mr. Schofield goes to get a drink, and Mrs. Schofield asks Maybeth to follow him. Odie goes with her.

After seeing Mr. Schofield enter a speakeasy, Odie tells Maybeth about his escape from Lincoln School. They go to the courthouse to see if Albert, Mose, and Emmy were captured. Maybeth investigates while Odie waits outside. She returns with the information that a manhunt is in progress. Assuming the search is for him, Odie returns to Hopersville with Maybeth. There, he learns that the police are making their way through the camp. Maybeth tells Odie to run, and he hides, then watches as police brutalize the Schofields. He is about to run to their aid when Forrest grabs him from behind.

Forrest takes Odie to a place across the river where Albert, Mose, and Emmy are waiting. They tell Odie that they had to desert their camp when they saw police approaching and add that the manhunt is for someone else. Forrest leaves with Mose, who is still brooding. Forrest later returns alone, explaining that Mose “has work to do” (306). Odie visits the Schofields, who remain optimistic.

The next day, Odie returns to Hopersville. He confides his concerns about Mose to Mother Beal. Drawing on her experience living among the Sioux while her father was a missionary, she tells Odie of a traditional Sioux practice in which young men spent time alone to seek enlightenment. Maybeth returns from bathing in the river and goes for a walk with Odie. They climb to a quiet rock in the shade and kiss.

They return to find Mr. Schofield working on the truck. Odie returns to Albert and asks him to help Mr. Schofield. He refuses at first but agrees to help at Emmy’s urging. While he’s gone, Odie continues the story of the four vagabonds, telling how the imp joined a princess named Maybeth Schofield to lift a spell of hopelessness cast by the Black Witch. Albert returns after fixing the Schofields’ truck. That night, Odie takes the rest of a sum of money given to them by Sister Eve and leaves.

Odie arrives at Hopersville to find Mr. Schofield alone by the fire. Mr. Schofield shares his perspective on the loss of his farm, suggesting that weather and other factors beyond his control were to blame, not his drinking. Odie recognizes the Tornado God in Mr. Schofield’s story, then reminds Mr. Schofield of the goodness in his life, including his family. Odie gives the rest of the money from Sister Eve to Mr. Schofield and makes him promise to use the money to go to Chicago.

Odie returns to camp and reveals his actions to Albert, who expresses his doubt that Mr. Schofield will use the money as intended. In the morning, Forrest approves of Odie’s choice.

Odie visits the Schofields in the morning to find Mr. Schofield missing. Fearing that he went for a drink, Odie and Maybeth go to look for him. When Odie plays a song to cheer up Maybeth, she sings along, then hears her father singing as well. They find Mr. Schofield sober. He thanks Odie and shows him his purchases, including gasoline, a dress for Maybeth, and a bus ticket for Captain Gray to join protests in Washington, DC.

Mr. Schofield gives gifts to the rest of his family and entrusts the remainder of the money to Mother Beal, who thanks Odie for his kindness. Maybeth is distressed when she learns that Odie doesn’t intend to come with them, but they promise to write to each other. The Schofields leave.

Odie returns to camp to find that Mose is back. When Odie and Albert begin to argue, Mose interrupts, calling them “small” and “selfish.” Emmy asks Mose to share his new understanding. He leads them to a monument marking the execution of 38 Sioux men in 1862. Mose cries as he explains that, after the government took lands away from the Sioux nation, it failed to provide promised aid. When hundreds of Sioux warriors fought back, they were tried, and many, including Amdacha, Mose’s great-uncle and namesake, were executed. Odie realizes that Emmy saw this place during her fit in Chapter 36.

Missing the Schofields, Odie wanders back to Hopersville. Captain Gray tells Odie that a couple matching the Brickmans’ description visited the camp. Odie and the others decide to leave the next morning. At first hesitant, Mose agrees to continue with them at Emmy’s request. As they leave, Forrest refers them to someone he knows in St. Paul.

When they stop for lunch, Emmy asks Odie whether the imp and the princess in his story married; he responds that they didn’t. That night, they watch as Independence Day fireworks explode in a nearby town. Odie plays a song, and Mose joins in on one of the verses. Albert apologizes to Mose for never recognizing the “how hard [it] must be” for Mose to associate with him and Odie (343), who come from a culture that practiced violence against his. Mose gives them permission to call him Mose rather than Amdacha.