The back door of the warehouse leads to an unstable walkway that heads in the direction of the mountain. It is windy, and S. almost loses his balance. When the walkway reaches the base of the mountain the path seems to end. As if he were in a dream, S. somehow understands that he is meant to climb the mountain. But the rock is dangerous and sharp and would surely rip apart his hands. S. thinks about turning back. He wonders if he would really lose anything if he stopped playing this strange game.

Jen asks Eric if he remembers what he said when they were on the pathway over the river. This may be a reference to Jen and Eric’s trip to the park. Unfortunately for the reader, Jen and Eric do not write down everything that they discuss when they are physically together.

Jen writes that Eric said that he was finally forgiving himself for what happened to his uncle. Jen wonders whether this will change Eric’s relationship with his parents.

Eric says that he is less angry, but that he and his parents may have drifted too far apart for them to salvage their relationship.

Eric speculates about what it would mean if Vaclav were Straka. If Vaclav was Straka then Vaclav must have survived his jump and met Ekstrom and the others. They helped Vaclav reconstruct and publish Miracle at Braxenholm. Vaclav and the others made a statement at the Bouchard award ceremony by sending the monkey. The group then decided to turn V. M. Straka into a “phenomenon of radicalism.”

Jen wonders whether Vaclav was involved because he wanted to be or because Ekstrom and the others wanted him to be.

Jen and Eric are intent on developing their theory of Vaclav as Straka. Their theory is strong and compelling, but they will have a hard time presenting evidence to prove it.