Motorcycles and Sweetgrass

Instead of going home, Virgil hikes out to the woods by the railroad tracks where he likes to sit on a flat rock and watch trains go by. As he approaches the rock, he sees the motorcycle man sitting on it. The man greets Virgil and asks him a few questions, mentioning that he finds Maggie very attractive. The stranger introduces himself as John Tanner—a name that sounds to Virgil as if the man has just invented it. John/Nanabush tells Virgil, “I made your grandmother two promises, and both involve you” (79). He wants Virgil to either help him or stay out of the way. When Virgil asks what that means, John Tanner begins to explain just as a train loudly rolls by. Virgil cannot hear a single thing that Tanner says.

Maggie drives through the new 300-acre Anishnawbe property, thinking about the concerns that white residents have about Indigenous people buying back the land that white people stole from them. She must get back to work in town, but suddenly gets a flat tire. Just as she sees that she’s out of cell phone range, she hears a motorcycle in the distance.

John/Nanabush pulls up to help.