Three Day Road

The prologue recalls a time when Xavier and Elijah go hunting as young boys. They track a marten and trap it, but when they try and retrieve the animal, they realize that it is still alive. Xavier instructs Elijah to kill it. Elijah tries, but only succeeds in beating the animal. Xavier finally finds a heavier piece of wood and delivers the killing blow. Elijah is content, commenting that the two are great hunters and best friends, to which Xavier agrees.

In “Returning”, the narrative switches to Niska, who is Xavier’s aunt. She has been informed that Xavier has died in battle and that Elijah has survived. Niska travels by canoe to pick Elijah up from the station. She strongly dislikes the town, but has made the journey for Elijah’s sake. Watching the soldiers disembark from a train, she is preparing to leave when she sees a soldier hobbling on crutches. To her surprise, the soldier is Xavier, not Elijah. The two are both startled, and Niska learns that Xavier has also thought she was dead. She wonders what this means about Elijah’s whereabouts, but does not ask. Though happy to see her nephew, Niska can tell that Xavier is sick. When they make it to the canoe she has hidden, Niska notices that Xavier sticks something into his arm, and then looks at her guiltily. They begin their three-day journey back home. Xavier looks relieved, but he does not eat or sleep. Niska eventually realizes that Xavier has only returned home to die.

In “Arrival”, Xavier struggles with the reality around him. He still does not know where Elijah is, and is shocked that Niska is alive when he thought she was dead. He is addicted to morphine, and in his delusions, is visited by dead soldiers. He flashes back to when his platoon was in Belgium (Flanders) and about to be sent into the trenches. Xavier details his fellow soldiers, including men called Fat and Gilberto. He explains how another, Grey Eyes, is American, and seems to be a liar, while Sean Patrick, who is only fifteen, loves to talk. The platoon soon moves toward the front, though a bombing on the road shakes them up and kills several soldiers. Their commanding officer, McCaan, is ordered to take the soldiers a different way, which angers him as there is no real path and the soldiers seem to be moving blindly. They scramble around in the fog and dark, and Fat stumbles upon the hand of a dead soldier.

The platoon hears noise in the distance, so Elijah and Xavier are sent to scout ahead and find that it comes from the Belgians. Relieved, McCaan takes the platoon to join up with the Allied battalion. Xavier and Elijah feel good about their behavior during what can be viewed as their first test of battle. The next morning, Xavier sits with his fellow soldiers. Though some of the men try to tell him how to survive, especially because of an infamous German (Hun) sniper who shoots soldiers through the neck, a sniper named Smithy tells Xavier that he does not need to “learn” anything for the job he is tasked with doing. He then tells them how, though the others think he is a good shot, there is a better sniper in their battalion known as Peggy. Peggy is an American Indian, however, and does not get the credit he deserves for all his kills. Xavier decides that he wants to meet Peggy someday.

“Trenches” deals with Xavier’s recollection of being in the trenches, learning how fog work as a good cover, and how almost everything is done at night. He sees how Elijah feeds off the fear and madness around them, and how this “hungry” demeanor makes him a better soldier. The battalion makes it to the front trench and is introduced to Corporal Thompson, who explains the different types of shells to look out for. Later, Elijah and Xavier watch planes soar overhead and Elijah comments that he wants to fly. One night, though Xavier warns him, who has put himself in the line of fire, McCaan is almost killed by sniper fire.

Xavier and Elijah’s first few months in the trenches are spent near Saint-Eloi. Thompson teaches the group more about survival in the trenches, then takes them out into no man’s land to teach them about craters, barbed wire and detecting enemy movement. When they return to their position, a flare goes up just as Xavier is about to follow Elijah into their trench. Xavier is frozen, and makes a perfect target. A bullet grazes past him, snapping him out of his fear, and he dives into to the trench. Though on a battlefield, Xavier is confronted, for the first time, with the fact that people want him dead.