The Settlement by Jock Serong

Author:Jock Serong
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Text Publishing Company
Published: 2022-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Funeral Notice

There were moments that filled the Commandant with pride, and reminded him of the importance of his mission. These took precedence in the journal because he would need them to forge a satisfying narrative for the publishers. Bock’s portraits, his words. Posterity.

But there were other moments. Moments of tedium, of demeaning triviality, and of sadness. This, undoubtedly, was one of the latter kind.

The morning had started out bitingly cold, and he had waited and written while the clock inched towards nine, when the classes would begin. Normally the children would be teaching each other, but today the Catechist would be doing scripture with them. So he would have to address that corrupted face, would have to swallow his repugnance. It was clear what had happened to the girl. Equally clear that, in the eyes of Hobart and London, it must not have happened at all. Such…problems did not arise under the eye of an effective administrator.

He licked the pen, transcribed the rainfall figures from the ledger into the journal. Damn him. When he was done with the day’s business, the clock had passed its zenith. He gathered his hat and pursed his mouth into the indomitable line he believed was his signature.

Outside, the ridiculous geese waddled at him on the short grass. He hated them for some reason. Not long ago he had alarmed the whole settlement by running out of his office and charging straight at them with the dried pelican held high above his head, wings outstretched as though it wanted to snatch him aloft. He had ordered the tanners to dry it and then strung it—why?—so that its wings spread across his office wall like some terrible Valkyrie. The great mass of feathers, the bones and the dried bands of muscle were gruesome enough: but the head, hanging limp with the great beak swinging, was the hellish part of the vision. A bird that was entirely inoffensive in life, rendered terrifying by amateur taxidermy. When the geese saw him they lifted their heads from their stolid grazing and ran—hauled themselves into the air in comical alarm. He’d lowered the carcass and laughed breathlessly. He remembered stooping there, hands on knees, and looking around, hoping others would laugh along. But all he’d seen were averted eyes.

These are moments in which authority erodes. This time he merely swung a kick at the geese and watched them scatter.

The children were in class in the new chapel; a treat for them to celebrate its opening. He stood in the sunshine one last moment, then went in. It was quieter inside, the air heavier. The grassy hills were framed in the squares of the windows, but the outside sounds were muted. The floor was made of dry, even planks: the rafters of the roof were exposed and above them the light made patterns among the timber shingles. He took it all in quickly and reached up to his hat, but decided to leave it in place.

The Catechist roosted in the far corner of the room, talking.

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.