- Birdy and Tom drive Birdy's old horse team and wagon through the countryside and village, past farms, and up to the lonely land where the Breen place is. Wow, that sounds far.
- It used to be good farmland, but the dirt gave way to sand (sand = bad news for long-term farming), and so the people who lived there abandoned their homes.
- Except for the Breens, that is.
- One of the old abandoned houses is where the Hannaberrys lived before Polly Ann got married.
- Tom wants to ask Birdy about his father, but he feels too shy.
- That's okay, Tom. It's only Chapter 4.