Ten Mile Island

AGE: 41

HOME: Bergen, Norway

OTHER: Older cousin to Ulrik Sorensen. He runs a private investigator service based in Oslo and in Bergen, Norway. Has solved several crimes around Europe including art thefts in Oslo at the Munch Art Museum and at the Z-Suisse Banc in Zurich, Switzerland. His protege, Finn Nordenstar, has branched out Anders’s investigation techniques and now continues to broaden Sorensen Investigation Services. He is a stern, cold man that gets directly to the point. Always sharply dressed he can come off as a very powerful man. Even though he grew up in Norway, he spent a lot of time along the North Shore as a child with his family. Even spent a few days on Ten Mile Island for a family reunion.

AGE: 34

HOME: Silver Bay, MN

OTHER: grew up in the Twin Cities, went to University of Minnesota, Duluth and got his PhD at Loyola Chicago. Survived a terrifying month and a half trapped on Ten Mile Island in his teens. He is handsome and kind but has had two episodes of terror in his life. Both times after tasting human blood. The first time was when he was a teenager when he and his older brother Erik explored across a frozen Lake Superior one early and warm March day in 1974. They traveled all the way out to Ten Mile Island to break into the resort on Ten Mile Island where they believed there would be all sorts of goodies (his older brother knew about the back way into the resort through the underground tunnel). When they got there the temperature rose up to near 70 degrees and then a thunderstorm came all night. The next morning they were trapped. There was no food and they began to starve but the Wendigo spirit came for Ulrik just as Erik died.

AGE: 14

HOME: William’s Court, Silver Bay, MN

OTHER: loves to explore, build things, the outdoors. His father Christopher passed away in a fishing accident along a deep canyon in Temperance River during a flash flood when he was in kindergarten. His best friend is Esther Rindal who lives in the neighborhood a few houses down and they have a lot of adventures together. They both like hockey, especially the North Stars (his favorite player is Mike Modano) and riding their ATVs around the area. Sometimes Oskar takes his dad’s old 35mm camera out to take pictures of nature while sneaking out in a kayak down at the beach where William’s Creek empties into Lake Superior. His favorite places to visit are Shovel Point and the sea caves at Tettegouche State Park. He also likes to rock climb there and at Palisade Head.

AGE: 14

HOME: William’s Creek Neighborhood, Silver Bay, MN

OTHER: She is almost like an only child as her younger sister Mae, is only two years old. Esther’s family lives a couple houses down from Oskar and his mother in the William’s Creek neighborhood on the east part of town. She is full of adventure and tomboy spirit and together with Oskar typically find themselves planning an exciting adventure in the local parks, around Lake Superior or working in Oskar’s father’s wood shed building and creating cool and interesting contraptions. She is one of only two girls that made the high school hockey team and during the winter months she enjoys heading to the inland lakes to ice fish with her father.  

AGE: 15

HOME: West Road, East Beaver Bay, MN

OTHER: Typical troublesome teenage boy. Known for getting in trouble and being a bully. Lives near the Silver Bay Marina and breaks into boats every now and then and even took one on a joy ride across Lake Superior once. Is the pain in Oskar and Sheriff Olsen’s side. His dad works at the local mining company and is never around, usually hitting up the bar after work and on the weekends. His mom runs a daycare out of their home. He has three younger siblings and an older brother who lives in Duluth for a construction company. Ultimately in this story he can be considered as someone who is dangerous, but in the end is found to be reliable.

AGE: 46

HOME: Silver Bay, MN, Highway 61

OTHER: Lives in a nice cabin on the shore of Lake Superior near Palisade Head along Highway 61 close to the William’s Creek area. Before being a cop he sold insurance and worked as a part time butcher at Zup’s Grocery store in Silver Bay until the death of his wife. In his late twenties, Sheriff Olsen and his wife went on a weekend getaway to Chicago, something he and his family did growing up around Christmas time, when he and his wife were involved in a drive by shooting just off of Michigan Avenue. She was struck with a bullet and died a couple days later at Chicago Memorial. Since that day Magner has made a pact to himself to bring crime to a standstill, even in little old Silver Bay. Never married again and without any children of his own he has been dating Annette Karlsen for over a year now.  He and Oskar get along great as he is a great role model for Oskar.

AGE: 42

HOME: William’s Drive, Silver Bay, MN

OTHER: Dating Sheriff Olsen. Works part time at the local diner but is also back in school (persuaded to finish her degree by Olsen) at UMD. Is a very good mother to Oskar and is well respected by the entire community for her work ethic and kindness.

AGE: Deceased at age 19 (1974)

HOME: Silver Bay, MN

OTHER: The older brother of Ulrik, he was somewhat of a popular kid in high school in Silver Bay. He was dating the daughter of the owners of Ten Mile Island Resort where he found out about the tunnel to the resort from the neighboring island. It was his idea to sneak out to the island on the ice one day while exploring the frozen lake one day with Ulrik (he had just broken up with his girlfriend and was in quite the revenge mood). His plan was to do some damage to the place and steal some goodies from the resort but didn’t tell his brother. By the time they got out to the island a major early spring storm came through as the temperature got all the way near 70 degrees. In fact as they waited out the storm the lake began to bellow and crack which exposed several yards of open water.  Erik Sorensen ended up dying of exposure and from starvation after a couple of weeks trapped on the island.

Known among the Algonquin-speaking peoples of North America, the Wendigo haunts the northern forests of the USA and Canada, seeking human flesh to fulfill an insatiable appetite. It’s said that a Wendigo comes into being when a starving human resorts to cannibalism. While descriptions of what the Wendigo looks like vary, it’s associations with extreme winter conditions, cannibalism, murder, greed and starvation are known across the board. Some say its body is emaciated, with its skeleton pushing through its ashen skin. Others claim it’s a well-fleshed giant. Though in most instances, it has sunken eyes, tattered lips (because it’s eaten away at them) and antlers or horns protruding through its skull. It’s also often credited with excellent eyesight, hearing, sense of smell and superhuman stamina. One description said the Wendigo moves with the ‘speed of the wind.’ It also has the ability to walk across deep snow or open water without sinking.