The protagonist is a Nordic survivor stranded in the West Indies.  When he faces the prospect of imminent death, what does he cling to most intensely and fondly?  A memory of snow, of course!  For him, the moose hunt had been almost like the fox hunt for an Englishman.  This snippet is from "The Intended - a Pirate's Confession" by Sten Eirik, on Top Hat Books - ISBN: 978-1-78279-572-8 (Paperback).

"Pére," says Olof, hearing the word roll off his tongue. "How do you

say it?"

Normand looks at him, smiling. "Père, yes. Or papa is fine. More like

papa."

"Papa."

The word comes eagerly to Olof’s tongue, rekindling a flash of winters long past, in the snowy woods. They could hear the moose crashing heavily through the crusted snow. A feeble sun sloping through the white forest. He wasn’t far behind his papa. His skiing had improved, enough to qualify him for the hunt.

Alongside them were his uncle and a few men from the local regiment, the crisp air charged with silence. Only their forced breath and the thump and whoosh of the skis. The crust held their weight while the moose was breaking through at every step. The musket dangled from his papa’s shoulder, the tails of his midnight blue Karolin infantry coat twisting with each new stride. Not a big man but tough as nails, a hardline partisan who had dispatched the foreign tutors, sent them packing back to France. Prince Gustav must learn the native virtues of Sweden. The human race wasn’t created so that twenty royal houses might play musical chairs with the thrones of Europe, so he used to preach.

And before him, his father had been a foot soldier with the great King Karl in the killing fields at Poltava. The last grenadier. He had earned this nickname because he never carried a musket, too old or set in his ways to bother with the new breed of musketeers. Rotted away in a Russian dungeon. The last grenadier, Olof’s grandfather.

“Ici!” Normand’s hand slices the air before him. “Can you still see?”

Olof gives a laugh. "Papa. Yes, my Papa."

eBook £4.99 || $7.99Sep 26, 2014. 978-1-78279-571-1.BUY | AMAZON US | AMAZON UKPaperback £10.99 || $18.95Sep 26, 2014. 978-1-78279-572-8.BUY | AMAZON US | AMAZON UK

 

Categories:

0 comments on this article

This thread has been closed from taking new comments.