Emmett, Billy, Woolly, and Duchess depart the next morning. First Emmett intends to drop Duchess and Woolly off at the train station in Omaha, hoping to arrive in California four days later. Though there is a quicker route, Emmett takes the Lincoln Highway for Billy. Duchess asks if they can stop in the town of Lewis, and he directs them through the town until they arrive at St. Nicholas’s Home for Boys. When Duchess bargains some time for a brief visit and then exceeds that time limit, Emmett decides to go looking for him. Following a trail of destruction, Emmett discovers that Duchess gave the resident boys Sally’s homemade preserves and locked the nuns in their bedrooms. When Emmett goes back outside, his car, Duchess, and Woolly are gone. Billy reassures Emmett that they have “borrowed” it to go to New York and will bring it back by the June 18.

Back inside St. Nicholas’s, Emmett calls Sally. He hopes to catch a train, intercept Duchess in New York, and retrieve his car. Emmett begins thinking about the day of his sentencing, when he explained to Billy that he was waiving his right to a trial.