Cut yourself a piece
She cut meat for herself from the carcase while Billy watched, a glass of wine tilting in his hand. He motioned to Susan and Toni, and they followed suit. Then he made the same peremptory...
Category: Cloud on Silver
Extracts from Cloud on Silver
Over the rim of the world
‘Hello, Katey.’ She put her bundle down at the mouth of the cave. ‘I’ve brought you a few things,’ she said. ‘Some fruit, and cooked yams, and a gourd of wine.’ ‘That’s very kind of...
Offerings to a god
Lydia awoke early in the morning and set off up the valley before any except Candie, who had taken the last sentry duty, was awake. It had become a habit for someone to go up...
Ready for your nightcap?
Over supper she made a lot of jokes which she knew at the time were pointless, and drank a good deal of palm wine. At the same time she was aware of a different tension...
All will break up and dissolve
The scene outside had the sharpness and at the same time unreality of an over-contrasted television screen. Candie was the first person she saw; he was stretched out between the two huts, lying on his...
The watcher
Billy said: ‘Sweeney, we’re looking for Yasha, and Susan.’ Sweeney raised his eyebrows. ‘I was surprised so many of you had come. Did you think you would find them here?’ Marriott broke in restlessly: ‘You...
Like animals, or like gods
The aftermath of the typhoon found Marriott with a feeling of weakness and helplessness much greater than following his fight with Billy. The battering the elements had given him had been less violent but, going...
How clever of God
Late in the afternoon pretence of work was abandoned. The sun had dropped behind the shoulder of Sweeney’s Hill, but it was very hot. They lay on a carpet of tattered palm leaves, and drank...
