Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Author:Geraldine Brooks [Brooks, Geraldine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2022-06-14T00:00:00+00:00

TEN BROECK’S JARRET

Natchez III, Mississippi River

1853

Jarret perched by the prow of the boat as the current pushed them swiftly toward New Orleans. The bluffs of Natchez soon gave way to an unbroken flatness, green with palmetto and glossy ilex, the brief wildness interrupted by serried plantations of sugarcane and cotton. From the deck above, he could hear the voices of passengers, gambling with dice or cards or arguing loudly about politics.

Not far outside of Natchez, the trappings of wealth soon disappeared. Within an hour or so, the only dwellings they passed were the rude huts of the woodcutters who supplied fuel for the steamboats. When the boat pulled in to take on logs, the skipper yelled, “Wood!” and Jarret realized he was expected to join the crew and the other manservants to help with the loading. He noted the squalor: barefoot children with tangled hair and torn clothing, a thin cow, a few squealing pigs, a gaunt woodcutter sweating and atremble, most likely from the saddleback fever. No wonder: as the afternoon light eased into dusk, mosquitos swarmed. Jarret threw a shawl around his head to fend them off, and back on board he blanketed Lexington despite the unseasonable warmth of the evening. A bright moon rose, polishing the river surface. As the hour grew later, the voices from above became more raucous.

Jarret bedded down beside Lexington, determined to be inconspicuous. He was bone tired, but too wary for sleep. It was precarious, traveling alone, without Ten Broeck to protect him. He thought of his father’s many lone journeys, campaigning horses for Viley or Burbridge, and tried to draw courage from that. He felt a sudden yearning for home—for the creaking porch chairs, the rising fireflies, and his father’s voice reciting lineages. But it would be too chilly at night for fireflies or porch sitting by now. What a thing it was, to be so far from his only kinfolk that even the weather on his skin felt different. He thought of his father, indoors by the fire, and wondered who was chopping the wood for him, who was carrying it in. He hoped Harry wasn’t too proud to ask a lad to help him with the heavy chores. Surely Beth would take care that he didn’t overtax himself. It came to Jarret that if his father faltered or became ill—even died—he might never know of it. This dolorous thought made his throat tighten and his eyes sting.

That was a reason to keep studying his letters. With help, he could write to Mary Barr, asking for an account of Harry. He resolved to fetch out the Bible at first light and go over the verses he knew, so that the knack of the thing wouldn’t leave him. That plan brought him a little solace, so he punched the straw into an accommodating shape and tried to take some rest before the ship reached the port. When the sky lightened, he shook himself from his fitful doze and tended to the horse.

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.