Still Life with Woodpecker

The plane lands in Honolulu mid-afternoon, but the moon is already risen in Hawaii. Leigh-Cheri loves it immediately. As she and Gulietta run to their connecting Maui flight, they don’t notice Bernard running alongside them.

Their flight is turbulent, but Bernard isn’t nervous about the dynamite strapped to his torso. He sits behind Leigh-Cheri, admiring her red hair. Leigh-Cheri contemplates who she is and what her purpose and place are in the world.

Bernard dyes his own red hair black using tree bark and roots so the authorities can’t trace hair dye purchases. He takes “delicious pleasure” in hiding his true status as a redhead from the rest of the world.