Truth and Bright Water

The next day, Tecumseh takes Solider across the Shield to meet Lum at Happy Trails. He doesn’t find Lum there, but he does run into Rebecca. They discuss the corral that Franklin set up where tourists can allegedly “hunt” buffalo by chasing them on motorcycles and shooting them with paintballs. Tecumseh heads down to the corral, where he finds Lum on a motorcycle with a paintball gun. Tecumseh joins him on the motorcycle and the pair mock-hunt the buffalo. After, they ride the bike down to the river. Lum undresses, and Tecumseh sees that he has been badly hurt by Franklin’s abuse. Lum paints his body with river mud, and the boys watch bulldozers push garbage from a landfill toward the river. They agree that they’ll meet back at the river later that night to see if they can find out more about the jumping woman.

Tecumseh recalls the story of an older German couple who came to Bright Water a few years back and were found dead together in their camper. The couple had taken photos of the landscape that foregrounded the interiors of the camper.