—John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel Midafternoon and he came to a fork in the road. Just like the rest of us in all our afternoons, whether we know it at the time or not. Younger Macleish liked the left fork. His horse’s sleepy feet preferred the right, a bit downgrade as it was, and Macleish thought what the hell, he was ready to like the right fork too. He liked the country right, left, and whatever, from the white peaks feeding snow water to high timber and good grama range, across and down through the foothills where the low curly bunch-grass grew, and on to the black-earthed bottomland. But then it didn’t need to be all that good to please Younger Macleish today. He was of a mind to like salt-flat or sage, crows, cactus or a poison spring, long as the bones lay pretty there. Around the mountain (right fork, left fork, it’s all the same) and three hundred miles beyond lay fifteen thousand well-fenced acres and a good warm welcome. Ninety-nine times Younger Macleish had said no to his cousin’s offer, for he had some distances to pace off and some growing up to do on his own.
What do You think about The Nail And The Oracle (2013)?
