Father and Luke kill a deer when they go hunting that afternoon, and the family eats deer for the first time since they left their home.

The next morning, everyone in the swamp who took a blanket from the Nahullos is sick with smallpox, and Father tells the family they will leave in the morning. Isaac and his family see a group of Choctaws walking down a road, and they follow them.

Isaac asks Jumper if he ever sees ghosts, and Jumper tells him that he does and worries that it means he will soon be a ghost. Three days after beginning to follow the Choctaws on the road, Father speaks with one of them, and the families begin travelling together. The other family consists of Gabe, Ruth, and their child, Nita. Father sees that these Choctaws have blankets and finds out they came from the Nahullo soldiers, so he declines to take any. Isaac has a vision of Mister Jonah, who tells Isaac that the ghosts are waiting for him and that the blankets this new group of Choctaws have are safe. He tells Father the blankets are safe, and Father agrees to get some the next morning.