Beast by Thomas Castle

Author:Thomas Castle [Castle, Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-02-03T05:00:00+00:00

~ 40

Gale looked at Luis and ruffled the boy’s hair, leading him into the woods where the sun broke upon the leaves. Luis skipped about, plunging his knife into the trees and ripping back the husks to split the larva in half with his blade. Then he knelt down to where a patch of berries grew and plucked the red fruit. Tart juice rinsed his mouth as the berries crunched into splinters between his teeth.

“I think people fib about what they know about hiking” Luis said. “They want you to be afraid, because then they can control you through fear. I don’t believe there are that many poisonous things out here. It’s just a gimmick. These berries are delicious, and that tells me that they are made to be eaten. It’s like good meat versus spoiled meat. One tastes great, the other doesn’t because it’s not supposed to be eaten.”

“I couldn’t agree more, Master Luis” Gale said as he picked a few berries, ate one, and placed the others in his pocket. “You have a lot of wisdom for a young man.”

“It’s just common sense” he replied. Luis harvested another handful and plopped them in his mouth. “I don’t see why Fierro is hailed a hero. With you as my witness, there is nothing trying about the woods. Simpletons need men of artifice, like Fierro, to escape their dull lives. Everything is perception. People have no concept of life therefore want to live vicariously. It’s infuriating.”

“I couldn’t agree more, Master Luis.”

“Oh shut it, you’re flapping your lips. It’s bootlickery.”

“My apologies, sir.” Gale wiped his hand, trying to expunge the strands of sap and mushroom stuck to his palm. “I just have a great reverence for you. Your uncle speaks most highly of you, and has Sir James’ ear in regards to you. Both men conspire to bring you further up the ranks, and I want to be part of that avant-garde.”

“Really?” Luis turned back toward Gale and found his ponytail undone. His hair frizzled and sprung like thistles off a dingy brush. Sweat ran from his temples and darkened in his collar, widening the buds of stench forming under his arms. Luis hated looking at him, smelling him. Gale gasped for breath, wheezing like a soldier kept alive by a thoracic vent, and followed Luis on the leash of supervision. The boy kept ahead, preoccupied with picking herbs and other green sprouts, inlaying his gums with bract like the captain.

Sweat thickened on their backs as the day grew. Gale slapped the mosquitoes buzzing in his ears and Luis plaid himself in mud, then scratched his arms raw as it dried into cake. They staggered likes drunken stooges through a bar brawl, pummeled by gnats and biting insects, slapping back at the low hanging branches and scraping their shins raw against the hollow logs that caved under their step. Luis posted his hand against the tree, holding his side, as spit stretched like syrup from his lips. Gale fell as he tried to loosen his boots, then crawled in the mud till he came against a log.

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