The Orchard's Offspring
by
Jay Hicks is a dying man with a guilty conscience. After being told he has only a few months to live, he realizes it's time to tell the truth about what happened in the summer of 1965…and how he ended up on a path toward a life-altering destination.
In rural Indiana, fourteen-year-old Jay Hicks and his four best friends spend their days swimming in the Eulachon River and hanging out in their hideout, which lay deep inside a peach orchard on the outskirts of town. Danny is the smartest of the bunch, while Henry is the timid follower. Recently-orphaned hoodlums Dave and Roy round out the group. But when their lazy summer is agitated by Dave's increasingly reckless and peculiar behavior, forcing the boys to choose sides, their friendship becomes strained. The arrival of a mysterious drifter only adds to the tension—and incites a series of events between Jay and Dave that will haunt Jay for the rest of his life.
In rural Indiana, fourteen-year-old Jay Hicks and his four best friends spend their days swimming in the Eulachon River and hanging out in their hideout, which lay deep inside a peach orchard on the outskirts of town. Danny is the smartest of the bunch, while Henry is the timid follower. Recently-orphaned hoodlums Dave and Roy round out the group. But when their lazy summer is agitated by Dave's increasingly reckless and peculiar behavior, forcing the boys to choose sides, their friendship becomes strained. The arrival of a mysterious drifter only adds to the tension—and incites a series of events between Jay and Dave that will haunt Jay for the rest of his life.