Arthur shows up at Birdie’s cabin unannounced. He brings her a clump of tundra from the spot on the mountain at which she loves to gaze. The clump contains small flowers and mushrooms, and Arthur’s gift intrigues and excites Emaleen. She begs to walk near the Wolverine River with Arthur and look for more flowers. Birdie hesitantly gives in, and they take off walking as Emaleen chatters about moose and plants. Arthur can identify every plant by its scientific name and says that he eats most flowers and roots, which Emaleen thinks is him teasing her. Birdie loses sight of them but finds them happily tossing rocks into the water.

While Emaleen plays in the sand, Birdie stretches out to soak in the sun, and Arthur sits near her. She expresses her confusion over his abrupt exit the last time. Arthur explains, in his strange way of speaking, “I am better when I am away, over there. When I am young, I think this is what I want. To be away from here. But when I am older, I am one way, another, back again” (67). Birdie interprets this as Arthur feeling like an outsider and preferring to stay in the mountains. She understands his feelings as she struggles to find her place. When they stand, she thinks that Arthur will kiss her, but instead, he smells the top of her head and suddenly disappears into the woods.

That night, Arthur returns to the cabin and says that he can’t stop thinking about Birdie. Emaleen is asleep, so Birdie gets a quilt and meets Arthur outside. Arthur kisses her, and she spontaneously runs into the woods, shedding her clothes. Thrilled by the chase and running through the woods naked, Birdie feels alive. Arthur catches her and pins her to the ground, but she moves on top of him, feeling powerful and liberated.

Emaleen overhears the adults in the lodge discussing something that happened in the woods. Birdie tells her that a grizzly bear killed the baby moose. Della reminds Emaleen not to venture into the woods alone again. While at Grandma Jo’s house, Emaleen draws the moose and other things in nature that have died. She thinks about what she knows about death and how she once thought that Norma, her mother’s mother, was dead because she never saw her. Emaleen now knows that Norma left her daughters to move to Florida. Emaleen’s secret is that she worries that Birdie will leave her.

It’s the summer solstice, and Della hosts a bonfire and potluck dinner at the lodge. Birdie hopes that she and Emaleen can depart for Arthur’s cabin soon. When she sees Warren, she suggests that he can fly them to Arthur. From Warren’s lack of response and strange facial expression, Birdie knows instantly that Arthur hasn’t mentioned the move to Warren.

Syd, a packer for hunting parties, brings “magic” brownies to the bonfire. Syd joins Emaleen by the fire and starts rambling about books and art. He is high, and Birdie can’t make sense of his musings on Marcel Proust and Maxfield Parrish. He encourages her to read more books. He mentions her upcoming move and says that everyone has a different nickname for Arthur: “Barefoot wanderer. Four-legged man. Golden friend. Honey-eater. A dark thing. No one wants to call him up with his true name […] No one wants to summon him” (80). He jokes that no one gets in Arthur’s way and that people joke about him being their “kin.” Not following him, Birdie explains that Arthur has lived in the wilderness for a while and knows how to deal with bears. Syd reminds her that when bears are skinned, they look like humans. Indigenous Alaskans believe that it’s murder to kill a bear because they are in the constellations and are “divine.” When they do kill one, they leave its spirit as an offering as penitence. Syd motions toward Warren and exclaims that Carol “saw it from the start” (82). Syd adds that Birdie shouldn’t worry about what others think and should follow her heart. He gives her his hat before leaving.

Emaleen enjoys the bonfire and the comfort of everyone being together. As she stands at the edge of the woods, she considers what frightens her about its mystery and concludes that as long as her mother is near, she has nothing to fear. The partygoers get increasingly silly as the night wears on. Soon, Emaleen realizes that she is the last child at the bonfire and begins feeling sleepy. Looking up at the stars, Emaleen makes a wish that she will never be apart from her mother. Birdie says that it’s time to go home. When they snuggle into bed in their cabin, Birdie says that they are leaving for the mountains the next day.