Read Online Young Mr. Keefe by Stephen; Birmingham - Free Book Online Page B

and hemlocks swayed, and a few birds called. Nothing else. Blazer started working on the camp-fire.
    â€œCollect small sticks,” he said.
    They did this, and when they returned with them and heaped them on the fire, it burned well, throwing a deep, pungent, piny smoke into the air. Jimmy took the axe and began cutting pine boughs for their beds. “Don’t take too many branches off a single tree,” Claire said. “We mustn’t spoil the beauty of it here.”
    â€œHow shall we arrange the beds?” Blazer asked. “It would be easier to make one big bed than three little ones.”
    They considered this for a moment. “Well,” Claire said, “I think it would be better to make a big one for you and me, and a smaller one for Jimmy.”
    â€œAll right.”
    Claire started unpacking the knapsacks. “What’s this?” she said, holding up the large Thermos bottle. “This isn’t ours.”
    â€œI told you last night,” Jimmy said. “That’s my contribution to the larder.”
    Claire opened it and sniffed the contents. “You were serious!” she said. “You did bring martinis! I thought you were only joking. How degenerate! Imagine bringing martinis on a camping trip!”
    â€œWhy, I think they might go well,” Jimmy said.
    â€œWell, I’ll have one,” Claire said, lifting the bottle to her lips. “Just to show you I’m a good sport.” She passed the Thermos to Blazer. “Cocktail hour, darling,” she said.
    â€œI’ve never felt less like a martini,” Blazer said. “But what the hell.”
    Later, Claire said, “It’s only six o’clock, but it’s beginning to get dark.” She lay on her back on the bed of pine needles with her drink, in a paper cup, resting on her stomach. “I guess if you live between two mountains, you only have about a seven-hour day. We’d better do something about eating.”
    She stood up and began opening cans. Blazer and Jimmy stretched the sleeping-bags across the pine beds. “Now, one thing about selling,” Blazer was saying, “is that you’ve got to be so God-damned nice to so many God-damned bastards, all day long. You know, whether you like them or not. That was what used to gripe me when I first took this job. You know why I really took it? Because of the travel. There’s a hell of a lot of travelling connected with it. Not just up and down the state of California—but, hell, I may go to Honolulu in a month or two. And I may go to Manila. Well, everything has its compensations, I guess. I used to think I’d like to be a lawyer. But a lawyer stays pretty much in the same place.”
    Claire returned with a dipperful of water from the lake. “Are you. talking about business ?” she said. “How can you—out here in the wilderness?” She put the pan of water on the fire. “I hope this water is pure,” she said. “It has a funny smell. It might be safer to cook with martinis.” She filled her paper cup from the Thermos.
    â€œOf course it’s pure,” Blazer said.
    â€œIt tastes like pine needles.”
    â€œThat’s a good taste.”
    â€œThe martinis are beginning to taste like pine needles,” Jimmy said.
    When it was dark, they sat in a circle around the fire and ate corned beef hash. When they finished, they tossed their paper plates into the fire and watched them burn. The moon was coming up, filtering through the trees, shining on the lake. “Let the still moon sleep on the lake,” Jimmy said. “Does anyone know who said that?”
    â€œI do,” Claire said. “William Blake.”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œLet’s find a tree and lean against it,” Claire said. “I’m deliciously, marvellously drunk.” She looked up at the sky. “I three see moons,” she said, and laughed. “Let’s tell