As dust storms swoop in and steal any hope of profit from wheat, the US government makes moves to try to help the area.

One day while Billie Jo's pregnant mother is making breakfast, her father leaves a pail of kerosene next to the stove and then goes out into the fields.

Billie Jo beats the flames with her bare hands in an attempt to save her mother and unborn sibling.

Buried on top of a hill, Billie Jo names him Franklin after the president, her father at a loss for words.

Hands scarred and burned, Billie Jo is left unable to play piano, one of the few joys that had remained in her life (like her mother).

Time goes on, and she begins to notice spots on her father's face similar to those on her grandfather when he had skin cancer.

After trying to return to her former lifestyle, Billie Jo becomes desperate to get out of the dust, so she gets up and leaves one night with only a handful of biscuits.