The Land of Look Behind

by Paul Cameron Brown

TABLE OF CONTENTS

To Cross The Bay...................... [ 9]Upturn The Rock....................... [14]Seaeggs............................... [16]The Hire.............................. [21]The Nightlamp......................... [26]The Strongbox......................... [30]The Sandpit........................... [36]The Wager............................. [41]Errands............................... [47]Ponchontas............................ [51]The Bloodfish......................... [53]The Garden Patch...................... [55]The Monarch........................... [57]Brébeuf............................... [59]City The Insects Invade............... [60]Plaudits.............................. [61]Summer's Clock........................ [62]Automobile Soft Legs ................. [63]The Pelly, The Powder and the Snake... [67]Jabiru................................ [70]Adua.................................. [73]Rip................................... [76]

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TO CROSS THE BAY

"I wouldn't try a crossing in weather like this," warned the old man. "It's a bad time of year, what with the wind and all. Worse still, the lake water is lethal by November. That means if you capsize it will be the chill that does you in."

The old man stopped short, conscious of the look of defiance in the youth's eyes. Young fool biting the nose to spite his face, he thought.

The marina was closed for the season, but the island's residents made contact with the mainland one way or the other. Until mid-winter there was a ferry service, but that assumed a fair bit of discipline from a resident. He had to go and come when the province obliged. Young bloods off to escape the monotony of Wolfe Island were only marginally willing to conform their Saturday festivities with an arbitrary ruling. No, it was too easy to keep a boat in tow at a friend's landing. Keep a bottle to ward off the night's chill. A bottle for tonic against the elements and a buttress against authority. The old man knew if he did not avail this one a boat--a safe one at that--he would put his hands on a craft of some sort. Accountability, he thought. They mustn't care about their own lives. Still, there was a living to be made and it was a marina, albeit a closed one. He would still get a boat one way or the other, he mused again as he watched the light fade in the evening sky. He pulled his collar sharply. Yellow leaves were beginning to form a mat on the wooden stairs leading to the shed. He could just make out land's end against a funnel gray sky. Better to advise the young man of the dangers, suggest a daytime crossing. Perhaps even try a little reverse psychology.

The boy, if he could be called that, was growing impatient.

"I'll be all right with a life-jacket. The boat won't be overloaded. Just the three of us. My cousin and her kid are going with me."