Chapter seventeen of Unknown North, a novel that will be published chapter-by-chapter until it’s done. All chapters so far: Unknown North.
John Fobell (who was to have been Johannes Fobell, after Kepler, save that his mother thought it sounded “too Dutch or something”—one of the many points in their marriage Howard had not argued) was worried. His father had gone for a walk in the woods before breakfast, but had not returned. It was not unusual for him to take long walks, even doze off under some shade tree or other, but this morning he had explicitly said he was just taking a quick stroll to the creek and back, because he and John were going to take a lengthy hike after breakfast. And now Howard’s breakfast was cold and John was left playing with the remnants of scrambled egg and home fries on his own plate, worried about his father. » Read the rest of this entry «