Peace Like a River

Reuben is carrying eggs from the barn to the house the next day when he sees a horse and rider on a hill, about half a mile away, and feels sure it’s Davy. The rider disappears over the hilltop and Reuben runs to follow. He finds Davy on the trail leading down the far side of the hill. He almost looks like a different person than the brother Reuben remembers; he’s thinner and has a harder look and facial hair. But he laughs and calls Reuben by his old nickname, Natty Bumppo, reassuring Reuben things haven’t changed completely.

Davy says he was able to find them at Roxanna’s because he heard their voices at the burning lignite vein and followed them. Reuben fills Davy in on the details about Andreeson and his efforts to capture Davy. He asks where Davy is living, but is told it’s better if he doesn’t know. Davy is too fearful of being caught by Andreeson to go down to the house and see the rest of the family. He explains to Reuben that his horse, Fry, belongs to someone who’s helping him out, a man named Jape Waltzer.

Davy forbids Reuben from telling anyone he found him. Reuben isn’t sure he can carry the burden of this knowledge alone, but agrees not to tell their father if Davy shows him where he lives. Davy agrees, and they plan to meet late that night. When Reuben gets back to Roxanna’s, Swede tells him their father went out driving with Andreeson. The two children feel betrayed, but Roxanna says Jeremiah felt led to go. During the previous night, she overheard him arguing with God about it, as if in an actual back-and-forth, though she could only hear his side. Now Roxanna distracts Reuben and Swede with another tale about Butch Cassidy, which echoes Reuben’s secret-keeping.

Reuben and Davy meet up that night as agreed and ride Fry to the cabin where Davy is living with Jape Waltzer and a girl named Sara. Sara is about 14 years old and has a “room” consisting of a corner of the cabin separated by hanging sheets. Waltzer calls her “daughter,” though Davy later explains her real father gave her to Waltzer, who intends to treat her like a daughter until she’s older and then marry her. Waltzer talks to Reuben about the world soon ending and says he’s holing up in this cabin to wait for it.

Waltzer tells Reuben how he met Davy. He observed Davy sneak out the back of a café to avoid a county deputy that was asking around about him. He offered Davy a ride, and the alliance grew from there. Waltzer was amused by the deputy searching for Davy when a much worse criminal—Waltzer himself—was right there in front of him, saying, “In sight of wolf, he was hunting squirrel!” (230). He doesn’t specify what makes him a wolf, but makes himself seem frightening in many subtle ways. He angrily chides Reuben for thanking God for food he provided. He’s clearly suspicious of how the Lands were able to find Davy, and asks if Davy left them a trail of breadcrumbs. He makes Sara apologize to his pet pig for accidentally stepping on its tail, and amuses himself by feeding the pig a piece of sausage and calling it a cannibal.

When Waltzer learns of Reuben’s asthma, he tries to show Reuben how to breathe properly, telling him to commit, as if it’s just a matter of poor will power or not knowing how to do it. Reuben says this experience is not new to him, illustrating how he’s had to deal with ignorance and invalidation all his life. The stress of the situation leads him to have an asthma attack so severe he passes out, dreaming again about the little man with the skin bag who steals his breath. This time, Reuben is in the little man’s country, a cold, sunless place of decay and terror.

When Reuben wakes up, Davy gets the horse ready to bring him home. Waltzer reminds Reuben not to tell anyone about him. As they ride away from the cabin, Reuben’s breathing improves.

On the morning following Reuben’s visit to Waltzer’s cabin, he’s sick and has a high fever. Swede reads her latest Sunny Sundown verses to him while he’s in bed. He breaks the fever and begins to feel better by the end of the day, just before Jeremiah returns from looking for Davy with Andreeson. His romantic interest in Roxanna, and hers in him, becomes apparent, and he moves from the house into the trailer as a matter of honor. When Reuben asks him one day why he’s dressed up, even though it’s not Sunday, Jeremiah says he’s decided to court Roxanna and hopes he can win her hand.

Jeremiah also talks with Reuben about why he went with Andreeson, forcing Reuben to consider why he views Andreeson as the enemy. He acknowledges Davy did something wrong in luring Finch and Basca to his home and shooting them. He acknowledges also that he wants Davy to escape the consequences. Yet he feels that Davy isn’t really escaping consequences, having to live with a man like Waltzer. Speaking again about Andreeson, Jeremiah reminds Reuben what the Bible says about loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you.

Soon after, Davy shows up on the hilltop again, signaling Reuben to sneak out that night and meet him. Reuben is relieved to learn Waltzer is away for a few days so he won’t have to face him. In the following weeks, Reuben meets with Davy three more times, and the burden of deceiving his family begins to weigh on him. Davy’s lack of remorse for killing Finch and Basca begins to weigh on Reuben as well.

Reuben’s asthma gets worse, with one episode going four days without reprieve. He notes that he hasn’t witnessed any miracles since the family arrived at Roxanna’s. As Swede reads him more of Sunny Sundown’s adventures and troubles, Reuben is so upset that Sunny can’t seem to catch a break, Swede reveals the happy ending to him, though she hasn’t written it yet. After an epic gunfight, he’ll use dynamite to seal himself and his wife in their secret mountain hideout, which is like a private paradise. This only makes Reuben feel worse about Davy’s situation hiding out with Waltzer, which is by no means a paradise.

Breathing becomes so difficult Reuben thinks he might not survive and decides to tell Swede about Davy, but is interrupted by Jeremiah’s return to the house with a physician. Dr. Nickles says the steam treatments they’ve been using all Reuben’s life are useless. He tells them Reuben needs to go to the hospital, but that the hospital’s full of flu that will kill him. The doctor gives Reuben an adrenaline shot. It doesn’t seem to do anything at first, but his breathing does finally improve just before sunup.

When Reuben gets up that morning, he finds his father in the kitchen with Andreeson. The agent tells them they found a witness who reported giving Davy a ride two days ago, and they’ll be following up. Andreeson seems kinder than in the past and promises not to hurt Davy when they find him.

Reuben finds his way to the cabin to warn Davy about Andreeson. He’s startled by how unconcerned Waltzer seems about it. Mr. Robinson, the man who says he gave Davy a ride, calls Andreeson and agrees to show the agent where he dropped Davy off. They plan to meet at the café, but Robinson doesn’t show. Andreeson finds Robinson’s phone disconnected and his house abandoned.

A blizzard rages for two days, making Reuben worry that Davy will freeze to death. The family doesn’t hear from Andreeson, so after the blizzard Jeremiah calls his hotel and learns he’s been gone since the day before, when he got a phone message that Robinson was ready to meet him. Reuben realizes Waltzer must have used the name Robinson to lure Andreeson into a trap. Fearful for the man’s life, he tells his father everything.