As best I could discern from the note this house was not a farmhouse but a sharecropper’s house. Perhaps the farm lay beyond the fields I saw out the window. I gathered up my gear and headed outside – relieved to be leaving the shattered house behind.

 

 

I found that the field was surprisingly clear. While it looked as though no crops or livestock had inhabited the land for years the field was not overgrown. There was no path to be found so I continued on a direct course away from the house.

 

 

Climbing to the crest of the field I saw rows of something ahead. The ground became more chocked with weeds as I approached. Nearing the rows, I realized they were the remnants of a cornfield, left fallow for years.

 

 

I finally found a path in the overgrown field that led me directly back into the woods.

 

 

Back under the cover of trees, the path again disappeared. Fallen trees and thickets surrounded me. At long last, I saw a stone structure emerging from the undergrowth. I threw myself headlong toward it, nearly tripping over a deer carcass that lay at my feet.