Death by Exposure (5 page)

I couldn't but think of a giant—or perhaps a, giant's child—sitting, playing with boulders, piling and placing them as if they were merely building blocks.

54 42 39 38 52 35 41 49 48 43 57 35 53 35 48 35 41 39 48 54 49 40 54 42 39 53

3.

Like an exclamation point, defiantly rising abovethe plains untilit scraped the very sky, the whole landscape before me exposed and open. Then I saw them in the distance, at first just specks movingacross the flatlands...

49 56 43 39 54 55 48 43 49 48 53 45 41 36 47 59 47 43 53 53 43 49 48 43 48 37

4.

suddenly it opened up in front of me--a ragged slash of dark, dangerous death standing between me and my destination... I crept slowly forward.

35 48 35 38 35 57 35 53 54 49 50 49 53 39 35 53 35 37 35 48 35 38 43 35 48 48

5.

The sound of a, million voices crying out filld the air with a din so Loud I could not even hear myself think! The white against the grey shifted as they took to the

35 54 55 52 39 50 42 49 54 49 41 52 35 50 42 39 52 35 48 38 41 35 54 42 39 52

6.

Coal-black eyes stared back at me, and I wondered, Did he see me as a curiosity or a meal? He rose to his great padded feet and

43 48 40 49 52 47 35 54 43 49 48 49 48 39 35 52 46 59 57 35 52 48 43 48 41 52

7.

I Listened not with my ears, but with my imagination. There, unmistakably, came the sound of sword on shield, the war cry of the Viking warrior!

35 38 35 52 53 54 35 54 43 49 48 53 43 45 48 49 57 43 35 47 41 49 43 48 41 54

8.

Hand in hand, the children walked, leading me not only into the bog but, back into my childhood I remembered a time when I could only have been five years old.

49 38 43 39 54 42 43 53 57 35 53 48 49 35 37 37 43 38 39 48 54 43 57 35 53 50

9.

It was as I'd pictured it those many times I read the story. So vivid, so real that I could almost visualize her—brilliant red hair in pigtails and freckles—disappearing around the corner of the

55 53 42 39 33 43 43 54 49 54 42 43 53 42 49 46 39 36 59 47 59 49 57 48 50 39

10.

I couldn't help but wounder—was it named for the foreboding country or for the men who lived here...the outlaws, bandits, thieves, and bad men who hid in the, caves and crevices of the hills?

49 50 46 39 36 39 37 35 55 53 39 43 57 35 53 41 49 43 48 41 54 49 41 43 56 39

11.

For a, time it was bigger than Toronto, or Halifax, or even New York—the largest settlement on the continent. Then from the sea and the land came the attack.

47 59 53 39 46 40 55 50 54 49 54 42 39 39 48 39 47 59 43 35 47 48 49 54 35 54

12.

How could such beauty come from death? The brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows reflected against the blue of the water, forming a canvas painted by the true master.

52 35 43 54 49 52 54 42 49 55 41 42 47 59 37 49 48 53 37 43 39 48 37 39 54 39

13.

The roof was constructed to protect the bridge from the snow and rain but what would protect the traveller from the spirits that lueked within that covered bridge?