Ellen tells him that a priest (Francis) found the baby and took it to a nearby monastery. Regretting his decision he goes back for the baby only to discover it missing. Having no way to feed the newborn baby Tom leaves it on his wife's grave and takes his two remaining children Alfred and Martha to continue tramping the roads looking for work.
Near starvation Tom's wife, Agnes, gives birth on the side of the road and dies. He and his family are forced to tramp from town to town looking for work. Tom is building a house for William and Aliena but when Aliena refuses to marry William Tom is thrown out of work. The book begins with Ellen cursing the killers (Prior James, Percy Hamleigh, and Bishop Waleran Bigod) of Jack's Father, then disappearing into the woods, as the years go by we see how the curse played out.
