Radio Free Vermont by Bill McKibben

Author:Bill McKibben
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2017-11-07T05:00:00+00:00

16

The rain was coming down in sheets outside the kitchen window, and Vern knew that Trance was calculating the same thing in her head as he was in his: How many feet of snow would this be, assuming it was falling as snow the way it should be in the very dead center of winter?

“Two feet anyway,” he said, and sure enough she answered him without any hesitation.

“Two feet at least. Not that it would do me good—couldn’t go for a ski if we had all the snow in the world. I hadn’t figured out that being a fugitive would mean no exercise. I haven’t worked out for four days—even when I was injured, I could go for a bike ride or something.”

“Why’d you keep working out when you retired? Why didn’t you go to pot like the rest of us ex-jocks?” he asked.

“Well, probably I will when I’m as old as you.”

“No, but really?”

“Well, there was always a good reason of some kind. I was doing some coaching, and needed to be able to keep up with the kids.”

“Trance, most of the best coaches I know have beer bellies you could balance a tray on.”

“It’s different for girls. But anyway, it’s not the real reason. I’ve only ever had one thing I was really good at. The only time I ever felt really truly confident was with a gun on my back and skis on my feet.”

“I remember that look you’d get,” said Vern. “It was there almost from the beginning. It’s why I was never great—I’d stand there, chest heaving, waiting to shoot, and I never really believed I was going to clean. But I can remember you coming into the range, looking fierce, never a doubt, like there was a wire between the gun and the target. When you did miss, you’d look surprised.”

“But you found something else to do,” said Trance. “I watched you last night in front of the microphone. There was no chance you were going to miss, and you knew it. You were even showing off a little. And with your job, you can do that your whole life. Athletes are done in their thirties if they’re lucky, and that leaves a long time. So I keep training because I don’t know what else I am. When I stop, I’ll have to come up with an alternative.”

“Maybe that’s why you came and joined us here,” said Vern.

“Maybe so,” she said with a quick grin. “You taught me biathlon, now you can teach me how to be a fugitive freedom fighter.”

“Maybe so,” he said. “Except the trouble is that I’m making it up as I go along.”

They sat at the table, looking at the coffee, looking at the rain, looking at each other. “As long as I’m asking prying questions,” said Vern, “let me ask one more. How come you never got married? Half the guys on the biathlon team were in love with you. In awe of you, but in love with you.”

“Oh,” she said, and paused briefly, staring down at her cup.

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