 His mother, who is living separated from her husband in Myrtle Beach, contacts him and asks him to return home to Coalwood to help his father.He arrives to find his father, the mine superintendent, is being investigated by the coal company because of a fatal mining accident.After wrecking the family car the young Hickam needs to pay for the repairs, and he takes a job in the coal mine for the summer in a program set up by the United Mine Workers of America for college students.