Section 2, East by Southeast, Chapters 1-18 Summary and Analysis

Nearing North Carolina, William realizes he will have a chance to explore some of his Caucasian relatives dating back to a miller who had lived in the Piedmont area in the eighteenth century. As William eases into North Carolina he deftly navigates around Winston-Salem and Greensboro until he reaches Chapel Hill in hopes of uncovering information about his ancestors. William is especially interested in locating the grave of the miller whose tombstone is somewhere in the Carolina hills.

William locates an old man named Noel Jones who leads William back into the woods near an area called Sandy Creek in search of the tombstone. The only evidence William finds is a brass plaque indicating that the grave had been located across a creek. William realizes that land developments have long since...