Far as the Eye Can See by Robert Bausch

Author:Robert Bausch
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2014-09-08T16:00:00+00:00

The weather got a bit closer to thawing out for a while as Christmas approached, but then it froze up again good and solid. Sometimes the wind cut through you like a sword. To prepare for the long trip, I got myself a pack of buffalo skins and seven long poles for my own lodge. The old army tent had give out completely, and anyway, you couldn’t have a fire in the middle of it like you could with a good Indian tepee. Big Tree had showed me how to make one and so I had a good-sized Indian lodge. I’d use three of the poles for the tepee to make a travois to carry all of it and a whole lot more. Since it all dragged on the ground, I didn’t need but one other horse to drag the travois and my supplies and then on Cricket I only carried a bedroll and my guns, a few canteens of water, and a little whiskey.

Two days before Christmas, near the end of the day, the wind calmed down enough that I decided to put all my things together and assemble the travois next to the wagon. Christine come down out of the thing and stood there watching me for a spell. She was wrapped in a buffalo robe over a red dress, and I could see steam coming out of her mouth, but with no wind, it really wasn’t so cold.

I tied three long poles together near the top and set them down on the ground, then I spread them apart at the place where they would drag along the ground. Crossways on the poles, I tied a wood frame with all my skins and a pack where I’d put food and ammunition and other supplies. I set the rest of the poles on top. It was all tied together with leather and she watched me while I cinched each knot to be sure it would hold.

“What is that contraption?”

“It will soon be my home,” I said. “See, I’ll lift this end at the top and tie it over a horse’s back, and then it all comes along with me.”

“I thought you did not have to go anywhere until after Christmas.”

“I’m just getting ready. I ain’t going nowhere yet.”

“Have you thought about what you will give Eveline for Christmas?”

“I’ll be leaving just a few days after Christmas, so . . .” I had nothing more to say, because I believed it would be understood that Christmas shouldn’t be no fuss.

“But you will be here.” She was smiling, but I could see she was ready to jump me if I said the wrong thing. Sometimes I think women have a way of tilting their head a bit to the side while they study your eyes as you talk. They’re watching for it, even expecting it: the wrong thing. And if you say the wrong thing, they pounce on it like a cougar on a foal. “It will be Christmas Eve tomorrow,” she whispered.

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