The Sisters Brothers Read Online Free PDF Page A

said, for these were the words the doctor had spoken. My mouth was filled with the mint-smelling foam and I scrubbed my tongue raw. Pulling myself up to the window, I spit the bloody water into the dirt and snow. My breath was cool and fine-smelling and I was greatly impressed with the tingling feeling this toothbrush gave me. I decided I would use it every day, and was tapping the tool on the bridge of my nose, thinking of nothing, or of several vague things simultaneously, when I saw the bear lumber out of the woods, toward Tub.

Chapter 11
    I crawled out the hole and we walked over and sat on the ground next to the dead bear. Charlie said, ‘I saw this gentleman lying here and called your name, but you didn’t answer. Then I looked in the doorway and saw you on your back on the floor. That is an unpleasant feeling, wanting to cross into a house but not being able to.’ He asked me what had happened and I said, ‘There’s not a lot to it. The bear came out of the woods and knocked Tub to the ground. I took careful aim and killed him dead.’
    ‘How many shots did you fire?’
    ‘I emptied both pistols and hit him two with one and two the other.’
    Charlie examined the bear’s wounds. ‘You fired from the window or the door?’
    ‘Why are you asking all these questions?’
    ‘No reason.’ He shrugged. ‘That’s some nice shooting, brother.’
    ‘Lucky, is all.’ Hoping to change the subject, I asked about the ax.
    ‘Prospectors heading south,’ he said. There was a divot of skin gone from one of his knuckles and I asked how he came to be injured. ‘The men were hesitant to loan me their equipment. Well, they’ll not need the ax, now.’ He returned to the cabin, entering through his hole. I did not know what he was doing at first, but soon saw the smoke issuing from inside. Next, my bag and pan jumped out the window, with Charlie following closely behind and wearing a wide smile. As we rode away the structure was a whirling tornado of whistling heat and flames and the bear, which Charlie had coated in lamp oil, was likewise burning—an impressive sight, but sad, and I was grateful to take leave of the place. It occurred to me that I had crossed the threshold for a horse I did not want but Charlie had not done the same for his own flesh and blood. A life of ups and downs, I thought.

Chapter 12
    Tub’s eye was red and swollen and dead-looking, and he was acting strangely, turning right when I pulled left, stopping and starting of his own accord, and walking sideways. I said to Charlie, ‘I think there’s been some damage done to Tub’s brain by that grizzly’s paw.’
    Charlie said, ‘He is probably only dazed temporarily.’ Tub walked headfirst into a tree and began loudly to urinate. ‘You’re too kind with him. Stab him in the ribs with your heels. This will give him all the focus you could want.’
    ‘The last horse didn’t need such prodding.’
    Charlie shook his head. ‘Let’s not talk about that again, thank you.’
    ‘The last horse was smarter than many grown men I’ve known.’
    Charlie shook his head; he would not speak of it anymore. We came to the camp of the dead prospectors, or to-be prospectors, or never-to-be prospectors. I counted five bodies facedown on the ground, and none of them was lying next to another. Charlie told me the story while emptying their pockets and bags of valuables: ‘This fat fellow here, he was the tough one. I tried to reason with him but he wanted to make a show for his friends. I shot him in the mouth and everyone ran. That’s why they’re all scattered and back wounded, see?’ He squatted before a slight body. ‘This one here can’t be more than sixteen, I’d say. Well, he should have known better than to travel with such hotheads.’
    I said nothing. Charlie looked at me for a reaction and I shrugged.
    ‘What’s that mean?’ he said. ‘You had a hand in this, let’s not forget.’
    ‘I don’t see how you can say that. I did not