Whiskey Jack is sharing a story about his people. It's not very pleasant. They were massacred in 1690. The killers appear to be French. They offered a child's death to Odekin, the Dark One, God of the Weather to shelter them from a terrible storm.

With that sacrifice, the skies cleared.

Shadow was held up by a woman, and she was wondering when he'd show up. He introduces himself, but she doesn't do the same. She appears to be the property manager and suggests he doesn't break in the next time but just knock on the door.

His apartment is freezing, and adjusting the thermostat doesn't do anything. He falls asleep in a chair, the light flickering beside him. He dreams of childhood, loosing his mother's hand in a convenience store, a face on a magazine saying that much is needed from him. The white buffalo pins him against the cold storage, eyes blazing. Shadow isn't afraid, and the buffalo's eyes darken.

Bilquis has a computer repairman at her place. But it's just a guy acting out something for her. He owns the biggest IT company in the world and is looked at like a God. He came to her to gain balance. They argue about her presence. She's a goddess. Well, he thinks he bought and paid for her. Him, William Huntington Sanders.

When she reaches out to him, he willingly takes her hand. She swallows him whole. Afterward, she vomits. He seems to have made her sick.

Shadow wakes fully dressed, rubbing his hands together for warmth. There is already mail on the table, and he pitches it, quickly reconsidering and pulling out an envelope marked personal and confidential. It's an invitation from Zorya.

He's walking along the street when Ann-Marie picks him up. He was walking into town to buy a jacket. It's a good thing he's pretty. She talks a bit out the town and takes him to the general store. Allison, one of the girls from the bus, works at the store. She apologizes, but their antics made him smile after a bad day.

Shadow buys a klunker ticket and feels weird about it.

Wednesday visits Tyr, the war god. He wants a donation. Wednesday sees a postcard from Demeter on Tyr's desk, and it throws him. They're all scheduled to gather at the memorial, so why couldn't he have waited, Tyr wonders. Tyr promises to fight at Odin's side.

Ann-Marie continues her tour of Lakeside with Shadow, speaking glowingly about Mabel's pasties. He wants to know where to rent a car. Chad laughs that someone believes there is a panty thief afoot. He takes Shadow for his first pasty. The first pasty is complimentary to new customers. A kid named Derek knocks fists with Shadow, and Chad wonders if they know each other. Nope.

Chad asks about Shadow's job, realizing he sounds like a cop. Shadow has his first bite of pasty and loves it.

Chad takes Shadow to rent a car, and he learns that they met at gunpoint. We still don't know who she is, but Sandy's old beater isn't for sale even though it's been parked out back for the better part of two years now. She works at the Lakeside Journal.

The car is purple. $100 for two days, return it like he found it.

Salim is praying beside a casket. He's in Cairo. He misses the Jinn, and wants to know what task of Wednesday's could have driven them apart.

Shadow listens to a mix CD on his trip to Chicago. It's Sandy of the car. He was recording a song. It pulls Shadow's eyes from the road and he hits a deer, but althought it's bloody, it bounces off.

Czernobog is weeping over Zorya's casket. He's angry that Shadow is here when he wasn't invited. Wednesday wasn't invited either, Wednesday says, but he's here, too! Shadow has taken a book as a gift, while Wednesday offers a giant wheel of havarti.

Czernobog reaches for his hammer. He's got an appt with Shadow's head. Shadow shows his invitation and retreats to the roof.

Wednesday is thrilled with the turnout because it's a fantastic recruiting opportunity for their cause. Czernobog reluctantly takes a bottle of vodka and drinks.

Zorya is on the roof, chatting with Shadow. He wants no more riddles, no more cryptic answers. She says the stars can only reveal so much, but when he cannot see a way, the night sky will guide him. She takes the coin and places it in the sky.

Wednesday and Czernobog are dance fighting for the crowd. They're laughing like children.

Salim verbally attacks Wednesday, spitting at his feet when he refuses. Shadow tries to talk with Salim, who says Shadow should have let the leprechan kill Wednesday.

Wednesday takes off, ready to head back to Lakeside. Outside, he runs into Cordelia. She answered a Craig's List ad to be Wednesday's driver. She's on the all-girls team, so she's not Wednesday's fiance. She's in the dark about a lot of it, and Shadow offers himself when it all gets too much for her to take.

Back in Lakeside, he asks for bacon on wheat toast at Mabels. She stares at him, must like others are doing, and he wonders if everything is alright. Outside, he sees property manager waving over Chad in front of Sandy's car. Chad heads to Mabels to talk with Shadow.

Suddenly, Chad is asking Shadow questions in his office, but Shadow has no idea why. Allison didn't show up for school or work, and Shadow is the number one suspect since he drove to Chicago. The windshield is a point of contention, but a mechanic in Steven's point fixed it. Chad wants to run a luminol test on the vehicle.

Shadow's fireplace has a do-not-use sign on it, but without a heater, he heads out to the woods to gather wood to burn. While there, he runs into a giant peacock who speaks with him, showing his full array of feathers. As that's happening, a car drives by, and when it's gone, so is the peacock.

Chad told property manager that Shadow's story checks out. Everyone is volunteering for a search. She apologizes for the thing with the shotgun, too, and then turns on his furnace. She had the breaker for the furnace turned off, and given how they met, she didn't think to turn it back on.

Shadow asks a few courteous questions about Sandy, but she walks away without answering them.