Wilderness of Strangers
A Modern Variation on Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped
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I found the Mermaid II lying at the end of one rain soaked dock. She was an old hulk of a prawner with her traps stacked in a great cage that hung over the stern and gave her the appearance of sinking. Her skipper was a sinewy fellow, a rough and shifty sort, who from the start was intent on prying into my affairs. “Harmon Dunbar? What business could a young girl like you have with Harmon Dunbar?” He shouted above the throbbing engine. I was sitting next to him in the pilothouse upon one of two large, greasy captain’s chairs. His leering nature made me feel uncomfortable. Any conversation at all seemed exhausting as one must raise their voice above the horrendous racket. The man claimed to know of my uncle, by reputation at least. “The Harrow Company!” He shouted. “It was a powerhouse when the old man was alive. That was a long time ago. And then the brother disappeared. There’s still people in Gibson’s think Harmon Dunbar had a hand in that.” “Killed my fa--, his brother, you mean?” I asked incredulous, knowing for sure at least this particular rumor was untrue. “Well, Harmon Dunbar has done worse since!” the prawner assured me. “He’s got the greed, ya know?” The rest of my journey was interminable as I spent it dodging the prawner’s indiscrete advances. At last, the Mermaid II swung into the government dock on Bowen Island merely bumping against the timbers long enough for me to alight with my pack sack before she steamed off in a great arc toward Gibson’s Landing.
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About the Book
Wilderness of Strangers is the modern retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Kidnapped' story that was set in 18th century Highland Scotland during a time of continued struggle between the Highland Scottish resistance and the English. The modern variation is set in 1970's North America during a time of turmoil and violence between Native American people and the Government of the United States of America. Beverly Dunbar from the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, a recently orphaned seventeen year old of part Native ancestry, is kidnapped by her mad, wealthy uncle and placed upon a drug smuggling boat bound for South America. Circumstances see her swept up in the historical events that led to the tragic shootout in 1975 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota of two FBI agents and an Indian man. Beverly finds herself in flight from the authorities with American Indian Movement (AIM) activist Louis Leclair, a friend and yet possible murderer. The fate of Leonard Peltier, the AIM activist who was convicted of the FBI murders on Pine Ridge is similar to the fates, in Stevenson's 'Kidnapped' of Alan Breck Stewart and James of the Glen who were convicted of murdering an English tax collector and the latter hung for the crime. Even today, it is considered one of the most awful miscarriages of justice in Scottish legal history. AIM activist Leonard Peltier remains in prison to this day.
About the Author
Bruce Hougan was born in Edmonton, Alberta and now resides in Palmer, Alaska. Wilderness of Strangers was initially written while living in Honolulu, Hawaii in the area of San Souci where Robert Louis Stevenson resided while visiting there in the early 1890's. His other work includes an unpublished glossary of terms extracted from the writings of the French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu.