Forward, Children!

rejoined

during a heavy fog ... the t

ce; a rumbling sound was connected with the color

floating, jelly-fishing. He tried to speak. Something prevented him. What was happening? Then, the

window was swaying as the ambulance swayed. He recogniz

p and a man's voice droned, words conf

e they in a town? What caused the light through the window? Was

r-bunks. A man just below had his arm flung out: someone must be fastened to that arm. The ambulanc

an anything. He was sure that a drink

ied, where's

a Germ

oddamn Naz

oss was pale, old. Did German ambulances have red crosses? Voices sounded outside: German, French, E

e we?" he

ans

e feebly lit aisle; the bulbous whi

ance is this?" he yelled. He

on. Dennison beat against the wall and then the ceiling. He was soaked with sweat. The exertion made him shake but he conti

n I do f

to me ... w

oken French: did

a beaked nose, a stubbled, dirty face. The dirty face grinne

est. I'll bring you dope ... we'll soon be at the Fournier Hospital, in Rethe

, Denniso

ter ... just

ka

s blu

, swallow

more water ... go

ka

ng he remembered ... pain was burning closer, closer, closer ... Fingering his bandages, he poked at several wooden splints and tried to gauge the exte

hell did

ead an

two ways! G

ce beside a chest-of-drawers ... that, that was Ermenonville ... that was ... In London, Jeannette had said

resh air, the air entering like something solid; lea

ad: the railroad had been bombed ... no way to transfe

. Two men have died in our ambulance. We picked up an American, he

lasma, a doctor bending over, when was this, where? S

ineapple juice--astonishingly good! As the man held the glass and straw the amb

a lous

m ... yes, the right arm, the arm in

close

ditional blankets over him. He was babied by someone tall and grey eyed. Rubber wheels hissed. The sky

its all-around whiteness assured him: he shu

oved into

n moved

radiologist began talking; he had to have time for his pipe; then Dr. Pierre Phelan, the surgeon, spoke through his gauze mask. In Dennison's eyes Phelan's eyes were the eyes of cruelty, eyes inside a mask. Phelan outlined techniques for the two docto

to shake that skill. Besides, let's skip that. You see, Dennison, there is no alternative

my arm," Denn

sti

control his voice: he was being womanish. "Give

m. My boy, you can't tell one bone from another, one mu

, was sympathetic: putting his hand on Orvi

d arm? What will we do with it? Can we sell it?" Realizing that his humor was

amputation," sn

es: notations about the skull x-rays, the arm, wrist, and hand ra

llow the medical termino

my head inju

n, what'

d ... nobody

We're certain about those injuries. Confident." Phelan clicked his pen against the side of the

t himself ro

ling had go

inking flesh ... that's how it was! Still he wanted to see his arm and attempted to turn his head

arm," he said to the nurse as he r

he called Sister B

ays ... give

are wait,"

her d

d double t

t belie

ing his covers, adjusting his bed, unde

... mine ..

elan a

ive, my boy. It's surgery. Later, when it's a

e probed, hating the stench, examining, re-examining tissue

utter filth, wild

ed more notes to

aid to her. "We'll take him a

er the strong sedative, he

know ... I had two nephews, good at swearing. Dr. Phelan's right ... you know ... you see, I've helped him through

was th

he war's nearly over ... I'm alone

is body felt. He wanted to remove the bandages, strip his arm, let it cool. The nurses had applied the bandages too tight. And there was that inner gnawing

Paris ... yes, when I recover ... no, I was in Paris as a boy, yeah ... yeah, I liked Notre Dame ... I like those flying buttresses ... they're the best part of

are, woke, and found Sister Blanche giving an injection. When she had finished she bent over Orv

d. "What is it ...

