Virgil Wander

Nadine and Virgil have a picnic in the booth while they run the projector. Bjorn watches over Galen while Lily goes to night class. Galen gets bitten by a rabid raccoon, likely Beeman’s Genghis, and drives himself to the hospital. Galen is more terrified of the one hundred shots he thinks he’ll have to get in the stomach than the rabies itself. In the end, he only has to have five shots, but the vaccine makes him swollen and sick. Beeman feels guilty and visits Galen, often bringing gifts. Beeman is selling the newspaper, and he drops the price further to hasten the sale. He and Virgil plan the last Empress after-party before the truck comes to cart off the illegal movies.

Virgil hosts the last movie night on Christmas Eve; 14 people, including Dr. Koskinen, attend. Ellen Tripp attends and kisses Bjorn before she leaves. Jerry brings a new pair of boots for Galen. Despite Fergus’s warning, Virgil invites people to stay for an after-party to view one of the films from the vault. A sudden power outage stops the film, and Ellen calls Virgil, saying Rune is on the way to the hospital in an ambulance. He flew a kite into a power line, which caused the outage.

At the hospital, Virgil realizes he views Rune like a father. Rune survives the electrocution but is badly burned, and his eyes are red. The nurses sedate him, and when he awakens, he begins talking about Sophie and telling old Norse folktales. Virgil brings some of his kites to the hospital, but seeing them disturbs Rune, and he wants them removed. When Virgil takes him home, Rune makes him put all the kites away. Rune refuses to eat, and Virgil realizes the electrocution has altered him profoundly. Only seeing his raven brightens his mood. Streams of visitors arrive, and Virgil describes them “like pilgrims after the source of something” (283). Besides Lucy, who left for California, the only person Rune asks to see is Bjorn, but he’s out surfing despite the winter weather.

In January, Rune finally tells Virgil what happened. After the movie, he went out to fly. He walked some distance to find the right spot until the wind shifted and carried the kite far away. Rune saw a tree near the water that was Adam Leer, which made his blood run cold. Adam asked Rune why he’d interviewed everyone in town about Alec except him. Rune didn’t answer, so Alec asked why he’s always flying kites. Rune answered simply that he enjoys flying and offered the string to Adam, who refused, dismissing kite-flying as a “game.” Adam wonders if Nadine believed Alec was honest and would never leave her and Bjorn. Rune believed her and thought Alec was a good man. Adam said he had nothing more to add and walked away. Rune tried to regain control of the kite, which had disappeared. It snagged on something, and when he pulled, he was electrocuted and lost consciousness.

After he tells the story, Virgil notices that Rune’s face has fallen again. He explains that the paralysis is from a childhood fever. At certain times, things trigger the paralysis. Bjorn arrives and tenderly helps Rune change his wound dressings. Bjorn reports that the Empress’s roof has several new leaks.

The driver comes to collect the movies, and afterward, Virgil feels “light and pleasantly shriven” (291). Rune donates all but one of his kites to Amanda Nelson’s second-grade class. He keeps the dog-shaped one for Virgil. Bjorn, Beeman, and Virgil shovel the snow off the Empress’s roof to prevent more leakage. Beeman brings more tapes for Rune, which are recordings of Alec when he was playing baseball. Later, Virgil witnesses Rune hearing his son’s voice for the first time, which is a heartening sight and lifts Rune’s mood considerably. Over the next few days, Rune listens to the tapes repeatedly. Bjorn listens with him as Alec is interviewed after his perfect game the night Bjorn is born. It’s the only interview where Alec sounds distracted, and Bjorn says it’s because becoming a father weighed on him.

Lucy returns from California and, after seeing Rune’s diminished state, sends all the pilgrims away so he can rest. Bjorn continues visiting after he finishes at the Empress, and while he changes Rune’s bandages, Rune tells him his family history. Rune’s wounds are slow to heal. One day, Virgil catches him picking at a newly healed wound. Virgil encourages him to stop so the wounds will heal faster, reassuring Rune that Bjorn will keep coming even without the bandage routine.

Virgil attends a committee meeting for the festival that no one wants to attend, including Don Lean. Don is overwhelmed with work as there’s been a recent uptick in crime, including a large marijuana production bust. Virgil is glad the rabies outbreak is over, but Don says there’s now a vole problem. Don laments how everything feels out of control. Jerry is still working on the renovation, covering the windows to keep people from staring. He has added a sign that says “ALMOST,” which Virgil sees as a metaphor for Jerry’s life.

