“A few hours isn’t going to make the difference between our finishing things before Monday and not,” the major told him. “I’d like to give you the whole weekend off, but once the tents arrive I’m going to need you to start putting them up.”

Pops went with us into Monroe, where he gave us some last-minute instructions. “You’re on your own,” he said, “but I’ll expect you to meet up back here by eight thirty. You’ll find the café open—the missus will probably give you a good price on supper if you want to go in there. There’s the pool hall. Movie theater—”

He was interrupted by a car that passed us, stopped, and then backed up. Mr. Schieling, the selection agent who’d enrolled me in the CCC, got out.

“Pops Jensen!” he said. “I’ve been wondering when your boys were going to get some time off!” He turned to us. “Life all right at that camp? I’ve got some spare change I’ve been wondering how to spend. Can I treat you to ice cream? Or hot cocoa?”

Some of the guys were already peeling off, mostly heading toward the pool hall. Sam left to investigate Monroe’s library. Others, though, including Apple and Romeo, nodded a yes.

Nate said to me, “I think I’ll hike on out to see my folks. Want to come along?”

“I’d like to,” I answered. “If you don’t think I’ll be in the way.”

Before we started off, we thanked Mr. Schieling for his offer.

He studied me a moment. “Oh yes,” he said. “Moss Trawnley. How do you like the CCC?”

“It’s great,” I said. “I really do thank you for getting me in.”

He waved off my appreciation. “You made that decision yourself,” he said. “All you boys did. And now you and Nate remember, you have a rain check for that ice cream or cocoa, since I can’t talk you into any today.”

As we headed out of town, I thought about how I’d answered Mr. Schieling. The CCC was great, and it scared me to think how close I’d come to miss being a part of it. I still got mad every time I remembered how Pa had more or less forced me to strike out on my own, but, of course, if he hadn’t . . .

But what if that justice of the peace hadn’t given me the newspaper story about enrollment being open? Or if I’d gotten off the train at some town where the selection agent had already filled his quota? Or if my friends hadn’t helped keep me from getting thrown out of conditioning camp, after that fight I got in?