Starfish_ A Novel - James Crowley [19]
“Where are we going?” Lionel asked.
“Into the Mountain,” Grandpa replied, and went about his work.
They ate a large breakfast of eggs, slab bacon, and canned pears; then Grandpa told Lionel to go out and tend to Ulysses because they had a long ride ahead of them.
Lionel stepped back out into the morning thinking about what his grandfather said. Into the Mountain? where was that?
Lionel could see the first hints of light in the eastern sky. He fed Ulysses, then led him to the river where the great horse drank. Lionel scanned the horizon, hoping to catch a glimpse of the three hawks and the eagle that circled his memory of their grandfather’s cabin, but the sky was empty except for the low snow clouds that hung in the distance.
Lionel turned back to the cabin and wondered if, wherever they were headed, he would ever see Grandpa’s place again. He hoped that if he did return, he could come live with Grandpa instead of at the boarding school. Lionel liked school but thought that living with his grandfather would be better and something that, at the very least, he should try. He thought about what his sister had said and felt that he too would like to learn about the ways of the old People.
Lionel’s thoughts were interrupted by Grandpa, Beatrice, and Corn Poe, who gathered with the bundles around Ulysses. Grandpa instructed Beatrice how to tie the supplies to the back of the horse. Then he handed her a long rifle wrapped in buckskin and a wooden box filled with ammunition.
“I want you to be careful with this. Kill only what you’ll eat.”
Corn Poe stood back, inspecting the horse and its newly configured load. The small boy was quiet this morning, and Lionel thought that the cold must be taking its toll on him.
“I don’t see how we’re all gonna fit with all this here junk you got tied all over,” Corn Poe said, more to Grandpa than anyone else.
“You’re right about that. I think you’ll be coming with me,” Grandpa said as he double-checked the lashings. “We’ll wander for a while to throw off them government boys, and then I’ll get you back to your home.”
“But…I thought…” Corn Poe stammered.
“Well, you thought wrong. It’s too cold to be wanderin’ about unless you have to. Until we straighten this all out, these two don’t have a choice. You do, and I’m making it for you,” Grandpa said with a wink. “Besides, we’re on a mission of our own.”
Grandpa spun Ulysses around and lifted Lionel onto his back. Lionel’s legs were stiff, as if he’d just gotten off the horse moments before.
“Now, me and the Corn Poe’s wanderin’ won’t throw them for long, but it should help. You’re going to need every little bit of a lead we can give. Hell, to be honest with ya, if you can make it to the Mountain, I doubt you’ll see any of them soldiers until well into the thaw. Maybe not even till summer.”
Beatrice slipped up behind Lionel, and Grandpa threw the buffalo robe around them.
“Now, Beatrice, it might be cold out there in the open, but I want you to walk in the shallows of the river when you can for the first half of the day. It’ll be harder for them to track you from the river, and this big fellow looks like he can handle it.”
Grandpa slipped a rawhide harness over Ulysses’s head.
“From the looks of things, you should get some more snow this afternoon. That’ll help. You hide out until you hear from me. I’ll bring this one back by the Boss Ribs’ place and see what I can find out, and then, once some of the excitement has worn off, I’ll come and find ya with more supplies and some sorta plan.”
Beatrice took the reins in her hands and turned Ulysses toward the river.
“Now, I want you two to pay attention. Be aware of what’s around you and watch. That school and them government men tried to kill that in ya. You’ve got to find and listen to it. Listen to the animals, the wind, the mountains. we may not speak the same language no more, but they