Demon explains the tobacco harvest, focusing on cutting: laths are dropped between rows, then each stick is speared, tobacco plants are hatcheted at the base, and six heavy plants are slammed onto each spear. After curing a few days in sun and dew, the loaded sticks are hauled to the barn and hung high on rails, a dangerous, speed-driven job where boys and men risk serious falls.

October becomes a nonstop race against frost, with Creaky keeping the boys out of school to get the crop in. Demon works from sunup to sundown until everything hurts, feeling both used up and invisible, and realizing school had been easier than he understood.

About a week into cutting, Demon’s headache, buzzing ears, and nausea intensify until Demon vomits in the field. Tommy discovers Demon without gloves and panics, fetching Fast Forward; Fast Forward and Creaky get Demon to the house, force water into Demon until it stays down, and Creaky angrily warns Demon to wear gloves from now on.

Demon learns the cause is green tobacco sickness—nicotine poisoning absorbed through skin—something that hits children harder and builds up over time. Demon notes Fast Forward can sometimes work barehanded because older bodies, especially smokers, tolerate the nicotine better.

Demon broadens the moment into the larger trap of tobacco farming: a brutal crop that once had government price supports and strict controls, then lost those guarantees as smoking lawsuits and public attitudes shifted. With few profitable alternatives on the mountains’ small, steep plots, farmers keep growing tobacco even as prices fall, taxes rise, and outsiders mock them, while “pride” slogans try to paper over the damage.