After five outstanding short-story collections, Ron Carlson returns to the West for his first novel in 25 years. Set in the mountains of Idaho, the story concerns two men and a teenage city boy brought together to build a motorcycle ramp that a daredevil will use to cross a deep gorge. Outsiders are financing the stunt that is predicted to bring in a great deal of money.
The boss of the project is Darwin Gallegos. Still grieving over the sudden death of his wife, Darwin had left the nearby Rio Difficulto ranch where he had lived and worked for years and reluctantly agreed to do one last, short job. The project was to take only 10 weeks, but when he goes in search of workers, Darwin discovers that good ones are scarce and, out of desperation, he hires two drifters.
Yet, even as the three set up camp, Darwin has second thoughts. The tall man named Key has the strength and seems to know how to go about the job, but the haunted look in his eyes might spell trouble. And the boy, Ronnie Panelli, a city kid, may not stick.
They settle in, and Arthur Key, who fled his job as a Hollywood stunt engineer after betraying his gullible brother, decides he likes the place. “It was all sky here and never the same sky,” he says.
Ronnie, a part-time caddy and survivor of the streets, would take off if he had somewhere else to run.
Darwin gives the boy the job of setting up the tent. He injures himself badly, and the two men take him to a clinic in a nearly deserted small town. As he heals, Ronnie learns how to handle the equipment. He thrives on Darwin’s meals. In town, he makes friends with Traci, the daughter of the waitress in the local bar.
As the project slowly takes shape, Key imagines how it might be if he were doing the job in California. Even as he recognizes it is an illusion, he wants the continuity he now feels to last.
One day, after Ronnie and Art have returned from the ranch to get some equipment, Curtis Diff, the owner of Rio Difficulto, tries to persuade Darwin to come back to work but ends up inviting them to go fishing. Only Key and Ronnie accept, and they drive down into the canyon with him, following tire tracks to the stream where Diff teaches the boy to cast and bring in his trout. And after a supper of trout and wine, and a soak in a hot spring, the conversation turns to Darwin’s wife and the hold the ranch has on lives.
By now, the three have learned to work well together. Wounds begin to heal. With a discerning feel for the connection between place and character, Carlson gradually reveals what makes each man tick and his relationship to the others as they work side by side over a single summer.
“Five Skies” is a haunting tale of loss and redemption.
Sybil Downing is a Boulder novelist who writes a monthly column on new regional fiction.
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FICTION
Five Skies
Ron Carlson
$23.95
