Chemistry and Other Stories by Tim Pears

Author:Tim Pears
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781526623393
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2021-05-11T00:00:00+00:00

As soon as he woke up, Ben felt dreadful, head throbbing. He unzipped his sleeping bag and staggered stiffly to his feet. A blood-filled drum pounded in his skull. Jimmy and Phil lay on the ground, their leather jackets draped over them. The dog, curled up beside Jimmy, watched Ben pass.

Lurching along the path through the waist-high grass, Ben thought how much he’d like a large mug of tea and some rounds of crisp toast. The sky was speckled with cloud, the morning dewy and still. He remembered that he’d got up to empty his bladder and had already wandered for thirty yards. He found a space to one side. Peeing, he looked around. A little way along the path three pairs of limpid, alert eyes watched him.

Ben kept as still as he could but maybe his excitement transmitted itself: the three does turned and cantered away, bodies undulating, breasting through the high grass; their rumps showed intermittently, white circles with a black stripe.

He ran back to camp. ‘They’re here. I’ve seen them.’ Phil and Jimmy began to stir, groggily. ‘Get the guns. Quick.’

Ben and Pete loaded their rifles. ‘Fuck,’ Jimmy muttered. ‘Forgot to loosen my bow.’

They sprinted along the path through the grass, bending forward as they ran, each holding his weapon horizontal in his hand. Jimmy’s dog ran madly parallel, off in the trees. Ben studied the grass in the yards ahead. After two or three minutes’ running he stopped, holding up his hand.

‘See this,’ he said. The way before them was unbroken. ‘Reckon they must have headed into the trees here, up to our left. Phil, stay here. Jimmy, go fifty yards back along the path, I’ll go the same further on, then we advance in a line. Try and corral the deer between us. And if you can’t control the dog, tie her up, we’ll come back for her later.’

Jimmy bent to his spaniel and secured her with his belt to the trunk of a sapling.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.