The river is the river

by Buckley, Jonathan;

  On Sunday you might be taken to the hills where people had lived in caves until recently. Around the caves the woods were filled with bracken, and you might be left to lie in the midst of it, engrossed in the intricate vegetable mechanism of the unfurling leaves. Up top, the turf had been shaped into tuffets, where the soil had slipped and been washed away. Sitting on one of these, you looked towards the horizon, where there was a town, the one you lived in. The tip of an outstretched finger could blot it out. Horses were ridden on the hills. Their manure lay on the close-cropped grass: fibrous loaves, as big as your head, stinking sweetly. Whenever the horses approached at a gallop, the thunderous crescendo of their hooves gave you a fear that was delicious. Sometimes the horses would be halted near where you sat; the animals stood still, under the control of their riders, but their breathing was a wild sound and their staring was furious. The horses were what you hoped to see, every time you were taken to the hills.

  A vision of a river: on the opposite bank, weeping willows; motionless water and motionless air; a long oval of sunlight on the surface of the river; a bright haze of midges in midstream; you lie among rushes and long grass; mayflies; an afternoon of silence; warmth. What is being remembered? When was it seen? Where is this place? It is here; it is only here.

  About the Author

  Jonathan Buckley is the highly-praised author of So He Takes the Dog, Telescope, Contact and Nostalgia. The river is the river is his ninth novel. He lives with his wife and son in Hove.

  ALSO BY JONATHAN BUCKLEY

  The Biography of Thomas Lang

  Xerxes

  Ghost MacIndoe

  Invisible

  So He Takes the Dog

  Contact

  Telescope

  Nostalgia

  Copyright

  Published in 2015 by

  Sort Of Books

  PO Box 18678, London NW3 2FL

  www.sortof.co.uk

  Copyright © Jonathan Buckley 2015

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher except for the quotation of brief passages in reviews.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  eBook ISBN 9781908745552