Inukshuk Read Online Free PDF Page A

back of course, all of it—the connectedness and ease and the talk, the smell of her, sound of her laugh, sound of her voice addressing him—but felt, too, more or less convinced it was impossible. Wasn’t entirely sure how much of it had ever existed. Maybe only in his own head.
    â€œWhat now? What did Jeremy do?”
    â€œWell, apparently I tried to kill him. That’s what he’ll tell you anyway. For starters.”

    â€œYou what ?”
    â€œHe ran. I was escorting him back inside after breaking up a bit of a . . . seems he was instigating a bit of a gang—I don’t want to say beating, but it was something in that vein—which I happened to catch them in the middle of, but too late to stop anything. . . .”
    â€œI have to say . . . can I just say right now how really weird it is you’re all of a sudden talking to me about my son ? I mean, who ever would have thought?”
    â€œKind of comes with the job description. . . .”
    â€œWhy, though . . . I mean—what are you doing here? I thought you were so ensconced back at that lovely place—what was it called, your school there in Calgary?”
    â€œIt’s a longish story.”
    â€œJane?”
    â€œJane, sure, and about a quarter of a million dollars I thought wouldn’t be so bad to cash in on while the oil barons are paying.”
    â€œAnd now here you are in the boonies, dealing with bad boys like my Jeremy, probably wishing you’d never laid eyes on the place.”
    â€œIt’s not so bad.” In the middle distance, a raven was hopping foot to foot, whacking its bill at something on the ground. Tock-tock, like some kind of demented, stuck clockwork.
    â€œSo?”
    â€œSo, yes, the fight, or whatever you want to call it. I go have my stern words and so on, break it up, and then I’m escorting them all back into Legere’s office, including the kid whose face they bloodied nice and good—who happens, incidentally, to be my son, but never mind that, for the moment—”
    â€œ Your son? Oh my.”
    â€œYes. And I’m escorting them all back inside, when Jeremy decides to make a run for it. So I stopped him. Maybe a little too harshly. Apparently, yes, a little too forcefully, but he was trying to make a run for it, which . . . boy. . . . So.” Picturing it, he still didn’t understand the force of what had overcome him, didn’t know why the brakes wouldn’t have engaged sooner; heard Malloy’s back hit the wall and felt the toes of Malloy’s boots striking his shins, kicking, the
pain in his shinbones somehow not signaling to him soon enough that he should stop, let up, instead fueling his rage and causing him to bear down harder, move his face closer, and yell. “It just pissed me off, highly. So I grabbed him.”
    â€œNo doubt.”
    â€œWell, it might have gone on a little too long.”
    â€œNot long enough, alas. He’s alive still?” She punched him lightly. “Kidding.”
    Best not to play along with that one. “Alive and very upset, presently bawling his eyes out in Legere’s office. Or was when I left.”
    â€œSounds about right. He was picking on your son—what’s his name—?”
    â€œThomas.”
    â€œWell, he was picking on Thomas deliberately to get a rise out of you and test limits. That’s what I’d say. That’s his thing lately. And then he’s always so surprised when the door actually slams on his poor face and people are furious with him. I can’t tell you . . . for a bright kid, he can be such a royal dumb ass.”
    And then he remembered: dumb ass . . . class. He was the dumb ass. Glanced at his watch. First bell in three minutes. “Moira. Shit. I can’t be doing this at all right now.” He caught her by the wrists and spun her to face him. Her skin was surprisingly warm. “I’ve got a class in a few