Summary

Duke Logging & Lumber is now facing financial difficulties because of Lawyer Flense and Annag Duncan’s theft. Lavinia is devastated and, in her frustration, orders all of the kauri trees on her New Zealand property to be cut. Nevertheless, the logging industry is not what it used to be and the forests are dilapidated. One morning, Lavinia randomly has a heart attack and dies. Very quickly after her death, Dieter re-marries a young woman and has a second son, James Bardawulf and a daughter, Sophia. His second wife dies of breast cancer shortly after the birth.

Charley studies forestry at Yale and develops a deep compassion for the forest. He does not wish to join the family business, as he feels too passionately about the trees. Meanwhile, James Bardawulf marries a beautiful young woman named Caroline, who Charley...