A Beginning

The group are becoming irritable with each other after trading their petrol for some seed which turns out to be bad, and a fox has killed their chickens. Abby, tired of her role as the leader, retreats and talks it over with Jenny, who reveals she is pregnant with Greg's child. A wandering group arrives and requests shelter for a sick woman they are carrying. The group says they were driven from their land by a large band of thieves roaming the area. Greg and the others in his group agree to contact other settlements so they can band together and form an alliance against similar attacks. Abby meanwhile, needing some peace, leaves the settlement to seek out Jimmy Garland, and stays with him in his house. Back at the settlement, the sick girl, Ruth, recovers and tells them she was a medical student; she mentions that she was staying on a barge with some other people, one of whom was a boy named Peter Grant. Abby returns the next day with Jimmy. Jenny rushes out to tell her the news that her son is still alive.