Savage Liberty by Eliot Pattison

Author:Eliot Pattison
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Counterpoint
Published: 2018-10-10T16:00:00+00:00

AS CONAWAGO HAD ANTICIPATED, THERE was indeed a campsite with a pleasant prospect waiting for them when they arrived at the lake hours later. They had made good time, and Duncan agreed to join Will and Munro in a swim while farther down the shore Conawago dropped his horsehair line into the current where a brook emptied into the lake.

Duncan felt an odd sense of urgency as he dove in, feeling a sudden desperation to be cleansed. Here in the depths was at least a world he understood, a world that his totem spirit and the Hebridean boy within him both adored. The tannin-stained water combined with the long rays of the sinking sun to create a vista of golds and browns beneath the surface. Speckled trout watched him, then lazily swam away. A huge pike, as old as the mountains, studied him, as if evaluating him as a possible meal, until four black legs churned the surface above, and with a powerful stroke it disappeared into the murk.

Duncan surfaced beside Molly and followed her as she retrieved a stick for an exuberant Will, who stood knee-deep in the water. The boy threw the stick again, and with a long, skimming dive Duncan raced Molly toward it. Dog and boy jumped up and down with delight when she returned with it clenched in her jaw. Duncan laughed and dove again, embracing the joy he felt in the watery underworld, letting it scrub away his fears and anger. A turtle scurried along the bottom. He glided through a school of sleek minnows and watched from below as a large trout shot upward past him, escaping the water for an instant to capture a midge before splashing back home. What did it think of the world above? He remembered afternoons on his grandfather’s sloop, when whales or great basking sharks would follow the boat, one eye rolled up so they could examine the strange human world. More than once his grandfather had shouted the Gaelic war cry, “Buaidh no bas!”—Victory or death!—and leapt onto the back of a leviathan. The massive creatures seemed to enjoy the frolic, and with a laugh that echoed far over the bays, his grandfather would declare that they were undoubtedly distant relatives.

Duncan surfaced again, wearing a rare smile, to the sound of an excited call.

“There! In the water, Duncan!” the boy shouted, eagerly pointing. “A piece of treasure!” Duncan reached his side and followed his arm toward a tiny point of color on the bottom that sparkled in the long rays of the setting sun. Will grabbed Duncan’s arm and pushed him toward it. With another laugh Duncan took a couple of steps and submerged again.

It did indeed seem to be a piece of treasure that Will had spotted, or at least a finely cut piece of crystal. Duncan studied it for a moment, then carefully pushed aside enough of the mud to see that it was part of a bracelet. It would be good for the boy to have a memento, something to distract him from his sorrow.

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.