Three Day Road

Fall has arrived, and Xavier and Elijah are now stationed in Passchendaele. They are tasked with advanced scouting, and so make their way into town to search a building where they have just killed a sniper. When Xavier goes upstairs, something catches his eye and he fires, only to see that he has shot a woman. There is also a frightened child, who begins hitting Xavier in anger. When Elijah arrives after hearing the shot, he immediately shoots the child. Xavier is stunned and angered. He had not intended to kill the woman, and is upset that Elijah has killed a child. Elijah says he did not know it was a child, but Xavier is not convinced, as lately Elijah has been killing just for fun.

Elijah and Xavier report back, telling their superiors about the dead sniper but not the civilian deaths. Though it is the holiday season, Xavier is depressed, especially after what he has done and witnessed concerning the woman and child from earlier. He gets drunk, drinking too much rum and walking around carelessly. When Elijah returns, he mentions that he has gone to see the Frenchmen, who now know he is a great hunter from the scalps he has taken. He then gives Xavier some meat he received from the Frenchmen. When Xavier tastes it, Elijah jokes that it is human meat, from a German. Xavier spits the meat out, prepared to harm Elijah, but Elijah brushes it off as a joke, eating some of the meat to prove it.

The two sides are mostly quiet in the beginning of the next chapter, titled “The Letter”, preparing for something large to commence. Elijah and Xavier still go out on scouting missions, and on one they see German soldiers slithering in no man’s land just like them. Xavier explains that the relationship between Elijah and Grey Eyes is now one of necessity, each providing the other with morphine when their supply is low. Xavier notes that there is a change in McCaan’s eyes, and that he is close to death. Xavier says McCaan watches over them all like a father, and he wishes McCaan would leave the battlefield and live out his life somewhere peaceful. He also realizes, just before they go back to the front line, that Elijah is in fact mad, and that his actions will bring bad luck to everyone around him.

The battalion is sent back to the front line, and there is talk of a big offensive approaching. A trench raid is called for, and to Xavier’s surprise, McCaan is included among the raiding party. Though they make it to their objective, it becomes clear that the Germans have set a trap, and the stretch of trench is bombarded by German shells. McCaan is killed in the action, and when Xavier reaches his line again, he thinks that Elijah and the others have also been killed, but is later awakened by Elijah, who has managed to bring a badly injured Thompson back to safety.

Xavier then receives a letter and asks Fat to read it. Fat does so, commenting on how poorly the letter is written. The letter is written in such a way that Xavier concludes that Niska is dead. The letter also states that Xavier will be forgiven if he must kill Elijah, which causes Fat to question the letter and think about informing a superior. Xavier is stunned by the news, feeling his entire life has been taken away from him with Niska’s death. Elijah later asks Xavier to divine for him, only for Xavier to realize that Elijah wants him to use a German skull to find where more Germans are so that he can kill them. Later, Xavier prepares a sweat lodge, and after struggling to find meaning, goes to where Elijah is sleeping. He takes a syringe and puts it into his arm, but then removes it and inserts it into Elijah’s arm. Elijah is awake, however, and though he sees what Xavier has done, simply says that he does not need any more medicine. Ashamed, Xavier leaves.

“Flying” returns to the present, it is the third full day on the river, and Xavier is down to his last syringe of morphine. He takes it in full view of Niska, and finds himself back in the war. Elijah is given a medal by a general, but is more addicted to morphine than ever. He is restless, and his bloodlust has increased as well. Elijah snipes frequently, so much so that the Germans have begun shelling the side he works on heavily, so that his comrades ask him to snipe elsewhere. Elijah does not understand Xavier’s silence, but talks to his old friend incessantly, especially about his kills. One day he tells Xavier about how he killed four officers by sneaking up on them in their trench and clubbing them, then slitting some of their throats and taking their scalps.

In mid-summer, the battalion is sent back to a quieter area. They are near an airfield, and Elijah is still as fascinated with flying as he was at the beginning of the novel. Elijah is eventually asked if he would like to fly. Everyone knows of his exploits, and he is allowed this exception. Though he has always wanted to fly, Elijah finds the experience traumatizing. He feels weightless, but not in a good way. He has no control in the plane, and before they land, he throws up repeatedly in the cockpit. Elijah wonders if he is meant to remain on the ground and the thought troubles him. He has always thought of himself as different from others, but now he sees that there is something he is not good at.