Chapters 8 and 9 Summary

In chapter eight, clad in protective rain gear, J. leaves Lexington on foot, carrying his box of belongings, with the intention of getting to Louisville. The Kentucky River is rising rapidly and J. is excited to get there, back to his old life. In Frankfort, J. gets directions to a precarious bridge and tells the officer he must get to his people. After crossing the raging river, he is in unfamiliar territory, but finds shelter at the capitol building with flood refugees. J. realizes he is on his way home and is not exactly a refugee like the others. He eats and sleeps, and wakes with love in his heart for these people, and sets out again. After being lost several times, sleeping and bathing where he can, he spots Burley Coulter, a war veteran he knew as a child, who...