Mac, a physically abused fifteen-year-old inmate of a Jackson, MS, orphanage, has planned his escape for several years. The avenue of escape is a hickory sapling near the tall, iron fence. But it must grow tall enough so that, when he climbs the tree it will bend over the fence so he can drop down on the outside. Of course, it they cut down the tree because it is too close to the fence… but they didn’t and Mac makes his escape.
How he survives in this very strange, unknown world, not even knowing where he is to go or where he is to live, has interesting twists and turns. Help from a stranger, then a Catholic priest, and Mac’s own intelligence and perseverance help him become successful not only vocationally but in a very different romance.
