Content Warning: This section includes discussions of suicide and sexual abuse of a minor.

Karl and Mary Adare arrive in Argus, North Dakota, by train “[o]n a cold spring morning” (1). They have hitched a ride in the boxcar, and they are seeking their Aunt Fritzie, who owns a butcher shop in town with her husband, Pete. Karl, a tall and lanky 14-year-old, and Mary, a short and stocky 11-year-old, are on their own. They pass the shops in town but cannot locate the butcher shop. As they come to the residential area of town, Karl stops to admire a tree. He gathers a branch laden with blossoms in his arms and breathes deeply, transfixed by its scent. When the owner of the property unleashes her dog on the trespassers, they both run: Mary back toward town, where she will find Aunt Fritzie, and Karl back to the boxcar.

Mary recounts how she came to take the boxcar to Argus: Her father has died, and after the crash of 1929 and the subsequent Depression, her mother Adelaide can barely take care of her two children. When Mr. Ober—Adelaide’s frequent visitor—dies along with his wife in an accident, Adelaide is distraught.