About the Author | Fiction | Poetry | The Writer's Notebook | Home
Leo Brent Robillard
| About the Author |
Signings
and Events Expressive Writing George Brown College St. Andrews' Campus King and Jarvis Toronto, Ontario 6:00pm-9:00pm December 3-4, 2005 Novel Writing Workshop Michigamme Writer’s Retreat 2271 Calabogie Rd. Burnstown, Ontario K0J 1G0 9:00am-4:00pm Cost: $100 Contact Noreen Violetta noreen@scbwicanada.org or michigamme@renc.igs.net) November 8, 2005 Athens' Book Club Athens Public Library Athens, Ontario 7:00pm November 5, 2005 Novel Writing Workshop (Part II) Alta Vista Library 2516 Alta Vista, lower level Program Room Ottawa, Ontario 9:30am-4:15pm Cost: $50/CAA members, $70/non-members Contact Kim Gogo-Melvin gogo@magma.ca (613) 821-4529 October 25, 2005 Reading and Workshop Montreal Branch CAA Westmount Public Library 4574 Sherbrooke West Westmount, QC 6:15pm-8:15pm Cost: $5 non-members October 21-23, 2005 Stillwaters Writer's Retreat Stillwaters Wilderness Resort Lanark County Highlands (*sold out -- sorry!) October 19, 2005 Meet the Author One Book One Community Brockville Public Library 7:00pm October 14, 2005 Free Screening -- Butch Cassidy & The Sudance Kid One Book One Community Thousand Islands Secondary School 2510 Parkedale Ave Brockville, Ontario 7:00pm September 28, 2005 Creative Writing Workshop One Book One Community Brockville Public Library 7:00pm Augst 21, 2005 Dusty Owl Reading Series Swizzles Bar & Grill Albert Street Ottawa, ON 5:00pm Augst 6 & 7, 2005 Novel Writing Workshop Ben Franklin Place (1A) 101 Centrepoint Drive Ottawa, ON 9:30am-4:30pm (*sold out - check back for updates!) June 26, 2005 BookExpo - Canada Metro Toronto Convention Centre, North Building Toronto, ON (Booth 114, Turnstone Press) 2:00pm May 1, 2005 River Readings Brockville Arts Centre Brockville, ON 1:00pm-5:00pm April 30, 2005 Poetry Month Celebrations Royal Canadian Legion Portland, ON 7:00pm April 29, 2005 I.V. Lounge Reading Series 326 Dundas St. W (across from the AGO) Toronto, ON 8:00pm April 2 & 3, 2005 *Novel Writing Workshop Ben Franklin Place (1A) Centrepoint Drive Ottawa, ON 9:00am-4:00pm (*sold out - try again in August!) March 22, 2004 Reading Canadian Author's Assoc. Ottawa Public Library (Main) Corner of Laurier and Metcalfe 7:30pm February 1, 2005 Book Talk Brockville Public Library 7:00pm January 27, 2005 Literary Landscapes CKCU 91.5 (Ottawa) 6:30 - 7:00pm January 19, 2005 Book Signing Double Hook Books Montreal, QC 6:00 - 8:00pm January 9, 2005 Sasquatch Reading Series Royal Oak II Ottawa, ON 2:00 - 4:30pm December 29, 2004 Ontario Morning CBC Radio 6:15 - 8:30am December 11, 2004 Book Signing The Miller's Tale Almonte, ON 11:00 - 1:00pm December 5, 2004 Book Signing OIWF (National Archives) Ottawa, ON 1:00 - 3:00pm December 3, 2004 Book Signing Leeds County Books Brockville, ON 2:30 - 4:30pm and 6:00 - 8:00pm September 28, 2004 Reading Canadian Author's Assoc. Ottawa Public Library (Main) 7:30pm |
Excerpt from Slouching Toward Paardeberg (a novel in progress) Belmont GarrisonDecember 10, 1899 - Fecruary 12, 1900On Friday, the ambulance train arrives while Will
is storming an invisible enemy on Scots’ Kopje. The Canadians, as
they have since De Aar, take the hill and march promptly back to camp.
The Quartermaster opens his larder for lunch, and the troops are treated
to a forkful of fish just in from the coast. Satisfied, Will strolls
over to the ward to see Claire.
The day before he purchased
a pat of chocolate at the shop behind the station while he was waiting
for the train from Magersfontein. Although it was dear, he decided
to buy it anyway. He told himself that it would do well to keep his
spirits up during the forthcoming sorties being discussed by the British
Colonel Pilcher, but his plan all along was to pass it on to Claire.
He is fortunate to find her
on the lawn sharing a cigarette with Hilde beneath the big trees.
The other nurse leaves at the sight of Will’s approach, and he is glad not
to have to face her again. Claire’s body leans like a length of willow
branch against the ancient trunk, and he can see that she is exhausted.
The rumbling in the north has quieted in the last two days, and the trains
carry only fever patients now, but the ward is full.
“All played out?” she asks as
Will steps within earshot. He has explained the morning war games to
her already.
“I brought you something,” Will answers unfolding
the foil he keeps in his pocket. Claire drops the cigarette.
“You’re such a darling,” she exclaims. “Shall I eat it now?”
“Before it melts,” says Will.
Claire rolls her eyes and tosses
her head in mock ecstasy as she tastes the first bite. She smiles
then at her own pantomime and shrugs her shoulders in a laugh.
“Would you like any?”
“No, thanks.”
“Good.”
Will smiles in return.
“It looks like we’re to finally see some action,” he tells her as she eats.
But the girl’s eyes change then, and she swallows the mouthful prematurely.
Licking her lips, she says,
“Not to the front.”
Will is surprised by Claire’s
reaction. “No,” he says. “Not just yet. A sortie.
Or at least that’s the buzz. Might not happen till after Christmas,”
he assures her.
Claire sinks to the earth with
her back propped against the tree and sighs. “You’ll help me if I
can’t get back up, won’t you? I haven’t sat down for days, it seems.
Not till lights out anyway. And even then, there’s always someone
crying out.”
Will sits crossed legged facing
her. She has a pout like a child, exaggerated almost. Letting
off steam. He wants to kiss her then.
“Bloody war,” she says and takes
another bite of the candy. Claire smiles at the petulance of her own
behaviour, and gives him a wink. “You’ll spoil me.”
A silence falls over the two
as an unexpected breeze rustles in the leaves. Men from every regiment
walk past. A periodic clink from a nearby game of horseshoes reaches
them. And laughter bubbles over from the verandah where several officers
hold court.
“Thanks,” Claire says. “For the chocolate.”
|