The Simple Wild: A Novel

After landing, Calla and Jonah hike through the woods to the Public Shelter Cabin, where the hikers should be. However, the cabin is empty and shows no signs of anyone being there. They were supposed to arrive two days earlier, and Jonah is concerned. He calls Wren to report their findings and says they will stay in the cabin until the weather clears enough to fly out. Calla balks at staying in the spartan cabin, but Jonah has supplies on the plane. Jonah starts a fire, and Calla declares him “a regular Boy Scout” (292), but Jonah explains that knowing how to survive is part of living in Alaska. Jonah cuts his hand, and Calla tenderly bandages it. He pulls her in for a kiss and tells her he’s wanted to act on his attraction for days. Their clothes are soaked from the rain, and Jonah makes her strip off the wet layers to dry. Unable to contain their desire, they have sex on the floor, wrapped in a sleeping bag by the fire.

Afterward, Jonah goes to stoke the fire, and Calla admires the beauty of his nude body. Jonah encourages her to try beef jerky, Ethel’s specialty. The talk turns serious as Jonah shares that he dated a pilot the previous year but didn’t allow himself to get attached because he knew she would leave. Calla wonders the same about her, but he says they will take it one day at a time. He encourages her to consider staying with Wren throughout his treatment. Leaving her life in Toronto behind makes Calla sad, but she also doesn’t what she’s started with Jonah to end. He returns to the sleeping bag, and they have sex again.

Calla awakens to the sound of Jonah chopping wood. He’s anxious to get the plane in the air and search for the lost hikers before fog sets in. Calla longs for more intimacy and takes off her clothes to lure him back to bed, an invitation he can’t turn down. After hastily packing up the plane, Jonah flies over the area using a map the hikers sent him before their trip. Calla helps him scan the ground, but they see nothing. On a hunch, Jonah veers off his flight plan and makes another pass. They spot the stranded hikers on an exposed ridge, and the man has a broken leg. Jonah lands, and they call for a helicopter rescue. Calla realizes how passionate Jonah is about using his flying skills to help people.

When they arrive back at the airport, they learn Wren is in the hospital to drain fluid from his lungs. Mabel is with him at the hospital, and they finally tell her about Wren’s cancer. Jonah comforts Mabel as she sobs, and Wren asks her to speak to Calla alone. His cancer is far more advanced than he let on, and he has decided to forgo treatment and “do it on [his] own terms” (322), enjoying what little time he has left. Though he’d hidden the truth from Agnes, Jonah has known all along, which explains why he insists on Calla staying longer. Calla has already decided to prolong her trip, and she begs her father to reconsider getting treatment. Wren is resolute, and Calla runs from the hospital sobbing.

Calla runs all the way home and showers until the water runs out. Jonah breaks into the bathroom to check on her and brings her to his house since he has water. Calla is angry, but Jonah defends his loyalty to Wren and explains that the best thing they can do is support Wren’s decision. Calla works on Jonah’s beard, perfecting her earlier work, and they have sex on the couch.

Jonah returned to the airport the following day to tell the staff the news. Meanwhile, Calla called Susan to share the bad news and cancel her flight to Toronto. Later, Simon calls Calla and says Susan didn’t take the news well. Calla thinks Wren’s decision is selfish. Simon reminds Calla that Wren must be frightened and that making the decision isn’t easy, but she must respect it. Jonah calls out to her to come back to bed, and Simon asks how things are going with the “horrid pilot from next door” (338). Amused that her secret is out with Simon but comforted by his wise counsel, Calla ends the call by telling him she loves him.

Calla returns to the hospital with Mabel, where Wren prepares to go home. Calla says she canceled her return flight to Toronto and plans to stay and help Wren live out his final days on his terms. Wren has spoken with the nurses at the hospital and made plans for palliative care at home. He’s also spoken with someone from Aro Airlines about purchasing Alaska Wild. Though Wren knows Jonah is more than capable and willing to run Wild, he doesn’t want to saddle him with a desk job he’ll hate. Jonah arrives later after a post-crash checkup. He insists Calla drive home so she can learn.

