Russell Hoban: Riddley Walker

She wer looking at the fire then looking up in to the dark. She said, “Bond fires thats what they use to call them. Big fires they use to bern on hy groun to lite them others back to fetch us. Boats in the air o yes. Them air boats as never come back. Becaws them as got a way to the space stations they jus done ther dying out there in stead of down here. Now here we stan and singing that song to bern our dead. No 1 coming back to get us out of this. Onlyes way wewl get out of it is to dy out of it.” She dint say nothing for a littl jus stanning there and looking up in to the dark. Dogs howling in the sylents and the wind moaning.

Lorna lookit roun at every body slow. She had a way of doing it youwd hear the crowd like groan a littl unner ther breaf for craving what shewd say. She said, “3 things and blipful all of them. 1 is Brooder Walker kilt in the digging. 2 is the babby dead beartht at the form. 3 is the old dog offering and took by Brooder Walkers son. You bes be careful thinking on it tho becaws if you start out with Brooder Walker dead youwl easy fynd false foller and get mixt up with your fealings.”

“Bes go slow and scanful then. Bes dont start with Brooder Walker dead. Les jus tern it roun and look at it the other way. Put it in a diffrent foller and look at it backards starting with 3 in stead of 1. 3 is the dog. Think on that dog and what wer he? Old he wer and teef woar down. See him on your track and coming at you. Coming from behynt and you tern roun and look and there hes coming to you oansome getting bigger bigger. Offering. Thats what youwl say. Hes offering. Say agen what is he? Old and woar out. Wheres he coming from? Coming from behynt you. Mynd you he aint coming from in front of you. No that old and woar outs coming at you from behynt. What dyou do? Hol your spear and let him run on to it same as Riddley Walker done.”

Every body looking at me like they wisht theyd had the chance. I fealt like I mus be some 1 special night a nuff.

Lorna said, “Very good and wel done you. All that old and woar out what ben follering on behynt its gone now. Cleart a way. Now weare ready for the new so let it come. Hooray here comes a babby you cant ask bettern that for new. Its a form babby mynd you that. Mark you that and noat you wel. Heres that babby which its No. 2 counting backards and its the same frontwards its the middl 1 of the 3. O dear o dear o dear that babbys dead beartht. Why in the worl did that littl new life come in dead?”

“Where ben that new life coming in to? Widders Dump. You know what they ben doing there. It aint jus only forming they ben doing there with stock and growings they ben digging they ben croaking iron. They ben digging up that old time Bad Time black time. Now weare at the las weve come to No. 1 and Brooder Walker. Widders Dump and thats where Aunty come for him. Stoan boans and iron tits and teef be twean her legs. Brooder Walker dug her up and she come down on top of him o yes.”

“Our connexion man and what ben he connectit to? You heard it out of this formers mouf the 1 as brung the dead mans iron. Brooder Walker ben connectit to a shovel and a leaver poal and digging up Bad Time. Ben that a right connexion or a wrong 1?” She lookit roun and waiting for a anser to that. Peopl looking 1 to a nother and some to Reckman Bessup and some to me nor they wunt say nothing.

Lorna said, “O yes youwl want to think on that you dont want your mouf to walk you where your feet dont want to go. Wel never mynd. Youve seen what come of that connexion. Now its broak weve got to make a new 1.”

Peopl looking at me then. Brooder Walkers son and going to be the new connexion man.

Lorna said, “Every thing in its time weve sill got things to deal with this nite. Les jus tern them 3 things roun agen and have 1 las look. 1 the old connexion broak and finisht. 2 the form brings in a babby dead. 3 is the nindicater and its a dead dog. Its the old and woar out run its self on to a yung spear out of our crowd. Myt there be mor to it as wel? O yes I dessay there myt. Whats in that old woar out dog? You know whats in that dog its 1st knowing. 1st knowing and the old ways from back befor the clevverness. Thats all new to us tho innit. Becaws weve never had it yet. So that dog is dubbl blipful. Its the old going out plus its the new coming in and that new is old old 1st knowing. Took by 1 of ours.”

Every body looking at me agen. I cud stil hear them words in my ears: “Took by 1 of ours.” Lorna looking at me as wel. That wer when I begun to feal like the dog wernt no where near the end of it. I begun to feal like peopl wer looking to me for some thing mor.

We gone back to the divvy roof then. I skint the dog and we roastit then every 1 et some of it. “Telling for us and walking with us,” Lorna said. When I had that old leader on his back to make the long cut down the middl his front legs wer like out stretcht arms it took me strange to see that.

Aftrwds I skint the head as wel. I had in mynd to sew the head and body skin to gether and make a hood. I wer going to take the teef out of the skul and dril hoals in them and put them all roun the face hoal of the hood. I never did get to do any of that tho.

After that tel that nite every 1 begun to look at me diffrent. Winking and like dodging ther heads or giving me the thums up syn. Even Straiter Empy. I said to Lorna, “Im begining to feal like youve put some thing on me only I dont know what it is.”

She said, “Ive put some thing on you have I. Be that Truth? Aint there some thing without me putting it on you? Some thing coming to you? Like a far thing come close?”

Wel she had me there I cudnt say no becaws I did have that in my mynd. The far come close took by the littl come big. Dint realy know what that far come close myt be I wer waiting for it to show its self.

Nex morning after the berning the Bernt Arse Pack follert us the woal way from How Fents to Widders Dump. New leader he wer all black and when ever I lookit back he had his head up and looking at me with his ears prickt up. Driffing closer like he wer looking for a staytmen from me only he dint know if I knowit so he stayd out of bow shot.

When we got to the digging there wer the girt big thing what kilt Dad it wer sill in the hoal where we lef it. Chalker Marchman the 1stman of the digging he wer talking to a littl nothing looking witey bloak dint look no moren 10 years old. It wernt the shortness of him I aint a tall man my self but this 1 he lookit like his dad pult out too soon when they ben making him. Witey hair and pinky eyes nor you cudnt see his eye brows they wer that lite. Dint even have the beginnings of a beard.

When we come up to them Chalker Marchman poynting to the girt big thing he said to Straiter Empy, “You can put a crew to busting this wewl melt it down like all ways.”

Straiter lookit to me and I lookit to him and we boath lookit at that girt big thing what ben the death of my dad becaws they wantit it out of the hoal in tack.

Straiter said, “Bus it up?”

The littl witey bloak said, “Thats right. This aint Eusas head it aint no good to us.” He said it like you do when the other bloak dont know what youre talking about becaws hes out of it. Pressurs littl barset I thot. I dint have no idear what he meant by “Eusas head”.

When the littl witey bloak talkit Straiter dint look at him he lookit to Chalker Marchman. Chalker said, “Bes get on with it. This heres Belnot Phist from the Mincery.”

So we got on with it. Chalker tol us Belnot Phist wernt 10 he wer 16 so at leas he wernt a kid. That dint make it no easyer taking do its from him tho. You cud see he knowit too and it thrilt him. All the time busting up that big thing I wer thinking how my dad dyd so that littl nothing bloak cud look at it and say he dint want it becaws it wernt Eusas head. We droppt the buster on it then we finisht up with han hammers. It were ful of stoany muck and rottin iron weals and gears it wer mor earf and stoan nor iron I never did fynd out what it wer. Jus 1 mor thing to make us feal stupid. Hammering and breaving in old rottin iron and thinking on Belnot Phist and Eusas head.