Last night there was screeching in the forest. Some owls, foxes perhaps. Someone has seen wolves out here, and no doubt Lisette has come by the house. Lisette’s probably sitting on the couch with her wide eyes, eating it all up. He’s so tired. His clothes are damp, and last night he froze something terrible. There are black birds overhead, rooks he thinks, and she’s pacing around in the yard, restless. He painted the eaves last spring. It’s a nice house, but she wants to sell it now. He really likes the house, but now she wants something else. When she wants something else, there’s nothing he can do. As recently as the day before yesterday, he had an urge to call his brother, but he’s lost that battle. Lisette’s welcome to visit. Lisette often stands in their kitchen-dining area and calls up her network. Lisette’s got a big network, but mostly she hangs out with his. And in principle, he’s only got the kids left. It’s a long time since she took part in the gatherings on his side of the family. There’s something wrong with his parents, she says. Something wrong with his brother’s kids, his brother’s girlfriend, and especially his brother. She says that his brother sows discord. That’s because his brother once told him he ought to get divorced. And because he loses all battles, he went straight home and told her: “My brother thinks I should get divorced.” So this isn’t the first time he’s driven out to some forest. He’s done it a fair amount over the years. Sometimes to call up his folks on the sly, or his brother. He also calls them when he’s down washing the car.

He’s sitting in a deer stand, and something’s happened to the light. A mist is rising. It creeps toward him across the crowberry bushes. Which means that evening is closing in again. He wanted to be alone, so that’s what he is now. He stepped 13on a tussock wrong, in the strip between the wheel ruts, some seventy-five yards from the deer stand. First the pain, then off with the sock. Did he shout for someone? Well, he shouted a bit the first hour, then darkness began to descend and he set about reaching the deer stand.