The Rift
Page 52
The stars grew brighter as the last rays of the sun vanished. The only sounds were the eager munching by the horses of the fresh meadow grass, and the cracks and pops of the fire. Friederich could see the shine in his brother’s dark eyes. He could hear the laughter as they chased around the great fire. Johannes was laughing at the three of them, delighted at the antics of the ferenji children, sharing in their absolute joy. Outside of the light of the fire, he could see the glowing faces of Mother and Father, who were looking at them. He knew they were smiling though it was too far away to see their faces clearly. He looked at the stars. Mother was describing the stars, telling them that her father had taught her how to guide by them. They seemed close enough to touch. He looked at the Colorado sky. It seemed the same.
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They were sitting on the fence where Billy stood two days before. Sir Rupert appeared this morning in a white, ten-gallon hat, fancy boots and silver spurs.
“Sir Rupert, you are very fortunate no one but me can see you in that outfit. Friederich can wear a hat like that. Tomas can wear a hat like that, but you, it makes you seem a foot shorter.” Sir Gustav shook his head at his friend, who only smiled.
“I’m goin’ to Durango tonight. There’s a Tom Mix movie showing at the theatre. You like to go?”
The two knights had found life in the West disappointing. Not as they had imagined it from the westerns they had seen in Berlin, Petrograd, and Moscow. They had dealt with the boredom of life west of Durango by going to town each Saturday night to watch the latest western. Their favorite cowboy was Tom Mix with his super horse, Tony.
“I sure would. I wonder whatever happened to all those Indians you see in the westerns. I really expected to see a lot more redskins, didn’t you, Sir Gustav?”
“Maybe we ought to go up to Montana, see the real West.” “Well, there ain’t nothin’ happenin’ around here, pard.”
THE END