Chapter 28: Joe

When Joe awoke the next morning, he didn't feel as if he had rested at all. As he made it downstairs, he sat in the kitchen with his father, but he couldn't sit still. He tried to keep his mind off Elizabeth, but he just couldn't. He made his way outside and walked in the fields for a while, and then found himself looking toward the Thompson farm and then started across the long field. He walked over to the fence that ran down the drive to Elizabeth's former home.

When he got to the tree line, he walked up to one of the large oaks. He looked up to the tree, remembering climbing it as a boy and then looked to the trunk for a foothold. Finding one, he looked up one last time and then began to climb. Joe easily made it up into the tree; he eased out onto the branch, being very careful not to fall. He lay down on his back, resting his shoulders on the branches that spread out to his left and right. The sky was clear that morning; only small, wispy clouds dotted the sky.