Summary

Grandson sits beside Grandfather and sees the tendril of a vine moving slowly towards his feet. Grandfather teaches him about the importance of planting trees and protecting the greenery around them even as other people continually cut down trees and disregard the role of nature. Grandson is sent away to boarding school during the Second World War, and he begins to live with his father in Delhi during the holidays. Then, his grandparents move to England where he follows them a few years later.

When Grandson finally returns to India he is immediately struck by the beauty of the trees. He feels like “the trees seemed to know me; they whispered among themselves and beckoned me nearer” (71). The trees that he had planted with his Grandfather have grown tall and strong.

In Chapter 12, the elderly spinster Miss Mackenzie lives in a neat cottage...