"The summer of 1919 is over, and on the high prairie, a small army of men, women, and machines moves across the land, bringing in the wheat harvest. Custom threshers, steam engineers, bindlestiffs, cooks, camp followers, and hobos join the tide. Big Wheat is king as people gleefully embrace the gospels of progress and greed. But with Big Wheat comes a serial killer who calls himself the Windmill Man. He believes he has a holy calling to water the...

While on a cross-country train trip, Jesse slips away from the sleeper and visits the engineer as he drives the train though the darkness, past the wild animals.