" Sister Blanche said, wa

e sighe

nt's connections, knowing what a visit from a loved one or friend could mean. Jeannette's bloodied letters stumped her although she could read a little English; with the help of the British doctor

y on her bed table. The telegram did not satisfy her. As soon as she could she got up and w

letter r

the amputation had to be postponed:

5° ... he could not eat

ery and for those under her care: she named names: the list seemed to reach across France: she begged that the war come to an

in pain and ra

act Jeannette, Uncle Victor, Aunt Therèse, his mother: he did not ask what could come of such a contact: he w

nted at the "v" in her throat; her stack of hair was auburn: he knew he had never

.. Colonel Victor Ronde ... pleas

s Marseilles address: his mouth was open to tell her

dropped,

iends were rowing on Lake Cayuga ... it was late afternoon but the crew launched their shell ... the coxswain was sore as a boil as the crew made the water foam ... a lone heron winged

the smell of his own bandages and medication gagged him: he fo

ered us to advance across that brid

e bridge, sticky fog, clinging to t

hen she came on duty. At one a.m. the power came on: the

dressings, ice packs, kindness. To encourage him, Sister Blanche told him she had telegraphed Jeannette .

r voice became a singsong: he hardly listened and yet he assimilated thoughts, flecks in her life. She watched over Dennison for eighteen hours with

was something angelic: it had always been that way since childhood, since those springtimes along the sea: it was forever p

ful: he was hungry and thought of phoning for coffee and rolls and goat cheese (his favorite): he th

ra liters: avoiding main roads he drove Jean to a southern town, as far as he could drive. The usual black taxi was waiting. Kissing Claude, she drove off, until a damp distributor killed the engine. Boa

, in a chilly corner, under a lap robe, she counted and re-counted her money. Her overnight bag bumped to t

e wounded man was suffering; his son repeated over and over, for his dad's benefit: "We

not tacky like this in Wisconsin. The war had deteriorated

presentably white: its barren flagpole in a small winter garden told its story: the taxi swerved

night bag, struggling with h

nurse to pay ... or the sick

ve you so

and you, lad, help your father up th

and smiling f

fice, saying "wait." She shepherded the civilian and his son down a hall.

. you cannot see him now. I have been

ndition ve

le chapel." She pointed down the hall. "There

hing ... I can't .

face regarded

he refused to look ahead: it was something to have arrived at the town, to be close to Orville: a girl of seven or eight asked Jean for a roll or piece of bread: the rain had beaten the already beaten clothes of the child

light in the room. A bouquet of bedraggled flowers leaned against the base of a plaster statuette of t

ike this: Orville, without his arm, alone: her love had no

fraid, she noticed that the window curtains were nearly closed: his face wa

Orv ... darling ... I'm her

he said that you had come ... I was

head, puzzled by the head bandages; sh

sick," he said,

dney-shaped pan. "Now," she exclaimed professio

g jerkily. "Nothing ... if nothing

you have,

A

r pain

w ... n

hall I talk a little? You just lie th

e: there was serenity in her voice: he thought: if I could raise my head a bit I could see her better, all of her. He moved a

nnet

that the woman's name?--was a lie: war could not take Jean away now: they

slept, and, for a while, sagging to one side in her chair, she slept. Sister Blanch

" she said, bending

ispered. "Are

ster Bl

e Hitchcock. He's my ... Orville is mine. I guess you know. I gues

ll get on his feet again." What a quaint pronuncia

anding, rea

outside, so we w

should

nette's hand and then put her arms aroun

Jeannette asked. "I didn't k

iple lacerations, bruises ... we will b

ene get in

f course Dr. Phelan, our head surgeon, tried to save

at all," sh

e at

d he'll ta

the hospital se

he has fight in him ... he'll win

as simpl

ting in a chair. You can phone me at any time. Let me give you our number--my extension. You should stay at the Racine Hotel ... the

he followed Rue Carot by mistake; she had been told to follow the Rue Carrefour ... in minutes she registere

d, walled, citadel shaped, was more interesting without the rain: there were neat shop windows; in the tiny square there were pigeons, benches and a fountain with a boy on a stone pedestal, a sheep by his sid

powdering herself, lolling, street lamps coming

nder her window: sitting in a roc

aper, hoping for good news. In the t

INVADE

re retr

f war

m she felt he might be a collaborationist. Anyhow, he might have heard t

ial about the sixty million people who

e eleven someone beckoned. By that time she had become troubled; in Orville's r

out her a

ne-armed he

t say

't noticed! You'd better take a go

throw his arms around her or lie on top of her: would he have to buy a mechanical arm? A mechanical hand? Uncertain of herself, sick in her

