Wylie Frye, a rugged mill work­er in Encamp­ment, Wyoming, is accus­tomed to the per­va­sive smell of wood smoke that clings to him after long nights tend­ing the saw­dust burn­er. Despite the dis­com­fort it caus­es oth­ers, he finds solace in the warmth of the burn­er shack, a stark con­trast to his past hard­ships, includ­ing frost­bite injuries from work­ing on a North Dako­ta frack­ing rig. As he waits anx­ious­ly for a late-night vis­i­tor, the roar­ing fire and oppres­sive heat ampli­fy his ten­sion, com­pound­ed by the acidic after­taste of a recent meal. The chap­ter estab­lish­es Wylie as a man marked by phys­i­cal labor and a loom­ing sense of unease.

The wig­wam burn­er, a tow­er­ing steel struc­ture, dom­i­nates the night with its fiery inten­si­ty, designed to oper­ate when the town sleeps to avoid com­plaints. Its flames reach extreme tem­per­a­tures, glow­ing red and spew­ing sparks like shoot­ing stars. This set­ting under­scores the indus­tri­al grit of Wylie’s world, where the mill’s oper­a­tions are both a source of liveli­hood and a back­drop for clan­des­tine activ­i­ties. The burner’s relent­less noise and heat cre­ate an iso­lat­ing envi­ron­ment, height­en­ing Wylie’s antic­i­pa­tion as he watch­es for head­lights through a smoke-filmed win­dow.

Wylie’s plan hinges on a nar­row win­dow of time between 2:15 and 3:30 AM, when the town’s bars have emp­tied and the local cop, Jalen Spanks, begins his rou­tine patrol. The chap­ter paints Encamp­ment as a tight-knit, rough-around-the-edges com­mu­ni­ty, where drunks and work­ers coex­ist in a rhythm dic­tat­ed by the harsh envi­ron­ment. Wylie’s dis­dain for Jalen’s self-impor­tant demeanor adds ten­sion, as their encoun­ters are polite but strained. The stakes rise as Wylie’s accom­plices delay, risk­ing expo­sure dur­ing Jalen’s inevitable arrival.

The chap­ter hints at Wylie’s involve­ment in a shady scheme, though the details remain vague. His instruc­tions are clear: avoid wit­ness­ing the men’s actions at the burn­er, pre­serv­ing plau­si­ble deni­a­bil­i­ty. The back­drop of the town’s eco­nom­ic struggles—highlighted by the pine bee­tle infes­ta­tion and fed­er­al log­ging policies—adds depth to Wylie’s moti­va­tions. As he steps into the bru­tal cold to avoid see­ing the arriv­ing vehi­cle, the chap­ter clos­es with a sense of impend­ing con­se­quence, leav­ing read­ers curi­ous about the nature of his crim­i­nal­i­ty and the mill’s role in it.