Preteens Billy and Violet are enjoying a hike into nearby Montana mountains when they come upon a moose and calf. Before they know it, the mother sends the calf into hiding and takes off. The kids hear shots. They investigate and discover that the moose has been killed by out-of-season hunters. “They’re murderers,” Violet declares, following with, “We need to save the baby moose.” Billy, however, heard more than did Violet. The bad men are burying a human body and he and Violet might be witnesses. Billy is scared to tell anyone what he knows, afraid that the bad men would hurt him.
Told from the view point of 83-year-old Billy, the reader learns of how he recently lost his life-long partner, Cat. Are Violet and Cat one in the same person? Writing from his memory of the events in 1954, Billy sits in his cottage at Grizzly Pointe Senior Living on the day of the Summer Solstice of 2025, managing to craft a story that took place 71 years before while he has a hard time remembering what he ate that morning or if he ate at all. And then one by one his three children and seventeen grandchildren start checking on him.
Is that a moose wandering through his backyard? |
