Order of Good Cheer (45 page)

In this same way, Lucien can see that, soon enough, this day will be in their past. And sometimes, when he thinks of his life here, his future so tightly enmapped, his days and nights so closely twined with these new people, he feels vastly alone and he grows afraid. Yet he seems to have found remedy for this dark humour. He calls it kindness. He gives it to himself most of all. He may have won this notion from his reading, he does not know, but when he gives it, kindness, it eases his blood and also goes beyond his blood. He knows that if he ever doubts this remedy he will begin to cause harm.

Today, as on some other days, they do not get to their destination — to check a weir for early river herring — right away. They are but half the distance upstream when Ndene bends to pluck a sprout,
saqaliag
, and brings it to his mouth. It is delicious, the mixed bitter and sweet of endive. And now they spot a clearing with some sun on it, and she pulls him by the hand, or perhaps he pushes her, and they fall to the warm ground, making honeyed songs in their throats, a wordless moaning language that they have learned together and is possibly theirs alone.

And so it goes. A first blackfly of the season fights the breeze for purchase on the carpenter's neck. Lying on the earth, the breeze and the bug in a dance on his bare skin, Lucien feels, again, all there is to feel. It could be any place. All he knows is that, as he goes into Ndene, in the push of entrance itself, all other routes are vanished and there is only this one. It might be the only thing he knows. It is a moment that, after firmly held breath, two souls trumpet with a gasp — a vast thing. As he enters her, there is no more need. All maps and questions are burnt. When he enters her, and she him, the road is clear as one already taken, the acorn is already the oak. It is as if they have been long, long dead and come to life only now.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

READERS OF CANADIAN
history will know the liberties I've taken with Samuel de Champlain and his time spent in what is now Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia. The biggest alteration, which simply made the story easier to tell, was the condensing of the events of two years into one. Aside from primary texts, such as Champlain's
Voyages and Explorations
and Lescarbot's
Nova Francia
, I found most helpful the lesser-known
Gentlemen and Jesuits
by Elizabeth Jones. I'd also like to thank the helpful and informed folks at l'Habitation, the Port-Royal National Historic Site of Canada.
Merci bien
.

As for the Prince Rupert story, I'd like to thank Karen W., and the many friendly people of that town, who didn't know they were being spied upon.

I would also like to acknowledge the assistance of the Canada Council, the British Columbia Arts Board, and the University of Victoria.

And cheers to Bobo the Wheatboy for the grain lore.

Otherwise, thanks to those who read versions and chunks of this book as it took shape: the lovely Dede Crane, Joan MacLeod, John Gould, Gentlemen's Fiction Club cohorts Mike Matthews, Jay Ruzesky, Bill Stenson, and Terence Young, and lastly, my editor, Lynn Henry.

AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPH: CLOWNBOG STUDIOS

BILL GASTON
is the author of several collections of fiction, including the Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist
Mount Appetite
, the Governor General's Literary Award finalist
Gargoyles
, and the acclaimed novels
Sointula
and
The Good Body
. His work appears in
Granta, Tin House
, and
Best Canadian Stories
, and has been translated into several languages. Gaston was the inaugural recipient of the Writers' Trust of Canada Timothy Findley Award, for a distinguished body of work. He lives in Victoria, British Columbia.