Now that 18-year-old Emmett is out of jail, he and his
8-year-old brother, Billy, plan to travel west to start a new life. However, their plans are quickly defenestrated
by Duchess and Woolly, who have escaped from jail as stowaways in the trunk of
the warden’s car. Duchess, who earned
that nickname as a child, means well, sort of, but he creates way more problems
than he solves, mostly at Emmett’s expense.
In fact, each time Emmett veers off to perform an errand or solve a
sticky situation, we know that yet another calamity is on the horizon. I kept thinking that he would eventually not
allow Duchess to hoodwink him, but Emmett’s missteps continue, leaving Billy in
the lurch, even when the trap seems obvious.
Billy may seem to be a vulnerable liability at times, but he remembers
every piece of advice verbatim, applying these tidbits often with effective,
and sometimes humorous, results. And
Duchess is not the only problem. Billy
occasionally finds himself having to rely on the kindness of strangers, but he
finds it hard to distinguish which strangers are really kind, and which have
darker motives. Pastor John, who
justifies his misdeeds as God’s will, is a threat. Ulysses, on the other hand, is the foil to
Pastor John and has been wandering for years, just like the mythical Greek
Ulysses, whose story Billy shares with him. Ulysses is then inspired to embark on a quest
of his own, accompanied by another of Billy’s heroes. In some ways this is a buddy novel in which
Duchess is the instigator of mischief and Emmett is the easy mark, repeatedly
caught unawares. I noticed that the
chapters are numbered backwards from 10, like a countdown. A blast-off to what? A new journey?
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