Border Songs (Tp/B)

Six-Foot-Eight and Severely Dyslexic, Brandon Vanderkool Has Always Had an Unusual Perspective. He Knows the Mating Calls of All the Local Owls, and Can Feel a Flock of Swans Taking Off Before the Sound Reaches Him. but He Finds Human Feelings Harder to Read - Especially Lately. His Father Has Got Him a Job With the Border Patrol, a Reluctant and Miscellaneous Outfit That Polices the Often Invisible Frontier Between the United States and Canada. What Used to Be a Sleepy Hinterland of Farms, With Foreign Neighbours Saluting Each Other Ironically Over a Shallow Ditch, Suddenly Appears to Have Become the Frontline of an Escalating War on Drugs and Terror. As Cctv Cameras Sprout Up All Over the Forest, Previously Law-Abiding Farmers Find Themselves Increasingly Tempted to Turn a Blind Eye. and Brandon, on His Excursions to Spot Red-Tailed Hawks and Solo Tree Swallows, Seems to Be Accidentally Stumbling Upon Every Illegal Immigrant and Bud Trafficker in the Area. Closer to Home, Brandon's F