In the working-class logging towns along the Wakonda, the strike has become a major topic of discussion. Draeger and Evenwrite travel to build support for the strike and convey information: The union is asking for a six-hour day with eight-hour pay to maintain productivity. Draeger learns that the Stampers have struck a deal with the Wakonda Pacific logging company to increase the family operation’s productivity while the union workers are on strike. Meanwhile, we see slices of the lives of other characters, including the bartender Teddy and sometime prostitute Indian Jenny.

Lee is a graduate student in literature at Yale. He shares a house with Peters, who is working on his doctoral dissertation in literature. Lee himself has somewhat given up on school. He uses drugs, is in therapy, and has attempted suicide because of the stress of the death of his mother Myra, who committed suicide by leaping from a tall building. The narrative shifts to Lee’s first-person voice as he receives the postcard from Hank. Though Peters tries to talk Lee out of it, Lee decides to go west to the Stamper home. He explains to Peters that he will get revenge on Hank, “to settle my score with this shadow from my past” (77).