The Teeth of the Gale by Aiken Joan

The Teeth of the Gale by Aiken Joan

Author:Aiken, Joan [Aiken, Joan]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780152060701
Publisher: Graphia
Published: 1988-01-02T07:00:00+00:00


7. Arrival at the rope bridge; the bear; Pedro stunned; I encounter little Pilar on a cliff, Don Manuel and his children; the book; I carry a letter to Juana

When we were on our way again, with the females driving in the tartana, Pepe and Esteban in attendance, and Pedro and myself riding ahead, I noticed two things. One was that Conchita and Juana seemed to be on even more distant terms than they had been during die morning ride. Juana attended diligently to her driving, coaxing the mules along over the bad road with firmly set lips and knitted brow; while, beside her, Conchita sat bolt upright, looked straight ahead, and flicked her fan about in a displeased manner; neither of them seemed to address a single word to the ether.

Conchita does not believe that little Pilar was in San Quilez, I thought. Or chooses to pretend disbelief. Which?

I noticed, also, that Pedro had some news that he wished to communicate; his eyes were huge with it, and he could hardly contain himself until we had drawn away from the others along a couple of turns of the track, which he re, as we penetrated and climbed higher into the mountains, became increasingly narrow and rocky. The mist was too thick for any view in front, but the vast and cold presence of the High Pyrenees could be felt invisibly and forbiddingly around and ahead of us, like an army of huge granite ghosts. Dear Father in heaven, I thought—somehow it came more naturally to converse with God in such a place—dear Father, I presume You had some excellent reason for causing Manuel de la Trava to come and hide himself in these tremendous mountains. And I shall be greatly obliged if in due course You will divulge it to me.

Naturally I had a good reason, Felix, you ninny, came the chiding voice of God. From here, as the eagle flies, it is now hardly more than five leagues to the French frontier. The truth, my son, is always simple.

Overhead the faint shrill cry of an eagle impressed on me the force of God's words. I looked up and saw the mighty bird, balancing in the mist on his wings, six cubits across, wider in their span than the height of the tallest man. I saw him drop a great haunch bone from his talons and then swoop after it into some distant gully, to peck out the marrow from the smashed bone.

"We need to be on the watch for wild boar hereabouts," remarked Pedro. "I saw half a dozen of them on my ride back to San Quilez. Singly they may be no great danger, but meet a group of them—or even one savage old tusker—"

"Bears, too, I suppose," I said, as a branch snapped among the trees, which cloaked the steep slopes of the mountain and came down close to the track.

"Yes, bears; de Larra told me he had seen a big brown brute."

"Well? What is it you wanted to tell me?" I asked, when several turns of the track lay between us and the mule cart.



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