Clover's head dropped with shame. Surely his Pa would be annoyed with him now- first losing his coat, then fighting, and now causing worry by coming home late. He didn't want to go in the classroom with the older boys now- he knew that if Mr. Meijer left the room, they'd be all over him and Bram in an instant, and he wanted to avoid any further fist-forward confrontations. "Yes, Mr. Meijer," he said, accepting his punishment, and went back to the fence post to check for a fifth time for his coat. It wasn't there, as he'd suspected, but he waved Bram over and muttered to the boy who he was starting to look up to, "If we stay out here long enough, we can avoid them boys and the erasures."