He felt the slap of a hand on his back and he reared a little. He caught the high, ancient smell, like blood but older, more insistent. It had been some time since the bull had sensed that irrevocable call and he bawled again, louder, and rattled the sides of the chute hard with his horns. The manspeak above him cut the air like knives, and the bull was pleased. He could sense their sharpened unease. He could feel a slight tremor in the legs of the man on his back and he knew what he would do once the chute blasted open. He would run. He never ran. He had always exploded out of the chute in a billow of strength. But this time he would run out fast and straight, and when he felt the man weight shift with the charge he’d wheel into a spin to find the pressure point that would tell him which side the man clung to him from, and he’d spin into that point, making it harder for the man to sit there. Then he’d buck. Once he felt the weight shift he’d buck high and hard and land in a tight spin into the hand. The bull shimmied, felt the man’s legs grip for him and prepared himself for the battle.
Joe Willie pressed a hand to each side of Aiden’s chest to steady him. The young man’s face was set in a determined scowl. In the background they could hear the arena announcer.
“Coming out of chute number three, a young cowboy who’s been lighting up the rookie circuit this year. Aiden Hartley. Trained by the legendary Joe Willie Wolfchild. There’s three generations of Wolfchilds in that chute tonight, ladies and gentlemen. That’s granddad Lionel on the chute rope and daddy Birch in the chute along with Joe Willie. That’s a ton of experience in there with him and Aiden Hartley is a cowboy to watch. Chute number three, Aiden Hartley, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.”
“Guy’s got a lot to say,” Aiden said through clenched teeth.
“That’s why they pay him the big bucks,” Joe Willie said. “You ready?”
“Almost.”
“Almost?”
“Yeah. There’s just one thing.”
“What?”
Aiden looked up at him and pinched his lips together. “This ride’s for you.”
He pressed his hat down low on his head and stretched his head back until he was staring at the beams and struts of the ceiling. He felt the hard pull of tendons in his neck and the scowl on his face felt gruesome as he slowly raised his free hand up above the rails and nodded sharply to Lionel, who pulled hard on the chute rope.
And the world exploded.
about the author
Richard Wagamese is an Ojibway from the Wabasseemoog First Nation in northwestern Ontario. After winning a National Newspaper Award for Column Writing, he published two novels in the 1990s: Keeper’n Me and A Quality of Light. His autobiographical book, For Joshua, was published in 2002. Wagamese has also lectured and worked extensively in both radio and television news and documentary. He lives outside Kamloops, British Columbia.
Copyright © 2006 Richard Wagamese
Anchor Canada edition 2007
All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication, reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system without the prior written consent of the publisher—or, in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a license from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency—is an infringement of the copyright law.
Anchor Canada and colophon are trademarks.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Wagamese, Richard
Dream wheels : a novel / by Richard Wagamese.
eISBN: 978-0-385-67376-1
I. Title.
PS8595.A363D74 2007 c813’.54 C2007-902579-X
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Published in Canada by
Anchor Canada, a division of
Random House of Canada Limited
Visit Random House of Canada Limited’s website: www.randomhouse.ca
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