This is a story about two marriages. Or is it? It begins with a wedding, held in the small San Francisco forest of Bottle Grove -- bestowed by a wealthy patron for the public good, back when people did such things. Here is a cross section of lives, a stretch of urban green where ritzy guests, lustful teenagers, drunken revelers, and forest creatures all wait for the sun to go down. The girl in the corner slugging vodka from a cough-syrup bottle is Padgett -- she's keeping something secreted in the woods. The couple at the altar are the Nickels -- the bride is emphatic about changing her name, as there is plenty about her old life she is ready to forget.
