Summary

It is once again the summer of 1948, and the trees had been all felled and sent down the river. Having seen his father and Jon's mother together, Trond had gone to Franz's house for breakfast. Sitting in Franz's kitchen, Trond remarked about how nice and clean, bright and blue it was. He noticed that Franz had a red star tattoo on his forearm. He tells the reader that many of the lumberjacks sported them as a sign of solidarity with the communists.

When Trond asked about the tattoo, Franz told him about his father during the war. The year was 1942, Franz's father had come to the area and had needed a base camp, a small place where he could recover after a mission. No one but Franz, at the time, knew that he needed it for a mission. Most people just thought he...