Read Online Four Quarters of Light by Brian Keenan - Free Book Online Page B

team. Dan called out a few words of praise to two of his dogs, Samson and Caesar, then ushered me into the cabin. For a second I wondered about these names. I only knew of the lead dog, but to me Samson and Caesar were characters out of a childhood memory of history, and I wondered if the names Dan had chosen indicated something about the man himself. Inside the cabin I suggested to my host that he might have named some of them Beethoven or Bach. In response, Dan explained that most of the animals had come to him with those names. ‘Just like you,’ I remarked, hinting at Dan’s secret past. He just laughed and answered, with good-natured dismissal, ‘Just like me!’
    I moved out onto the porch again, not sure whether I had been probing Dan’s past a little too much. He joined me and didn’t seem bothered by my remarks. We both stayed on the porch for a while musing over nothing of significance. The dogs sat and watched us without making a sound. Only a few of them displayed the classic husky-like appearance.
    â€˜Few mongrel bloodlines in some of them boys,’ I said, feeling comfortable and familiar.
    â€˜Yeah, just like me,’ Dan said again, looking at me with the same wry smile on his face.
    I smiled the same way and looked out at the timberline, thinking to myself that whatever I might learn about Alaska and Alaskans, Dan was a closed book. He was enjoying his evasion too much, and anyway, I was fast coming to the conclusion that his past didn’t really matter much and could not be half as interesting as his present.
    â€˜Well, what did you think about your first sleigh ride?’ he asked.
    â€˜Wee buns,’ I said. Then, noticing his perplexed expression at my Ulsterism, I translated it into his own vernacular: ‘Piece of cake!’
    â€˜Oh, yeah,’ Dan said, wanting a little more.
    But it was my turn to tease, and I could not resist. ‘I really enjoyed that, but I reckon I could do it blindfolded.’
    I thought Dan would enjoy my cool-hand-Luke approach, but his response completely stunned me. He turned his head towards me and with a throwaway smile said, dryly, ‘You got a deal.’ It was the first truly serious expression I had heard from my friend in the time we had been together.
    I was busy trying to work out just what Dan was thinking, and more importantly just what I had set myself up for, when he said, ‘You go and pour us both another drink. There’s coffee on the stove and whiskey in the bottle. I’ll hitch up the other team.’ I thought he was joking until he got up, went around to the rear of the cabin, pulled another sleigh from under a great sheet of heavy-duty plastic and dragged it round. The sight of the second sleigh sent the dogs into a howling cacophony. I wanted to believe he was bluffing, but his dogs knew he wasn’t. I was intrigued, but more than a little worried. Dan ignored me and disappeared into his cabin, returning with an armful of harness. He walked to the front of the new sleigh and led out the line in obvious preparation to hitch up the new team.
    One by one he detached the dogs from their kennels and brought them to the sleigh, and after some gruff words and a lot of pushing, shoving and cursing, his fresh team was hitched to the second sleigh. He removed two dogs from our original sleigh of eight and looked at me. ‘Think you can handle a team of six onyour own with no cargo?’ Before I could answer, he informed me he would take the fresh team and lead and I would follow with the second team, and there shouldn’t be any problems. ‘The sleigh will be a lot lighter so you will only have to worry about yourself. At least you won’t have to do any running.’ There was a pause. ‘Unless you fall off, that is. Come on, let’s get some coffee and a warmer.’
    Without responding I followed my companion into the cabin. ‘I’ll pass on the whiskey,’ I