This is the first chapter of Dean Rabinowitz's new novel: The Brothers'
Keeper
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THE BROTHERS' KEEPER
CHAPTER I
A boy and his father
pushed a small dingy out into a lake, climbing in as it drifted away from
the shore. Behind them they left their tent, with a young girl still sleeping
comfortably inside, snuggled in a warm sleeping bag. In the dingy a boy,
just sixteen, tied a hook to his fishing line. He was a handsome boy, with
curly blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, and beneath his heavy layer of
clothing was a large and muscular body. He struggled to tie the line to
the hook, the boat rocking and his gloves obstructing the nimble work.
Removing the gloves he continued, deep in concentration.
Next to the boy sat his father.
He, too, was handsome, his glowing eyes and gentle smile comforting his
son as he struggled to tie the line. He removed a pipe from his pocket,
along with a small match box. Then he lit the pipe, popping it into his
mouth, and steered the boat into the centre of the lake.
The boy cursed as he dropped the
hook over the boat's side after he had finally attached it to the line.
He tried to pull it up with is rod, only to find that it was caught on
something in the water. Standing unsteadily in the boat, he balanced himself
as he pulled hard, hoping to retrieve the hook. Suddenly the line broke,
and the boy was flung into the water. Unable to swim, the father threw
the boy an oar, trying desperately to reach him. But the boy sank to the
bottom, tangled in his fishing wire and dragged down by his heavy clothes.
The father helpless and deeply shocked, slumped in the boat which slowly
drifted back to shore.
.
A group of six boys, all
fifteen, sat in the sheltered cove. Another three swam, enjoying the warm
ocean waters that surrounded Castus Insûla. The ocean was always
warm, the currents bringing heat from the several live volcanoes deep below
the ocean that lay close to the shore. Often, molten rock and sulfur washed
up on the beach and were collected by the boys to be worn as medallions,
gifts from the sea. Today, however, no such ornaments could be found; instead,
a large circle of dorsit fins had beached themselves and as a delicacy
of Castus Insûla, they were skinned by the boys, their meat wrapped
in sheets, soaked in salt water, and left in the shade of a large pine
to dry.
The cove was surrounded by large
white cliffs, with great pines and tropical bushes scattered along its
foot. The cliffs towered above the beach, protecting the cove from outside
interference, and their rocky face had many caves and crevices in which
to hide. This proved useful for games of hide-and-seek, and sheltered the
boys when an occasional storm brew up too quickly for them to retreat to
the village. The beach seemed to carry directly onto the cliff's bushy
undergrowth, which was thick and green, morning dew still shining on its
leaves. Through an area of sparse growth, a path had been cut, leading
in a side-winding route thirty feet up the cliff. The rest of the climb,
fifty feet, was made by a rope ladder, hanging precariously over the cliff,
attached only to a slender willow. To the side of the willow, a once small
creek had grown into a large stream which dropped suddenly from the cliff's
edge, down its face, to a small lagoon at the bottom. The waterfall, only
five feet wide, brought fresh water to the beach. The lagoon was a pleasurable
place for the boys to drink and play, with a rope tied to an overhanging
tree used as a swing. It was also a place to cleanse and purify themselves
of the salt, which coated their bodies after their sea swims. Recently
the boys had noticed a group of strange fish swimming there, their shiny
gold scales glistening in the sun. An attempt had been made to catch the
mystical fish, but to no avail, so the boys were content just to watch
them instead. The lagoon, just a few paces from the sea, grew larger each
day, though most of its water was lost to evaporation, soaked up by the
flourishing trees, or spilt over its banks onto the hot beach. The boys
were amazed with this growth, and Hugh, the keenest of the group, kept
a documentation of how much it grew each week. After the first few weeks
Hugh was able to estimate how long it would take to break into the sea,
and as usual was teased by the other boys who had not his thirst for knowledge.
.
The sun was directly
above. The boys, relaxing in the sun, were alarmed by a call from atop
the cliff. There, beside the willow, stood a strange man clothed in magnificent
dress; a decorated sarong covering his lower half, bare chest, shoes made
from tree sap and medallions around his neck. The man also wore an ear-chain;
made from several lengths of horse hairs, connected to a metallic ring
and pierced through his left ear, and he held a large wooded staff, with
a metallic head, moulded in an unusual shape. From where he sat, Hugh could
make out the man's large body: muscular frame that one could not help notice.
The man called down at the boys, asking them to climb up and join him.
Hugh looked around at his companions. He noticed a glimpse of fear in the
smallest boy's eyes, but most of the others stared up in bewilderment.
"We must go to him," said Maseus, one of the boys,
who sat closest to the waves that crept slowly up the beach. Hugh turned
and motioned on the other boys who got up reluctantly from their comfortable
positions. As the boys climbed the cliff, a small boat appeared on the
horizon.
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Updated 11 July 2000