The Bridge Read Online Free Page A

sorry. My name’s Axil Wakefield.” He released her hand and she put it back on the knob of the gearshift.
    “What do you do, Mr. Wakefield?”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “What line of work are you in?”
    “Oh,” laughed Axil. “I’m a molecular biologist. My mind was on something else.” He’d never told a lie before and he didn’t care for the feeling it gave him.
    “A molecular biologist?” She had a puzzled look on her face.
    “You know, cells and things. DNA, genetics, stem cells, that sort of thing.”
    “You’re a scientist. How neat. Where do you work?”
    It was hard for her to imagine a scientist out on the highway hitching a ride. His clothes were those of a farmer. Even his shoes were handmade.
    “Right now, I’m on my own. What do you do?” He was getting nervous. He looked back to see if Olav was still there or if he’d just imagined him getting into the truck, but he had disappeared.
    The thought came to him that he would never see his brother again.
    “I’m an author. I write mystery novels.”
    “My mother’s a writer.”
    As they drove along, she asked him questions about his studies and he was more than happy to have someone to talk to about them. He told her the stories his mother had told him since he was a baby.
    “Our bodies are made up of trillions of single-cell bacteria. These little cells are so small they can only be seen with a microscope and there are thousands of different species. So many that they have different languages.”
    “Different languages? This is way over my head.” She shook her head trying to stay awake.
    “Yes, but they can communicate with each other. Each species has their own language which is totally theirs. The other species can’t translate it, but then they have a way to communicate with others too. A common language.”
    “How do they do that?”
    “Well, they talk chemically. Like a mother tree in the forest always knows who her children are.”
    “I thought they knew by their root system that ties them together.”
    “An oak tree drops her acorns, then squirrels bury them and they grow into seedlings. There are no roots connecting them to the mother tree, yet she somehow finds them and sends them nourishment. The cells send each other messages chemically. They talk to the different species and can even communicate with you.” He smiled as she looked at him like he was insane.
    “I don’t recall ever communicating with my cells.”
    “When you intend something, they pick it up. They don’t think the way you do. When you have a thought to hurt something, they pick up the intention to hurt, but not the specific thing that your thought was intended for. The problem is that people don’t know this. They have good or bad thoughts and, in an instant, all of their little bacteria cells know it. You have the intention to kill and you might be the one who winds up dead. While we’re just sitting here talking and breathing in the same air, we’re exchanging bacteria. I am becoming part of you and you are becoming part of me. It’s like that everywhere with trees and animals, even the air we breath. All through the universe, these tiny bacteria are being exchanged. All communicating with each other and we, who are supposed to be so smart, are left out because of our own stupidity.”
    “I have a friend, Mike, who’s a scientist. He has a research laboratory in Crested Butte. He was one of the scientists who altered the genetic structure of the spear-nosed bats you see flying around. How would you like to meet him and discuss all these wonderful things you’ve been telling me about?”
    “It guess it wouldn’t hurt.”
    “My parents live not far from here, just outside Eagle’s Nest. Do you know where that is?”
    “I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never been there.”
    “Where did you say you were from?”
    He was caught off guard. Lying didn’t come easy to him and he didn’t know what to say.
    “I grew up around