Atdtda35: Well beyond trailside pleasantries, 997-999

[Paul Nightingale]

Meeting Wren again, on 996, Frank denies any kind of jealousy regarding her
relationship with Willis. By the end of the section he has been reminded of
Stray and, as the new section begins, Ewball is renouncing any interest he
might once have had: ‘... she’s all yours, pardner’ (997). Frank’s response
here (‘News to me’) matches the disinterest he claims earlier: ‘Ordinarily a
man would be heartbroken ...’ etc (996). Cf his response when Ewball tells
him about Mayva: ‘The usual reply ...’ etc (998). Frank seems reluctant to
speak here. Ewball is much more talkative: ‘And another thing about Stray
...’ etc. Moreover, if Frank is reluctant to speak, the narrative in this
section is reluctant to offer his pov.

Dialogue passages here break up the journey they have undertaken, ‘up over
Wolf Creek Pass, down into the San Luis Valley’ (997-998). That the passage
of time (‘Nights were generally sleepless...’ etc, 998) is indicated
suggests that these exchanges are ongoing. Frank and Ewball are riding
together for political reasons; yet the narrative focuses on personal
relationships here, with no attempt to discuss the convoy or the dangers
involved. At the bottom of 997 they are ‘[k]eeping a wary eye out for mine
guards ...’ etc; half-way down 998 the narrative records ‘a nervous passage
...’ etc; and the page ends with ‘a relief to be through Fort Garland ...’
etc. Such passages indicate a deliberate avoidance of such topics. There is
a tension between the lines of idle chatter and the abrupt conclusion to
dialogue: ‘And with no time intervening, the sun was up again ...’ etc.

One purpose of the dialogue passages is to distance the reader from Frank’s
pov. Cf earlier sections in this chapter and the writing of his interaction
with the locale. Not least, references here to ‘the grounds in the
coffeepot’ or ‘the coffee in the pot frozen from the long night’ remind us
of Frank’s personal trajectory, from his meeting with Günther (‘in the
highly competitive market which coffee has become’, 987) to supervising the
coffee crop on 989-990, to the ‘coffee boat out of Vera Cruz’ (994) that
confirms his decision to return to Denver. The current section is, then,
remarkable for its refusal to prioritise Frank’s perspective. He is not the
only one ‘[k]eeping a wary eye out for mine guards’. Then, on 998, we find
references to a more generalised ‘you’: ‘the payoff of that well-known lift
of spirit when you’re shot at and missed’, followed by, as the new paragraph
opens, ‘You didn’t see as much idle ranging out here as in days of old ...’
etc. Such passages could easily refer to Frank and give us his take on the
scene; as written, however, these observations could be made by anyone in
the convoy. Then, in the final paragraph, it is the collective ‘they’ who
will eventually gain sight of the coalfields (999).