Free The Double Hook by Sheila Watson

town he saw a car stopped and drawn in to the bank. Shepherd, the game warden, was asleep at the wheel. Sweat streaking his shirt. Sweat matting the hair on his forehead. James steadied his horse for the bridge.
    Over the low railing he could look down to the flowing eddies of grey water. He edged closer to the rail. The horse quivered. Its mouth tightened on the bit. The water moved and stood still. An empty box floating downstream was caught and held suspended beneath him. His eyes searched the river bank and the naked silver bars. And there on a bar at the foot of the pier on which the arch of the bridge rested he saw the dark figure of his mother playing her line out into the full flood.
    He pulled the horse up. Then closing his eyes gave it its head. He felt it draw to the centre of the bridge. And heard its feet echoing on the boards until solid earth dulled their beat.
2
    The horse took him without any sort of direction to the barn where he had stabled it in the fall when he’d driven in the beef. James climbed down and threw the reins to a man who had been sleeping outside the door.
    Rub him down, he said. Don’t water or feed him until he’s cooled off.
    Then he walked away.
    The lane which went past the stable led to the main street. James walked quickly. He had decided what he was going to do.
    Outside the hotel two men sat on chairs tipped back against the frame wall. James looked through the window of the hotel. The clock on the wall opposite the door showed that it was almost three o’clock. He quickened his step. The door of the bank was still open.
    Inside the building the heat was contracted and tense. James went up to the wicket. Through an open door he saw Bascomb, his coat off, sitting vacantly at his desk.
    The teller raised his head from the balance-sheets.
    I want all my money, James said.
    The teller’s face seemed to be pressing through the bars at him.
    I want all my money, James said.
    Pardon, the teller said.
    James lifted his hand. Then he let it drop heavily on the sill of the wicket.
    Bascomb came out of his office. He waved the teller aside.
    I’ll see to Mr. Potter’s business, he said.
    I want all my money, James said.
    Bascomb seemed to be grinning at him.
    Did you say you wanted to close your account? he asked.
    Could I say it plainer? James said.
    Come into the office and sit down, Bascomb said.
    I don’t need to sit down, James said. I can do my business standing.
    Bascomb fidgeted with the files. The teller had disappeared. James heard him bolting the door.
    Tell him, James said to Bascomb, to open that door. I won’t be locked in.
    Of course, Bascomb said.
    Don’t lock up yet, Tallifer, he called out. We’ll all suffocate.
    He had James’s card in his hand. James reached for it.
    It’s curious, he said, how little a man adds up to.
    It takes time, Bascomb said. You haven’t any cheques out, I suppose, he said.
    I don’t ever write cheques, James said.
    You’ll leave a few cents in to keep your account open, Bascomb said. It’s more convenient.
    It’s more convenient for me to take everything, James said.
    Bascomb made out a slip and handed it to him.
    How will you take it? Bascomb asked.
    In tens, James said. It’s easier to keep track of like that.
    Bascomb counted the money across the counter: ten, twenty, thirty. James watched the flutter of each bill as it fell from Bascomb’s hand.
    Well, there’s your hundred, said Bascomb. He dropped a five dollar bill on the pile. A hundred and five. His hand reached into the cash drawer. Ten, twenty, thirty, he said as he counted the dimes.
    Tallifer opened the door for James and shut it behind him.
3
    Outside the bank the air was less oppressive. James shoved the money Bascomb had given him into his shirt pocket and buttoned the flap. He would go to the hotel and get a room.
    As he passed the General Store, Pockett hailed him.
    I’ve got business, James said.
    There’s no business won’t wait, Pockett said, except cash