Rune continues to heal, and one day, he and Virgil see his kites flying in the distance. Amanda Nelson gave them to her students as rewards. Seeing his kites in the air inspires Rune to begin sketching again, and soon, he makes his first kite since the accident, a miniature that he flies inside. Bjorn helps Virgil tarp the roof, and together, they remove a rotting beam from inside. They go to Marcus’s to find a replacement beam, and Bjorn notices that Marcus’s wheelbarrow tire is from Alec’s plane. Marcus acquired the tire from someone passing through who found it on the shoreline of Rossport. Marcus remembers the tire because Alec once took him flying, and he traced the letters on the tire’s name, “TUNDRA SLICK.” Nadine brings a photo of Alec with the plane, and they confirm that the tires match, although there’s no way to be certain.

The news makes Nadine tired, but Rune falls apart. The discovery triggers Virgil’s trauma over his parents’ death, and to calm his mind, he takes the dog kite out to fly. Adam stands near the cliffs and approaches Virgil. Seeing him flying without Rune, he assumes that Rune has died. Virgil tells him Rune is alive and offers him the kite. Adam struggles immediately as he tries to control it with force. Virgil realizes that the kite is “fighting back” (308). The kite nearly crashes but recovers and soars out over the water. Adam angrily tosses the handle, and the kite floats away. Jerry arrives and picks up Adam for a meeting. Virgil is sad to see his favorite kite disappear but understands why it wants to leave town.

Virgil receives two letters from different movie studios thanking him for returning the stolen property and reminding him of the seriousness of the crime. One of the letters thanks him for his interest in working there, but they have no jobs available. A reporter from Cinematique magazine comes to Greenstone and does a story on Virgil, the Empress, and the stolen films. Virgil reveals too much to the reporter, even telling her about the Christmas after-party where they blatantly ignored Fergus’s counsel and showed one of the films. Fergus calls Virgil “careless,” and Virgil agrees: He’s been more incautious since the accident and plans to continue this new attitude.

Greenstone fully embraces the bad luck-themed festival, and everyone busily prepares by setting up the stage and planning costumes. Storm Warning’s new album is a hit, and Virgil sees it as a good sign that “the stars are aligning” (312). While surveying the carnival site, Virgil looks out to the water and sees the man standing there, closer than ever before. He remembers the first time he saw the man in the car’s passenger seat just before he went over the edge. Virgil admits, “I didn’t exactly plan to go over the edge- it was more an impulse, born of long yearning” (313). The man’s presence in the car wasn’t frightening, and Virgil felt he was there to guide him. Seeing the man now doesn’t scare Virgil; before he realizes it, he’s moving toward him up to his waist in the water. Bjorn has been surfing, and Virgil hears him call him, asking if he’s okay. Bjorn reminds him that Nadine invited him to dinner, and Virgil remembers that it’s Bjorn’s 18th birthday. Suddenly, he is overcome with wanting to get out of the water and be at the birthday party with everyone he loves. Bjorn helps him out of the water, and Virgil must lean on him for support. He doesn’t turn around and look back at the man.

Nadine gives Bjorn a car for his birthday, and Rune gives him his kite-making knife and a family heirloom. Bjorn leaves to run movie night. Jerry spills fuel oil in the Hoshaver, and Virgil lends him soap to wash himself. He tells him not to sleep there due to the toxic fumes. Jerry tells Virgil to stop worrying about him.

The festival is the next day, and Virgil hovers on the fringes, preferring to watch from afar. He meets Nadine at the midway, where she gets her face painted. Bjorn calls: The car broke down, and they’re stranded 10 miles outside town. Virgil knows the location is a known make-out spot, but he doesn’t tell Nadine. Ellen is with Bjorn, and they try unsuccessfully to jump the car battery, but Nadine’s cables are weak. Miraculously, Jerry passes by and stops to help. His jumper cables finish the job, and he leaves without saying much, though Virgil notices that the back of his car is riding low. Ellen and Bjorn drive away while Nadine and Virgil explore the area. A snowstorm rolls in, and they sit in the car watching the clouds gather, listening to the approaching late-season blizzard. Nadine hears wind chimes.

Virgil and Nadine make it back to town in time for the parade of people dressed in bad-luck-themed costumes. Afterward, Nadine and Virgil sit near the water and talk to a man in a sailboat preparing to sail the following day. Virgil walks Nadine home and then returns to his own home, where he struggles to sleep. In the middle of the night, he turns on the radio and hears a report that police found Josephine’s body in the Duluth harbor with rocks in her pockets. Virgil takes a shot of akevitt to get back to sleep and awakens around noon. Nadine’s statement that she heard wind chimes reminds Virgil of the wind chime theft. After consulting a map, he learns that the make-out spot is on land once owned by Owen Fandeen, which explains why Jerry was out that way. Virgil surmises that Jerry is the culprit in the fertilizer theft. He calls Don and tells him he thinks Jerry is building a bomb.

