Read The Gallery of Lost Species Online
Authors: Nina Berkhout
The Gallery of Lost Species (34 page)
Viv's erasure took away the possibility for profound joy, scarring like a clear-cut so vast it can be seen from outer space. Nothing grows back there.
*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *
T
HE SPRUCE AND
larch forest around Lake O'Hara yields to ridges, cliffs, and stream beds of lichen. I climb in solitude through the fragile alpine terrain.
I go by brooks and lakes, each one a different blue-green unlike any man-made hue.
I pass hanging valleys and boulder fields as I gain elevation. Then I reach the rock slide and the roaring waterfall bursting forth, and the hillside.
The slope is patchier than I remembered. Eroding and worn out from the trampling of goats who probably moved on to more abundant pastures long ago.
Still, the unicorn could exist. In a remote place we haven't yet been.
I keep climbing. Eventually I crest the peak and a breathtaking chain of Rockies comes into view, this immense crown of snow and stone, and lakes strewn below like gems.
Briefly, I see us all together, When We Were: Constance with her cherry lips and polka-dot bikini, sunbathing by the kidney-shaped motel pool. Henry at his easel, painting the mountain with me clinging to his side. Viv cannonballs off the diving board, splashing us. Liam is on the periphery, collecting fossils. My mother's honeyed laughter erupts, we're all laughing, and then the memory is gone.
Here I spread his ashesâwhat didn't go in the Gatineau Hills and the little I put in Con's suitcase, unknown to herâto mix with cloud and glacial silt.
I could stay for hours, finding solace in the tundra, the plays of grey and pink. But it's time to head northward, to the place they both wanted to see. Up the Alaska Highway to Whitehorseâ
white horse
âwhere daylight doesn't end at this time of year.
Above the treeline I inhale, exhale, breathing clearly. The world slows down around me.
Then, out of the corner of my eye, this brilliance.
One character in this novel was inspired by someone real. My great uncle, Theo Kunke, was a psychologist, world traveler, and art lover. His Amsterdam home resembled a museum. He was a passionate, loud, generous, and eccentric person. I wish I knew him longer before he died.
I would like to thank my wonderful agents, Samantha Haywood and Stephanie Sinclair, for their enthusiastic belief in my writing. I am also grateful to my editor, Janice Zawerbny, who took a chance on me, and whose invaluable suggestions greatly improved the story. Thank you to John Sweet for his masterful copyediting. And heartfelt thanks to the entire House of Anansi team, who made it all come true.
I am indebted to my family: Hans, Denise, and Nadine Berkhout, and Farhad Kazemzadeh (
dooset daram azizam
), for reading the first and last draft, and for their unfailing support. Thanks to Shawna Lemay, Ruth Linka, Tom Mack, and Joanne Reaves, who read the manuscript in its earliest form, and offered encouragement, too. And thank you to the National Gallery and its extraordinary collection that illuminates my every day.
There exist few scholarly publications on cryptozoology or unicorns. I would have been lost without the writings of Chad Arment, Loren Coleman, Bernard Heuvelmans, Chris Lavers, Willy Ley, Odell Shepard, Karl Shuker, and Scott Weidensaul. I am also appreciative of the advice received from the following experts: Dr. Kaiser Raja of BGS Global Hospitals; Debbie Dunn and Reina Fuller of Ontario Parks; Cheryl Mahyr of OFPS; and Judy Stilwell of Shepherds of Good Hope Foundation.
Finally, my deepest gratitude to R., most especially Brooke, Lyn, Paula, Ron, Shelley, Teri, and Wolf. I will never be able to properly communicate everything you have done for me. This book wouldn't exist without you.
N
INA
B
ERKHOUT
is the author of five poetry collections, most recently
Elseworlds,
which won the 2013 Archibald Lampman Award. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, she now resides in Ottawa, Ontario, where she works at the National Gallery of Canada. This is her first novel. You can sign up for email updates
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Contents
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS
.
An imprint of St. Martin's Press.
THE GALLERY OF LOST SPECIES
. Copyright © 2015 by Nina Berkhout.
All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Here
: Stanza from poem “Spring Morning” by A. A. Milne. Source: Library and Archives Canada/
When We Were Very Young
/AMICUS 8963009/p. 34
Here
: Excerpts from chapter “In which Piglet meets a Heffalump” by A. A. Milne. Source: Library and Archives Canada/
Winnie the Pooh
/AMICUS 970184/Chapter V
Here
: Heuvelmans quote is from
Cryptozoology,
Volume 7, 1988
Here
: Heuvelmans quote is from Bernard Heuvelmans,
On the Track of Unknown Animals
(Paladin Press, 1970), p. 17
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First published in Canada by House of Anansi Press Inc
First U.S. Edition: May 2016
eISBN 9781250085085
First eBook edition: May 2016