Calla tells Diana she’s staying in Bangor for perhaps several months. Agnes prepares dinner, and Calla realizes she, Agnes, Wren, and Mabel have become family. Agnes peruses Calla’s photographs from her trip with Jonah to Kwigillingok. Though the photos show the landscape's natural beauty, they fail to tell the story of the villagers and what Wild does to help them. Agnes says Marie stopped by to look for Jonah, and Agnes told her that he and Calla were stuck in the emergency shelter. Calla secretly rejoices over making Marie jealous.

Agnes wants to host a baby shower for Sharon and Max, but Calla worries throwing a party under the circumstances is not a good idea. Agnes says Wren wouldn’t have it any other way and “[t]here will be days to mourn, when it’s time” (350). Calla expresses her gratitude to Agnes for reaching out and inviting her to Alaska. Jonah arrives after his flight, on which he loses a rudder. Calla shudders at the thought of him crashing again and wonders if this is what it’s like to be in a relationship with a bush pilot, constantly fearing for their safety. Jonah plans to take Wren flying as much as possible and invites Calla along. Mabel catches them whispering, and Calla knows her secret is out. Jonah implores Calla to stay indefinitely and tells her he wants her in his bed every night.

Calla and Jonah take Wren flying daily for the next few days, and Mabel joins them to go fishing. In the evening, they gather as a family to eat and spend time together, though Wren progressively gets weaker. Wren knows about Calla and Jonah, and she asks him if he thinks she's making the same mistake her mom did. Wren says he never regretted loving Susan. The baby shower for Max and Sharon is a huge success; many people from the community attend and bring local food which Calla samples with Jonah guiding her. Ethel attends with her daughter, Josephine, and her new baby. Calla watches as Jonah cradles the baby, realizing he will be a good father. Ethel calls Jonah “Tulukaruq,” which means raven, and she says Calla is Jonah’s “goose-wife” (361).

Wren arrives at the party after finalizing the sale of Wild to Aro. Max makes a speech thanking everyone for the party and reliving all the good memories he had working for Wild, especially the night he got drunk and Jonah put him up to drawing nipples on the duck wallpaper. Max tearfully thanks Wren for believing in him, and Calla can’t contain her emotions. She runs to the hangar and cries in the cockpit of a plane. Jonah finds and comforts her as they both know Wren is slipping away. Jonah encourages Calla not to focus on her regrets from the past and to be thankful that she had this time with Wren. When she asks Jonah what Ethel meant by her being a “goose-wife,” he explains that it comes from an old tale about a goose that falls in love with a raven but can’t survive the winter and must leave him. Jonah calls their relationship “complicated,” a word with which Calla is all too familiar.

Wren wants his last flight to be with Calla alone. While they’re in the air, he relays to her all the plans for his finances. He’s left three planes with Jonah and is giving her the money from the sale of Wild. Wren pours out his heart to Calla, apologizing for all the times he has failed her. He called Susan to tell her goodbye and thank her and Simon for raising Calla into the woman she’s become. Soon, Wren weakens and is confined to a hospital bed in the living room. Jonah moves in to be there around the clock. Susan makes the trip from Toronto to say her goodbyes, and Calla watches tearfully as Jonah holds her for support.

Five days after Wren dies, Susan prepares to leave while Calla remains to help Agnes. Jonah has been quiet since Wren’s death and spends most of his time flying to avoid his grief. Soon, Calla leaves, and she spends her final night with Jonah. He implores her to stay, but she insists that her life is in Toronto and she can’t expect him to leave Alaska for her. He takes her to the airport, and they agree to do their best to stay in touch, but Calla knows Jonah isn’t much into using a phone. She leaves Alaska, bearing the immense weight of losing not one but two men she loves.

Calla struggles to reenter her urban lifestyle a month after returning to Toronto. She goes out to clubs with Diana but prefers quiet nights at home with Simon and Susan. She’s toned down her makeup routine and finds she’s no longer passionate about Calla & Dee. Instead, her mind wanders back to the simplicity of Alaskan life. Worst of all, she and Jonah have lost touch as he appears absorbed in completing the transition from Wild to Aro. After returning early from a night out with Diana, Calla opens the trash can, and a raccoon surprises her. She hears Jonah’s unmistakable laugh and turns to find him on her porch. Jonah says that life in Alaska is not the same without her. He came in person to ask her to move to Alaska and help him start his airline closer to Anchorage. Calla doesn’t give him a definitive answer, but she knows deep inside that she wants nothing more than to spend her life with Jonah.