Kiss of the Fur Queen

The woman in white fur turns out to be Lola Van Beethoven, “piano teacher nonpareil” (99). Jeremiah, now 15, is in Winnipeg to attend high school, training with Ms. Beethoven after school. The piano seems to be Jeremiah’s only friend in this city, 800 miles south of Eemanapiteepitat. Though Ms. Beethoven is strict with Jeremiah, she admires his talent and wants him to practice the piano five hours a day, six days a week. Jeremiah wants to win the prestigious Crookshank Memorial Trophy for the piano.

Jeremiah misses his family terribly, even though he is happy to be free from the stifling atmosphere of the boarding school and the ever-watchful eyes of the priests. Abraham has taught him how to be alone in nature, but Jeremiah finds solitude difficult in a city, where “stars don’t shine at night, trees don’t speak” (104). The sight of homeless Indigenous Canadians on street corners frequently disturbs Jeremiah. One day, Jeremiah sees four white boys propositioning a young Indigenous woman. The girl gets into a white convertible with the boys. A week later, Jeremiah thinks he recognizes the girl in a news story about Evelyn Rose McCrae, native of Mistik Lake, found brutalized and dead on the outskirts of the city.