West: A Novel by Carys Davies

Author:Carys Davies [Davies, Carys]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1501179349
Amazon: B074ZRKPQN
Publisher: Scribner
Published: 2018-04-23T22:00:00+00:00

They strike a course away from the river.

They travel southwest for a distance of three hundred and fifty miles. They come to another river, which one, Bellman at this point has no idea. They cross it, and he hopes the Indian remembers the way back, that he has some special part of his brain that memorizes such things, perhaps via the soles of his feet.

He is in much better cheer now. After that little wobble in the river, his enthusiasm is restored. In the evenings he stretches himself out contentedly in his coat after another long day’s traveling and enjoys a little smoke of his pipe, writes to Bess. There is something endlessly pleasant about the quick flurries of bats in the trees at this time of day, and the soft crepitation of insects all around: a steady in-out susurration as if the earth itself is breathing. He does worry a little about snakes, it’s true, and bears, and the wolves he hears howling sometimes in the night. But on the whole he rarely dwells on those fears, and, as far as everything that might lie ahead is concerned, he remains much more excited than anxious, and more full of optimism than any kind of dread. He’s convinced he’s right in thinking that his mistake so far has been to hug the river too closely, and that now he has corrected that mistake, things will soon be looking up. He still has a small supply of oddments in the tin chest to exchange for food, should the need arise, with any savages they come upon, and fingers crossed, those savages will be of the curious, childlike sort and not the ferocious, slave-taking variety. He is low on powder and ammunition, but as long as the boy does the lion’s share of the hunting, he reckons they will manage for a while.

He calls the boy “Old Woman” now, in a bantering, affectionate way.

There are times when he thinks, What if I bring him back with me when we have accomplished our mission? Another helper around the place with Elmer? What would Julie have to say about that? Bellman chuckles, trying to picture his sister’s face.

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