I Cheerfully Refuse

Rainy wants to take Sol to her grandfather, Papa Griff, and sees that the quickest way is to take a canal that will deliver them to the eastern half of Lake Superior. After sailing through the night, Rainy docks the boat. He and Sol notice a floating corpse nearby, and Sol swims toward it. She tells Rainy that she lost two uncles to the lake and wonders if the body is one of them. It isn’t, but she takes it ashore. Rainy follows her to shore, and they hold a simple burial.

Later, as they search for the canal, Rainy and Sol see a dark storm approaching. According to one of Rainy’s guidebooks, the canal is meant to be lit, but he sees no light. The storm approaches, but before it reaches them, Sol spots a kite in the air marking the canal. Rainy steers them into the canal, where the waters are calmer, and they anchor, avoiding the storm altogether.

Sol doesn’t know what a kite is, so Rainy explains it to her. She at first thinks it’s a death angel, a creature of ill intent created by King Richard to scare Sol. Rainy begins to notice that the island side of the canal is rundown and seems abandoned. When they see a gas station, Rainy believes he sees a man there, but Sol recognizes it as a painting. They continue sailing, seeing more paintings of people on abandoned buildings.

Rainy finds a gas station on the mainland, but the manager tells him they have no gas; the shipment is delayed. Rainy expresses concern about the bridge on the other side of the canal; the manager tells him it still runs and to bargain with the bridgemaster. He adds that the towns on either side of the canal, Blinker on the mainland and Brighton on the island, were once a united community but that the island side is now fallen, poor, and prone to ritualistic practices. One is to cremate their dead in the open and paint their likenesses on buildings. When it’s time to pay, Sol produces an envelope of money, to Rainy’s surprise.

Rainy questions Sol about where she found so much money, and she admits she stole it from King Richard. Rainy fears that King Richard will pursue them but Sol assures him that King Richard has a slow boat. As they sail, Rainy and Sol see a woman collecting leeches in the water. When they arrive at the bridge, Rainy walks up into the office and meets Alistair, the bridgemaster, who demands $370 for passage. Sol gives Rainy the envelope of money, expressing the concern that with King Richard coming, they can’t go back. Rainy pays, but Alistair refuses to lift the bridge, citing a curfew because of suspected danger on the other side. Alistair gives Rainy the certificate of payment and tells him the morning operator can lift the bridge for them.

Sol and Rainy return to Flowers, and Sol can’t sleep, so she asks if Rainy will read to her from I Cheerfully Refuse. He reads the first chapter, about how when Molly was five, she ran away from home and met Death, outsmarting him with a riddle. In the morning, Sol and Rainy return to the office, but the morning operator denies them passage because their certificate is expired, stamped with the previous day’s date. The new bridgemaster insists that they pay again. Rainy protests and briefly thinks of bargaining with Kellan’s stash of Willow but decides it will only invite more trouble. He confronts Alistair at his home, but Alistair is no help. Rainy and Sol get back on Flowers and anchor on the other side of the canal. The woman with the leeches approaches them, introducing herself as Essie, and offers to help them cross under the bridge if they buy her leeches.

Sol and Rainy stow equipment below deck on Flowers and, at Essie’s suggestion, cover the boat in mud. She tells them that their best chance to smuggle the boat under the bridge is at night while Alistair watches: His eyesight is too poor to see them. Essie lends Rainy her small boat to tug Flowers under the bridge, asking that he return it afterward. On the night of their crossing, Rainy and Sol watch a mob from the mainland cross the bridge to hunt for pagans in Brighton. They return with three victims, one of whom is the painter of the deceased. Alistair walks across the bridge and helps hang each pagan, though the painter’s rope breaks and he swims to safety.

After the mob dissipates, Rainy and Sol make their move in the darkness. When they reach the bridge, they find that Flowers is still too large to pass under. Sol suggests they sink it to lower the boat in the water, and as they do, Alistair shines a light on them. He suspects something but can’t see clearly. By the time he crosses the bridge to look down at them, Rainy and Sol have passed through. On the other side of the canal, they anchor, and Rainy walks across the island to return Essie’s boat. As Rainy walks back, he notices that the bridge is on fire. He can’t find Sol on Flowers but soon sees her waving from the mainland.

Sol is hypothermic, shaking and barely conscious from her swim across the canal. Rainy makes her coffee to keep her awake and wraps her in every blanket he can find. Sol explains that she swam to the mainland, started the fire, and stole Alistair’s glasses when he fumbled to put out the fire and dropped them. By morning, Flowers runs out of gas, but Rainy and Sol reach the end of the canal, anchoring at the sea wall. Rainy reads to Sol from I Cheerfully Refuse about how when Molly was six, a travelling salesman gave her a mystery packet of seeds that excited her greatly. Rainy observes that Sol seems starved for stories, but when he tries to teach her to read and write, she resists. She seems almost scared of the pencil. He explains that books are like the tracks animals leave in snow but for humans. He suggests that maybe one day Sol will write a book.

Rainy and Sol sail to Redfield to look for Papa Griff, but as they near the town, Sol becomes less sure about what Griff does or where he may be. They search multiple towns, and Rainy begins to believe that Griff isn’t real, but Sol insists that he is. As they sail, he continues to read from I Cheerfully Refuse. In one passage, Molly remembers a comet she saw as a child one morning at its perihelion, or when it was closest to the sun. Her pastor declared it was a sign of coming war. Molly’s mother, lacking faith in the pastor, told Molly he led in the wrong direction. Rainy and Sol stock up on supplies in Port Mineral. Rainy thinks about what to do with Sol and suggests they return to Jolie. Sol agrees, and just as they’re about to cast off, Papa Griff appears behind them. He’s happy to see Sol, but Rainy notices that Sol sometimes seems uncomfortable. Griff is in Port Mineral looking for transport, and Rainy realizes that Griff is clearly running from someone but doesn’t object to Sol’s suggestion that they take him to Jolie with them.

Rainy, Sol, and Griff sail on calm waters, and when Griff asks Rainy if he can steer Flowers, Rainy lets him. Griff proves that he doesn’t know how to sail and is terrible at following directions. After he turns the boat the opposite way to what Rainy asks, Sol takes over. When winds begin to pick up, Rainy orders Griff to go below deck, but in a panic, Griff opens the boat’s valves, and Flowers begins to sink. Sol closes them in time to prevent disaster, but the wind overpowers Rainy and rips the sail, blowing Flowers off course. Later that night, Griff passes out, and Sol and Rainy sit on deck drinking coffee. They see Michipicoten Island and anchor there, only to find the ship that Rainy encountered at the Slates waiting for them beneath the shadow of a massive tanker. The strange man from Lark’s party, Tom Skint, boards Flowers and escorts Rainy, Sol, and Griff to the big ship.