Solar Storms

The day Angel leaves for Fur Island, Dora-Rouge gives her a piece of amber with a small frog preserved inside—a keepsake she’s held onto for years. John Husk ferries Angel to the island, and though he’s small in stature, he seems to expand while steering the boat. They pass the Hungry Mouth of Water, a dangerous stretch between Adam’s Rib and Fur Island where the lake never fully freezes and has claimed its share of deer and drunkards over the years. As they near the island, Husk describes the frogs that live there, their croaks that sound like a throng of drums, and how they’re thought to be sacred.

Fur Island once drew visitors for its population of fur-bearing game, but over time, it was depleted. As lake water levels have continued to drop, the island has grown in size, but Bush remains its sole resident, caring for the land on her own. When Angel first sees her, she sees a woman accustomed to solitude but undeniably graceful, like a deer—“equal parts light and water.” Her three-bedroom home, known locally as the Black House, was built from the wreckage of a ship and its cargo. Angel finds it beautiful, surrounded by the wild. Bush tells her there are no mirrors inside, as she doesn’t trust them. Privately, Angel begins calling Bush’s house the House of No—for all that it seems to reject.

For work, Bush assembles animal skeletons for LaRue, who sells them to museums and schools. A pile of tortoise bones sits outside of her house; Bush says she’s leaving them there so the turtle can one day find its way back to itself. Bush seldom speaks, and Angel remains guarded in her presence. On an altar in the house, Angel discovers old photos of herself from before her face became scarred. One shows Hannah holding her, and even through the photograph, Angel senses her mother’s unease, suggesting that Hannah was not comfortable with being a mother.

Though Angel initially plans to leave the island the next time John Husk returns in his canoe with supplies, Bush keeps her in place. She slowly divulges pieces of Angel’s past, always just enough to keep her hooked, and typically just as Angel is ready to flee. Because she holds the truth about Hannah—and about Angel’s childhood—Angel feels compelled to remain on the island. Bush is strange, sometimes severe, but she also has a gentler side. Over time, Angel starts to settle in, feeling attuned to the island’s rhythms and sensing that she belongs here just as much as the birds and rain.