Don arrives hastily and listens to Virgil lay out the evidence. Jerry’s borrowing of his tools, the fuel oil spill, and his history of working with explosives all made sense to Virgil earlier but now sound absurd. Don is skeptical and believes Jerry has been doing well, especially since he began working for Adam. At this, Virgil balks, and Don wonders why Virgil doesn’t like Adam. He can’t vocalize a bad feeling and the fact that, in his mind, Adam was connected to all the recent problems in Greenstone. Bjorn arrives with Rune’s raven on his shoulder that says, “Whoever knew?” (331). Virgil mentions that Bjorn witnessed Jerry clear Adam’s clogged toilet with a blasting cap, so Don leaves to find Jerry.

Don and his deputy Stumbo find empty fertilizer bags in the Hoshaver. They travel to the Fandeen hunting camp but find it empty. However, they find enough explosive paraphernalia to confirm the suspicion. Based on Virgil’s account of seeing Jerry’s car riding low, Don presumes he is building a large bomb. Don alerts state police and Homeland Security but is uncertain about sounding the alarm in Greenstone. From City Hall, Don, Lydia, and others take in the large crowd assembled for the concert and realize the seriousness of the situation. Homeland security arrives and patrols the roads coming into the city, watching for Jerry’s car. A text alert goes out to everyone, and fire trucks help clear the area. Nadine sees Jerry drive past her house. Bjorn thinks Jerry might be at Adam’s and decides to investigate. Virgil grabs his staff and follows.

Bjorn, Virgil, and Rune drive to Adam’s, but Jerry’s car isn’t there. When they knock on the door and ask if Jerry is there, Adam runs through the house and out the back door into the woods. All three men chase Adam as he begins stripping off his clothes and singing a song. They reach the river that flows through the property and lose sight of Adam near the banks. Rune spots the sturgeon swimming in the shallow water, and Bjorn and Virgil leap into the water and chase it. Virgil trips and loses his grip on the staff, which floats away. They chase the fish to the Green Street Bridge, where Galen watches from above. Galen jumps from the bridge on top of the fish, drags it to the bank, and smashes it with a rock. Virgil is glad Galen has slayed his nemesis, but he remembers Jerry is still at large.

The men take Galen home, but the fish is too large to transport, and they leave it near the water. Back in town, Don waits near the Hoshaver building for news. Suddenly, they see Jerry walking toward them, though he stops first and gets a hot dog from an abandoned food stall. The state troopers pull their guns, but Don asks them to stand down. Jerry says he is glad to see Don and asks if they can talk. The troopers descend on Jerry and pin him to the ground. Jerry tells Don that his car with the bomb is parked at Slake near the abandoned plant. The troopers race to the plant while Don takes Jerry for questioning. When Virgil thinks everything is calming down, a large explosion occurs.

Debris rains down on Greenstone, but no one is injured. Jerry gives his full confession to Don. He explains that he’s not felt like himself for a while and that he believed his life was ending. Things shifted after he began working for Adam, and he felt his life had a new purpose. He began to see himself as a prophet, and his job was to bring the failing Greenstone to its end. He used the Hoshaver as his headquarters since it was at the city’s center and had fuel inside. He stole the fertilizer from the greenhouse and took the wind chimes just for Ann. On the festival day, Jerry parked at the plant and watched Greenstone from afar. He was overcome with the sense that though his time may be ending, the other people in Greenstone, including Ann, deserved to live. He considered going to Adam for help. Instead, he left the car and walked into town, intending to find food and confess his crime.

Jerry claims he never set the ignition on the bomb, and the investigation determines that the car battery may have set it off. The explosion and destruction of the abandoned plant has lasting effects on Greenstone and its people. Most notably, they transform the lot into a green space where people gather and enjoy the now unobstructed view of the water. Jerry goes to prison, where his physical and mental health suffers. Ann runs for mayor, wins, and immediately begins enacting her plans to revive the town. Success is creeping in as new businesses emerge, but Virgil still wants to sell the Empress. After the Cinematique article ran, Virgil and the Empress became famous. One of the studios where the movies went offered to donate money to the Empress, which Virgil uses to repair the roof.

Nadine and Virgil get married, and everyone important to them attends. Adam Leer is never seen again, although a search of his house uncovers a woman’s scarf, one of Shad’s fishing lures, and a pair of goggles that probably belonged to Alec. Galen proudly displays the sturgeon’s head on his mantel, and Rune returns to Norway. Nadine and Virgil visit him during the long winter and are there to greet the sun when it makes its return. Having left Bjorn in charge of the Empress, Virgil and Nadine aren’t sure what their next move is and decide to wait and see how the wind blows.