Nine-year-old Oliver believes every animal track in the snow belongs to a wolf.
His stepmother Nina patiently explains that most of them belong to creatures considerably smaller.
Oliver brings a notebook titled 'WOLVES OF MICHIGAN,' with a wolf drawn so large it spills off the cover. His father explains that they may see tracks, but they should not expect to encounter any particular animal. Oliver has read every page of a library book about predators and is impatient with words like 'possibly' and 'unlikely.' Nina checks the trail information before they leave, and they bring snacks, extra layers and a plan to turn around well before dusk. His younger sister June is interested mainly in being the first to spot something. At the first set of tracks, Oliver crouches dramatically and announces that a wolf passed there not ten minutes ago. Nina points out the tiny scale of the prints. June suggests the wolf might be a baby. Oliver considers this promising. Nina gently demonstrates how to compare a paw print with their mitten and how snowfall can make old tracks look fresh.
Nina lets Oliver keep the lead as long as he stays within sight. He is delighted by the responsibility and immediately appoints June his assistant investigator, which she rejects on the grounds that she can investigate independently. Their father follows carrying the thermos and making occasional suggestions about the difference between trails made by animals and marks left by falling snow. They stop beside a fallen branch where several prints overlap. The marks are hard to read, and Oliver declares the whole area a crime scene. Nina explains that a good naturalist makes observations first and theories second. Oliver writes down 'five toes? maybe,' then scratches out the question mark because he dislikes uncertainty. After watching a squirrel leap between branches, he puts it back in. The woods are revealing themselves as a place full of stories he cannot yet decode, which is much more interesting than simply finding a wolf.
The family walks farther through the pines, pausing when June hears a woodpecker tapping in the distance. Oliver's notebook grows messier as the evidence refuses to follow his original theory. He sketches deer tracks and writes down a question about why some marks stop suddenly beside a fallen log. His father tells him that noticing what you don't know is part of being good at anything. Oliver says this sounds like something teachers say. They stop for a snack and watch the shadows stretch across the snow. Nina tells a story about being a child in the city and thinking every bird sound came from the same animal. June shares a cookie with Oliver without being asked, a rare event that he wisely leaves unmentioned. Before returning to the car, they take a family picture with boots planted on the packed trail, not in the animal tracks. On the way home they stop at The Main Treat in Gaylord, where Oliver reviews the evidence over a pastry. Back home he gives his notebook a new title: 'WHO WAS HERE?' He likes the mystery better than the answer he expected. June adds a drawing of an extremely large mouse.
Setting artwork is illustrative; it does not depict the story’s cast or document an event.