BooksBarbecue
Back Beyond the Burn Line Save as PDF
Chapters (66)
  1. Copyright
  2. Contents
  3. Epigraph
  4. Part One
  5. 1.
  6. 2.
  7. 3.
  8. 4.
  9. 5.
  10. 6.
  11. 7.
  12. 8.
  13. 9.
  14. 10.
  15. 11.
  16. 12.
  17. 13.
  18. 14.
  19. 15.
  20. 16.
  21. 17.
  22. 18.
  23. 19.
  24. 20.
  25. 21.
  26. 22.
  27. 23.
  28. 24.
  29. 25.
  30. 26.
  31. 27.
  32. 28.
  33. 29.
  34. 30.
  35. 31.
  36. 32.
  37. Part Two
  38. 1.
  39. 2.
  40. 3.
  41. 4.
  42. 5.
  43. 6.
  44. 7.
  45. 8.
  46. 9.
  47. 10.
  48. 11.
  49. 12.
  50. 13.
  51. 14.
  52. 15.
  53. 16.
  54. 17.
  55. 18.
  56. 19.
  57. 20.
  58. 21.
  59. 22.
  60. 23.
  61. 24.
  62. 25.
  63. 26.
  64. 27.
  65. 28.
  66. By Paul McAuley:

By now, halfway through his term of exile, he had finished with the second floor of the library and moved on to the first. There was still much to do, but he had a distant view of the end of cleaning and sorting and cataloguing, and had found time to put the sprawling patchwork of Master Able’s manuscript into a rough but logical order, partly guided by notes in Able’s familiar untidy scrawl (his thoughts always outran his pen) and partly by his own ideas about filling in missing sections, bridging gaps in some arguments and reinforcing others. He knew that there was little point in making firm plans before he had subjected himself to the scrutiny of the aunties. Told himself that if they decided to extend his exile for another year, he would have to accept it. Even so, he couldn’t help daydreaming about collaborating with the Invisible College. Winning funds from one of its wealthy members. Finding more representations of the visitors in bear artefacts stored in the Library of All People. Visiting places where visitors had been sighted, perhaps in the company of Gentle: it would be useful to have the advice and protection of someone experienced in roving …

There was so much to do! The monograph. A paper describing the map and discussing the implications of the depiction of what might be a visitor. Transcripts of interviews interpolated with his commentary. Perhaps even a popular account of Master Able’s struggle to prove the significance of the sightings, as suggested by Willow.

Pilgrim pictured a triumphant return to Highwater Reach, the first small run of his monograph selling out and reprinting again and again, his fame spreading through scholarly circles, winning back Master Able’s reputation and cementing his own … He knew that they were idle, self-serving fantasies that could no more change the world than petitions to the spirit of the Lady of Flowers, but they nurtured his small hope that exile would not silence him, and helped to quell the constant worry that, while he was locked down in this small and distant icebound corner of the Union, Master Mindwell or some other scholar might have rendered Master Able’s work redundant by discovering hard evidence that confirmed the reality or otherwise of the visitors. Might have established their identity; might even have made contact with them.

Pilgrim knew that there was nothing he could do about that, and tried to focus on the work he’d been assigned. But then, as winter’s grip began to loosen, news from the outside world arrived and everything changed again.

21.