The Chief Engineer

A dark pond, a silent boat—and suddenly something is gnawing through the bow as a paw grips the gunwale. Henry Abbott is ready to swing his camera; his companion insists he hasn’t even touched the paddle.

At Cherry Pond in the Adirondacks, Abbott’s camping trip takes an unexpected turn when the mysterious swimmer leaves sharp tooth marks in their boat and a freshly felled poplar on the shore. The clues point to a beaver, though the woods have been without beavers for decades. Abbott begins watching the white-headed newcomer he calls the Chief Engineer: a powerful builder and swimmer, but a solitary arrival in a landscape emptied by trapping. Can this ingenious stranger make a home here—and what will happen when he is no longer alone?

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