All True Not a Lie in It Read Online Free Page B

the grass with his gun beside him. He is wearing a breechcloth and leggings under his hunting shirt, which has tiny bright beads sewn all over it. His hips and thighs show bare. He kicks off his moccasins and a sharp smell comes from his feet. Another smell comes from his skin, a leafy smoky smell, the sort of tobacco the Indians use. Israel closes his eyes and goes limp as the pheasants and pigeons in his bag. I sit watching for quite a long time. When Ma comes out, he yawns in a great breath, as if his life is just starting itself. He sits up and asks what we have for breakfast, his hairrumpled and wild and his whiskers piercing out from his skin. Ma embraces him and says he looks quite a warrior in his outfit. I say:
    —Have you got any skins?
    —Back in my camp. Traded some with the Delawares.
    —For what?
    —For the shirt.
    He points to the beading on his chest. His mouth is full of the bread Ma gives him. She begins to spoon out some of last night’s stew and he eats as if he is starved. I say:
    —Where did you find Delawares? I met some Catawbas. Where is your camp?
    To Ma he says:
    —Who gave you this meat?
    He points the spoon at the bowl and Ma says:
    —Our Daniel got it.
    He looks at me properly. His eyes tighten. I say:
    —Is beaver tail too fat for you now?
    He begins to smile around the meat. He laughs and says:
    —Well, well, the young master got himself a beaver. Got the pelt?
    —Yes.
    I do not tell him I shot the beaver and made a great hole in the skin. I have no traps as yet. He laughs again and chews off another great bite and takes another look at me. He says:
    —You will have to come with me. We will get something else.
    He sleeps all day in the grass. I help Ma but my heart is banging all the time. I want to go with him. I club a few squirrels and shine the gun and prepare my powder and shot. When Ma brings the cows in for the night, Israel wakes and stretches in the twilight. The moon is coming up already, a fat moon tonight. A wolf gives a yipping cry far in the woods. Israel finds a pitch-pine branch and makes a torch of it at the campfire. His eyes shine. He says:
    —Coming?
    He speaks as if he has not been asleep at all and does not much care whether I come along. I say:
    —I am ready. Are you?
    With our guns we cross the grass and go into the woods. I do not look back at Ma. The fire from the torch flips and shivers in the breeze. I am glad to be with him but I do not wish to show how glad, so I keep silent for some time until I cannot help myself, and I say:
    —Are we going to your camp?
    He says nothing as we hike up a hill. I say:
    —Where is it?
    He says:
    —Anywhere I like.
    He is silent again, I say nothing also.
    When we reach a flat place with few trees about, he hands me the torch and walks on. I say:
    —Is this it?
    He does not answer. He gathers heaps of dried leaves and sticks and piles them as he walks about through the trees. For some time I do not see him, I only hear his light steps far off. I keep to where I am. It is darker when he returns. He takes the torch and says:
    —Ever fire-hunted yet?
    He touches the flame to the leaves at my feet. Fire runs along the trail he has made, a great circle a quarter-mile wide, snapping and leaping between the trees. We back up outside the round. The smoke is quick and heavy and stinking, my eyes run. He says:
    —Now we wait. We might get a wolf or two. That would please Ma.
    —Do you eat wolves in your camp? Do you not get anything else? We can have beaver all the time in the pastures, you know. I know where they are.
    He is not looking at me. He says:
    —Take the first shot. Anything that comes along. The fire will make it easy for you.
    —I will take anything better than a wolf.
    His teeth show in the blazing light as he grins. My heart bangs harder. I have no wish for a wolf, I do not like wolves. I feel Israel’s eyes narrowing at me. I raise my gun and I keep it steady.
    A crashing begins, light at first and then