Cal and Pop encounter Esom Dart, a Black veteran whose war medals cannot protect him from racial discrimination in the South.

Pop reads a newspaper article about veteran Joe Angelo's campaign to win compensation payments for World War I soldiers.

Cal has a vision of Pop marching with crowds in Washington, but Cal himself is nowhere in the scene.

Pop tells Cal that he is Creek and proposes that Cal attend Challagi school while Pop goes to Washington.

Pop steps forward and falsely claims to be the Black man Sheriff Boyle is hunting, protecting Dart from arrest.

Cal and Pop arrive at Challagi and observe students performing the weekly Sunday Dress Parade in military formation.

Superintendent Morrell confirms that Cal qualifies to enroll at Challagi as an official member of the Creek Nation.

Possum takes Cal to get his head shaved and gives him the Creek nickname Jay Bird.

Bear Meat challenges Cal to wrestle for his jackknife; Cal refuses to report Bear Meat and is accepted into the Creek gang.

Cal learns about the Curtis Act and how the government systematically seized Indigenous lands and abolished tribal governments.

Cal wakes screaming from a nightmare in which he experiences being shot to death through Pop's own eyes.

Deacon runs a sweat lodge ritual to help Cal process his terrifying vision of Pop's fate in Washington.

Cal sneaks away from Challagi at night and hops a freight train heading toward Washington to save his father.

Cal locates Pop at Camp Marks as military tanks and soldiers with bayonets move in against the assembled veterans.

Cal convinces Pop to leave with him, and Cal decides to return to Challagi and embrace being Creek.

Cal and his father live as hobos during the Great Depression, riding freight trains and working honestly for every meal they receive. After Pop reads about veterans marching on Washington and Cal has a vision of Pop there without him, Pop reveals that they are Creek and proposes a plan: Cal will attend the Challagi Indian School while Pop fights for veterans' rights. At Challagi, Cal reluctantly adapts to school life and earns membership in the Creek gang after a tense wrestling confrontation with a boy named Bear Meat. As Cal learns about the government's destruction of Indigenous lands and culture, he has a terrifying nightmare vision of his father being shot at the veterans' camp in Washington. With help from a sweat ceremony led by Deacon, Cal gains the clarity and courage to escape Challagi and travel to Washington to save his father. After pulling Pop to safety as soldiers and tanks descend on the veterans' camp, Cal agrees to return to Challagi and embrace his identity as a Creek.

Cal's journey from hobo life to proud Creek student.

During a waking vision, Cal sees himself in a wartime trench holding a pocket watch engraved with the initials S.K.E.

Cal and Pop arrive at Edith Euler's farm and discover a tombstone bearing the exact initials Cal saw in his vision.

Cal and Pop track a chicken thief using boot prints and broken branches and recover Miz Euler's stolen property.

Cal and Pop clean up the thief's abandoned campsite, honoring the hobo code of respecting the land and others.

Pop explains to Cal how the United States government created Indian Schools to strip Indigenous children of their culture and language.

Cal and Pop take a job wrangling retired Army horses, and Pop calms the most dangerous ones by singing to them.

Cal first notices Possum during the Challagi Dress Parade and spots a boy in the ranks with a scar on his face.

Mrs. Wilting cuts Cal's hair in the school infirmary and records him as full-blood without questioning his background.

Possum shows Cal a hiding spot for his medal and tells him about Navajo children whose jewelry was stolen by school adults.

Cal and Possum visit the school accounts manager and discover that Pop has deposited money into Cal's account.

Cal learns that Mr. Handler was offered a professional boxing career but refused because he was expected to lose to white opponents.

Deacon leads the Creek boys in traditional stomp dances around an outdoor fire during their nightly secret outings.

Cal reads in a newspaper that Bonus Army marchers in Washington are being falsely accused of being Communists.

A rail-riding woman named Gale helps Cal on the train and warns him the military may be used against the veterans.

Pop learns about an upcoming second Bonus March and resolves to return to Washington to continue the fight.

Before learning he is Creek, Cal and Pop travel the rails helping others, following hobo signs to find work and recovering stolen items for a widow out of respect for their code of honor. Pop explains the history of Indian Schools and the destruction of Indigenous culture, preparing Cal for what lies ahead at Challagi. Once enrolled, Cal undergoes his haircut, befriends Possum, and learns to navigate daily life in an institution designed to erase the very heritage he is just beginning to discover. Through friendships with the Creek gang, Cal discovers traditional stomp dances at nightly secret gatherings and grows increasingly connected to his new community. News of the Bonus Army's struggle filters into Challagi through newspapers, and a kind woman on the train to Washington confirms the danger Cal has feared. After helping rescue Pop, Cal learns the veterans' fight is not over, as Pop sets his sights on returning to Washington for another Bonus March.

Key encounters that shape Cal's path from the rails to Challagi and back.

A man on horseback confronts Cal and Pop with hostility until Pop reveals his pale, untanned skin beneath his shirt.

After learning he is Creek, Cal looks closely at Pop and recognizes his resemblance to the Indigenous chief depicted on copper nickels.

Pop reveals that his real surname is Blackbird and that Cal's late mother also possessed the gift of clairvoyant visions.

Sheriff Boyle's men set the camp on fire hunting a Black man; Dart escapes safely and leaves his war medal behind for Cal.

Pop warns Cal about past abuses at Challagi involving Mr. Fetterman; Cal has a vision of who stood in the shadows to stop him.

Superintendent Morrell gives a speech at the Dress Parade declaring that students will live differently from their savage forebears.

Cal spontaneously gives his treasured copy of The Call of the Wild to Possum, surprising even himself with the gesture.

A student named Skinny gives Cal the secret Challagi Creek handshake, signaling that Cal is accepted into the community.

Cal writes several letters to Pop describing life at Challagi and his first Creek words, but has no address to send them.

Cal repeatedly declines invitations to join the school track team, unwilling to commit to staying at Challagi long-term.

Tommy Wilson, a Creek boy who appears fully white, is welcomed by the Creek gang after joining the stomp dance.

Cal realizes that Pop hid their Creek heritage not to deceive him but to shield him from racial persecution.

After the sweat ceremony, Deacon tells Cal that his visions function as warnings rather than guaranteed prophecies of what must happen.

Possum and Little Coon help Cal climb out of the dormitory window at night and take the horse Dakota to the train.

Riding alone toward Washington, Cal understands that his Creek heritage has become a permanent and essential part of who he is.

From the very first chapter, Cal encounters moments that force him to confront the reality of race and identity, beginning with a stranger's hostility dissolving the moment Pop proves he and Cal are not Black. Pop's revelations accumulate quickly: their real surname is Blackbird, Cal is Creek, and even Cal's late mother shared his rare gift of clairvoyant vision. The journey to Challagi brings more unsettling truths, including old abuses committed at the school and the superintendent's contemptuous dismissal of students' ancestors as savage. At school, small but significant turning points mark Cal's growing commitment to his community, from giving away a treasured book to receiving a secret handshake to watching a white-looking Creek boy find belonging at the stomp dance. When Cal finally understands why Pop hid their heritage and learns that his visions are warnings rather than fixed prophecies, he gains the courage to act on what he has seen. By the time he rides alone toward Washington, Cal has fully accepted that his Creek identity will travel every road with him.