Summary

Ed, the main character, is sitting at a table in a bar with his friends Bobby, Drew, and Lewis, who explains a dam is about to be built in a section of wilderness that will flood the entire valley. Lewis would like to canoe down that section of river before it is gone forever, and is trying to convince the other three to come along. They are sitting around a map listening to Lewis explain his plans for the trip.

Drew asks how they actually get to the river, and Lewis indicates a town on the map near the river. The town is named Oree. The plan is to enter the river at that town, and come out downriver at another town called Aintry. Drew worries that no one in their group knows anything about the woods. When Lewis asks them all what they will be...