I won't hurt you. It's a nice

ld not turn around, thinking of his ban

Don't hate me ...

s trem

ce, belligerent voice. Would he continue to have i

d there, like that, wi

nd around her th

e invaded Normandy ... it's in the paper ... I ha

the paper, hoping he would be encouraged

luck," was all t

our uncle ... perhaps he can come ... h

see th

rnations. Haven't they come? A boy

Sisters is f

pap

es

spasm, cramping his fingers, shutting off his speech: sta

ment, she spoke lovingly, bent o

tient ... dear, Orv ... patience ... Orv ...

ee anythin

nice it was when you went canoeing ... remember those long hikes in the Adir

ent building: three floors, brick, slate roof: maybe it was imitative but so what! Outside, on the street, pedestrians w

, her mouth li

ity me .

in was

r he

se I'm impotent. Do you want an impotent man aro

see him as he was when they cycled along the Nonette, hi

imagine things

. a glass of water ... my

Orv,

mmitted suici

imes abnormally calm. He began to enjoy his food. He began to look ahead. Began to avoid self-induced fabrications. He knew he must learn to write with his left h

im, his armlessness a continual influence? In his probings he understood more and more that she symbolized hope. Stealin

hem. He had her write to his mother: he tried to dictate the letter but bogged down completely. With the help of Sister Blanche he informed the army of his co

ep settled

another

a second floor o

sia in 1812; Haley's Comet same year ... King Cyprus knew the name of every soldier in his army; Mithridates spoke

ir of wings, flash of beady eyes, about her skirt and cornet! He wished he could walk the garden, the brick paths so trim, the flowers in angular beds, m

again, and outdo

front of him an

she enthused, kissing him, amused by his Airedale-colored bathrobe and mousy

himself: a loving and grateful smile was all he could offer: she sensed that he was fighting a moo

local bus, and she sat on a bench

e said. He patted a pocket in his robe. "I heard f

, worried about Orville's reac

He's returning to Ohio. Landel has disappeared. Zinc say

thought about the

s of his arm ... Could he borrow one of Robinson's arms? How

g time ago that you were with Zinc?

and shoved at his skull bandage

at his sliced off shoulder, seeing

that does this kind of thing to

lk like that. It w

him toward hi

old of a Woolworth ar

d, afraid of his humor, afra

ore until they we

is medication but

I can make a try at things back home. A try at living.

hel, if you wish. You can decide where. Will you? I love you ... Let's try to make a go of it. Shall we?"

er him, she kissed him lovingly, and then laughed, laug

okay ... we'll get

can ... soon

lad, d

e thought. I'll be able to aid

I'll do my best ... I have to

f doubt coursing through him: too soon they would be aware of daily dilemmas and responsibilities:

--the Black Diamond--to Ithaca; they would rent an apartment overlooking Cayuga. Sometimes he would see his mot

, swans, the carved white tomb reflected in the Petit Lac ... he remembered a fir

*

k, another novel by Pau

HE OWL

e downloadable formats from Project Gutenb

d to say about Wh

ves the story stature as a work of creative art is that Mr. Bartlett has been at pains to populate it

rt knowledge of place and peop

it a pleasure to read is its marvelous vignettes

d sensitivity required to translate into English the intensity a

characters as real as the headlines in today's papers, who move towards the i

ospheric tale..."

ten symbol of transiti

th, beautifully and poetical

fect that reminds one of P

xotic made factual, here i

sque chronicle of a Mexico t

ersonal involvement, written with un

between the old order and the new, bet

ok charms with its expert knowledge o

nterwoven with color and excit

ul story..."

olence and corruption that m

... between realism and poetry ... brillia

nderful scenes and rich under

tion and retribution

ng significance...

t a colorful land and an exci

ape and Mexican life ... all presented wi