Walk Through Darkness by David Anthony Durham

Author:David Anthony Durham
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780307561046
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2002-04-16T22:00:00+00:00

On a still evening two weeks after his fever had abated, William sat in a corner of the cellar. His head lolled to one side and leaned on the unpainted bedrock of the wall. His eyes were open, staring with an unfocused gaze across the rough stone surface. The wick of his oil lamp was nearly exhausted and emitted a steady stream of black smoke, a gloom that gathered like a veil across the ceiling. He was still except for the thumb of his left hand, which caressed the tips of his fingers in monotonous rhythm, like a man counting toward infinity. It seemed he had been in this city for years, and that nothing changed from one day to the next and that all the coming days offered the same. His mind wandered of its own direction, through a maze that commingled the streets of Philadelphia with those of Annapolis, which set his bunk in the basement atop his straw pallet on Kent Island. He saw faces from that long ago time and images that left within him a longing for the certainties he had left behind. All the people and places and memories that made up his life seemed so far away now. He was now coming to realize that the risks of this venture went beyond the physical, beyond even failure at finding Dover. He was gazing at the wall beside his cot, but what he was seeing was a future lived in exile.

He looked up when Anne walked into the room. Her mood was at odds with his. Her hair was pulled tight against her skull. But despite the attempt at maintaining her formality, humor tickled the corners of her eyes. Her gaze was quicker than usual in settling on him, warmer. She seemed ready to smile but then checked herself and frowned at the state of the lamp. She lifted the lamp from the shelf, held it close to her face and fiddled with it. “Had a visit from the coal man, Mr. Payton, this morning,” she said. “That man is something else, bringing his raggedy self up the back steps like a suitor calling on me, a flower in hand if you can believe it. And me a grown woman old enough to be a grandmother.” Her tone was lively, joyful almost, but seeing William’s glazed expression she cut her mirth short. “He brought word. Word of your Dover.”

William stared at her. He didn’t actually question her, but Anne moved closer and proceeded as if he had. Mr. Payton had found a Carr family who lived in the fashionable area near Walnut Street. They had in their employ a young Southern Negress. This woman had returned with the youngest daughter of the family from a failed marriage to a Southern planter. He had a street name and number at which they lived, both of which Anne whispered as if fearing being overheard. Those were all the details Payton could acquire, but, Anne said, this may be the answer to their prayers.

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.