Deep River: A Novel by Karl Marlantes

Author:Karl Marlantes [Marlantes, Karl]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Literary, Fantasy, Historical
ISBN: 9780802146199
Google: 2L1FDwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B075VCJF62
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Published: 2019-07-02T06:00:00+00:00

“Saatana,” Aksel whispered, upon hearing the deal. Matti said nothing. They were standing on top of the ridge running north and south on the west side of Grays Bay. Between them and the bay were several hundred acres of old-growth Douglas fir that had thrived in open ground cleared by a large forest fire several centuries back. There were some western red cedar with a sprinkling of Sitka spruce in the bottoms and some annoying hemlock, most of which they’d have to log around because it was worthless. A strip of stumps and slash about a quarter of a mile wide hugged the shoreline. “I see why they stopped,” Aksel went on.

Matti, of course, had seen the timber before he had bid the contract. Twenty years earlier an outfit had stopped logging because it became too expensive to move the logs to water. Back then, it was done with oxen, corduroy roads, sweat, and ingenuity. Timber too far from water was one reason Reder had so much money tied up in railroads. Railroad logging was way out of 200-Foot Logging’s league.

The new double-drum steam yarder floated on a raft about a mile away and five hundred feet below them. The elation of winning the contract had been replaced by cold reality—and apprehension. He would never tell Aksel, or even Kyllikki, that he might have underbid the job. No, had underbid the job. Failure would be the end of 200-Foot Logging. He would be back to working for wages. He had his ace up his sleeve, however, the agreement with Drummond to fudge over the line. If that ever came out, he’d never be able to look Kyllikki in the face.

Silently, they calculated how best to get the yarder up to where it could go to work.

“Saatana,” Aksel said again, speaking Finnish. “It’s going to be a son of a bitch.”

“Yoh,” Matti answered.

“You must have had something in mind before you made the bid,” Aksel said. “Sky hooks?”

Matti laughed at the old joke played on rookies, but this show would be no joke.

“You didn’t mention time,” Aksel said. Matti made no reply. “On the Klawachuck show we didn’t have a deadline,” Aksel went on. “What have we got on this one? Six months?”

“Six and a half.”

“Oh. I breathe easier.”

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.