The Long-Shining Waters by Sosin Danielle

Author:Sosin, Danielle [Sosin, Danielle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781571318343
Publisher: Milkweed Editions
Published: 2011-05-10T06:00:00+00:00

1902

The sky is visible through the top two windowpanes, the water through the two on the bottom. Clouds drift by. Gulls in flight. The rare boat slips past like a thought, like a year. Sky in the top two panes, water in the bottom, like four separate paintings in flux, now bright blue over dark, then white to grey-green, and later yet, the evening’s pink. Some days striped with color, wavy, silver, rippled, popping white caps, rollers, wash of orange. Berit absentmindedly pets the cat, her fingers in its soft fur. The cat purrs, yawns, and stretches.

She should crawl down the ladder and put another log in the stove. It’s warm out, she knows, only cold inside, but the bright sun and the sparrows and the grass and water seem best tempered by wall and window.

A gull streams past the upper panes, followed by the clear sound of the cabin door opening. Berit lies absolutely still, wondering if she’d forgot to latch it the last time she was up. She rolls slowly off her pallet of blankets and puts her face to the glass, but there’s no skiff in the cove. She stays near the window, crouched and listening. She can hear a fly buzz against the window down at Gunnar’s workbench, and the faint whistle of air flowing past the stovepipe. She can hear the loud ring of quiet, but no growl or grunt, no footsteps. The floorboards creak under her weight as she moves gingerly around the nets toward the top of the ladder. She keeps the gun there.

Berit loads a shell and puts a handful in her skirt pocket, then backs carefully down the ladder. The door opens, spilling sunlight, and she wheels around, lifts the gun, and a figure hits the floor.

The man at her feet stares wide eyed, his large open hands in the air. He’s wearing trousers and a shirt, his hat fallen beside him. It’s John Runninghorse. The big palms of his hands. A flash of fear, and then his dark eyes assessing her. Strange to see him lying there.

“I heard,” he says, keeping his eyes steady on hers. Then with a slow hand he pushes the gun barrel to the side.

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