Embrace of the Butcher

ISBN: 9780396080596

定价: 21.00

内容简介

Still wearing his sweater and trousers??? he stretched out on the b~rd
during the night had left an evil taste in his mouth. He decided bed. No pursuers here. They left him alone as if he were a leper. IN
against it. All he wanted was sleep??? the town stores??? in Crossmaglen??? he was served??? but no unnecessary
He sat slumped on the bed??? his hands between his knees??? staring
dully at the pattern on the worn carpet. He was wasting his time. words were exchanged. Not even a \"good day.\" On the streets???
people averted their eyes when he came near. He didn t doubt they
Not a smell of them. Nothing. For all the good he was doing he
might as well be in Belfast. And yet London iusisted he stay. He was knew who he was and where he came from. Probably had his rank
a forward observer??? London said. Well??? he had observed nothing and and serial number. And the soldiers??? the soldiers on patrol looked at
now he was at the point of giving up hope that be ever would. If him as they looked at all civilians in Crossmaglen??? as if he were a
stuff was coming across the border??? it wasn t here. bomb waiting to go off. It was ironic??? he thought. His enemies knew
He straightened and??? in the dim light filtering through the win- who he was. His allies didn t.
He wondered how much longer he would have to camp in this
dows??? looked at the photograph standing on the table at the side of
the bed. Below her fringe of black hair??? his wife gazed steadily back. damp and benighted corner of London s disputed domain. They had
said a few days and he had been here nearly three weeks. In the crawl
She would be getting up now in the house in Blackheath. The two
children were grinning self-consciously??? obviously restless in the re- space above him??? he could hear the mice running. Sounds as if
straint of her arms. She said the boy was getting out of hand??? needed they re holding the Olympics up there??? he thought drowsily??? corn-
the discipline of a father. There was no note of accusation in her plete with pole vault. But his last thoughts before he slept were of
letters. She was the daughter of a soldier and sbe knew how it was. his wife and the children.
Still??? the problem remained. The boy should go away to school??? but He saw the envelope when he awoke at noon and went to boil water
there was no money for that. Again King thought of asking his father for shaving and for the pot. It was cheap and grimy??? bearing no name
for funds??? but he knew that he feared the answer. He didn t fear or address. It was sealed. It must have beeu hand-delivered??? pushed
rejection. He feared the old man would have to say that he didn t under the front door while he had been out or while he slept.
have it??? that except for the house and his pension he had nothing. He carried it into the kitchen. He was humming \"The Men
It was not a century that appreciated loyalty and service. Behind the Wire.\" The rain was coming down again??? the windows
King took off his raincoat and tossed it on a chair. The rain???
which had swept across the hills after midnight??? had penetrated streaming with water so that he could hardly see across the field to
the stone wall that marked the boundary of the cottage property.
the fur lining. It had been an uncomfortable night. Even so??? better Sometimes he felt as if he were in a submarine resting on the ocean
than the Ardoyne??? he had written her??? and that was true enough??? floor. The whole landscape was drowning.
He wanted no more of the cities of death in the north. Except for He sat at the table??? still littered with dirty dishes from the day
the frustration and loneliness??? this was a vacation. He picked up before??? and he took out the single sheet of lined paper such as might
the Bible that lay alongside the photograph. King was not a reli- have been torn from a child s composition book. It was folded twice.
gious man??? but he had discovered that he enjoyed the dignified He smoothed it out on the table and read the penciled words.
vigor of the King James version. He was reading Joshua and now
his eyes fell on one passage. Go back where you came from.
And she said unto him??? Oetyou to the mountains??? lest the {)ursuers He left it on the table??? poured boiling water into the old brown
meet you; and hide yourselt there three days??? until the tJursuers be teapot to warm it??? swilled it out??? and tossed in two spoons of tea.
returned; and afterward may )???e go your own way.