- It's now spring, and Cassie tries to get out of going to school by offering to help her father with the farm.
- Yeah, he doesn't go for that plan.
- Jeremy Simms is sad that he won't see the Logan kids for a while, since their school lets out in March, while the white kids' school goes until mid-May.
- He also lets slip that his brothers, R.W. and Melvin, have been hanging out with T.J., and they don't treat him too well.
- Cassie asks her mom why R.W. and Melvin (who are eighteen and nineteen) would want to hang out with a fourteen-year-old anyway.
- Mama tells her that it makes them feel good to have him around—that it makes them feel good to have someone to laugh at and use.
- Mr. Jamison shows up at the house to talk to Papa.
- Later, Cassie overhears Mama and Papa talking about what Mr. Jamison wanted.
- Apparently, Thurston Wallace, owner of the Wallace store, is planning on putting a stop to the boycott.
- Mama is scared of what might happen. So are we.
- Later, school is out but Papa hasn't gone back to his railroad job. The impression Cassie gets is that he's afraid to leave in case something bad happens.
- But he's going to have to go soon, because the railroad job pays for the taxes and mortgage.
- Mr. Lanier and Mr. Avery come to the Logans' house, interrupting the conversation about Papa returning to work.
- Bad news: they don't want to shop in Vicksburg anymore.
- Mr. Granger is going to make them pay a higher percentage of their cotton yields if they keep shopping there.
- Furthermore, Mr. Granger is threatening to kick the Averys off of his land. They might also end up on a chain gang for causing trouble for white people.
- Stacey is super mad, but Papa tells him that they are only doing what they have to. Their own family is lucky because they own their own land.
- After the kids are supposed to be in bed, Cassie overhears her parents talking. Is it just us, or is there a lot of eavesdropping in this book?
- Papa plans to go to Vicksburg, but Mama wants him to wait until this trouble blows over.
- Plus, he wants to take Stacey and teach him how to take care of the family business.
- Mama and Papa also talk about T.J., who's out of control.
- Here's the thing. There are only seven families left who are willing to keep up the boycott, if you include the Logans.
- Turns out this is a Big Problem, because now there aren't enough folks involved to actually affect the Wallaces' bottom line.
- Instead, it's just enough people to make the Wallaces mad, which is bad news for the Logans.
- And when Papa, Mr. Morrison and Stacey don't return as scheduled from Vicksburg, everyone is super worried.
- Late that night, the trio shows up, but Papa has a broken leg. Mr. Morrison claims a wagon rolled over it, but can't look Mama in the eye when he says this.
- Cassie is able to get the whole story out of Stacey:
- Apparently, on the way back from Vicksburg, the wheels came off the wagon, kind of like someone had purposefully sabotaged it.
- As they repaired the wagon, a truck rolled up, and someone shot Papa (not fatally, whew). The wagon then fell on Papa's leg.
- Mr. Morrison went on the attack. He picked up one of the men from the truck and threw him down hard, and seriously injuring another.
- Uh oh.