Linden Avery being asked by another doctor to visit a leper saves the life of an old man who had fallen from an apparent heart-attack. An odd encounter with even stranger words, brief physical contact and then he’s gone. For someone in the medical field and with Avery’s determination to save lives no matter the costs (to herself) this is a shocking experience. And indeed she sits by the side of the road in shock. She asks herself did she dream it? Physical evidence shows contrary to that (familiar) line of thought.
But then her gaze lurched toward the dirt where the old man had lain. There she saw the used hypodermic, the sterile wrappings, the empty vial. The dust bore the faint imprint of a body.
A shudder ran through her, and she began to relax.
So he had been real He had only appeared to vanish. Her eyes had tricked her.
Rational thoughts from a rational (?) person.
I am thinking that the physical contact seemed to be important. Covenant bumped into the old man at the beginning of LFB and the old beggar grabs his arm...and here LA is embraced. Maybe important, maybe nothing. But in both incidences the old beggar/creator (?) initiated physical contact. Then a brief conversation or dialogue afterwards. Both of them performed kind/humanitarian deeds for the beggar. TC offering a place to stay and/or his ring and Linden saving his life.
She did not remember why she had come to Haven Farm until the book on the seat beside her caught her attention.
Oh, damn!
She felt intensely unready to confront Thomas Covenant. For a moment, she considered simply abandoning the favor she had promised Dr. Berenford. She started the engine, began to turn the wheel. But the exigency of the old man's eyes held her. That blue would not approve the breaking of promises. And she had saved him. She had set a precedent for herself which was more important than any question of difficulty or mortification. When she put the sedan into motion, she sent it straight down the dirt road toward the white frame house, with the dust and the sunset at her back.
One notable difference between TC’s and LA’s encounter with the old beggar is that LA had time to be shaken up by it. Had time to think and ponder. Whereas TC a few moments later got smacked by the police car and sent reeling to the Land. But of course LA doesn’t ponder too much on the encounter as she remembers why she was headed to Haven Farm. Purposeful amnesia? Or just a mind sorting out priorities.
This reminds me of the symbolism that was found in the Sixth Sense. Red being used only to indicate that the dead were around. Here it seems to be an obvious reference to Blood.The light cast a tinge of red over the house, as if it were in the process of being transformed into something else.
The house was silent.
Her shoulders throbbed with the consequences of strain. Fatigue and embarrassment made her arms feel too heavy to lift. She had to grit her teeth to make herself knock again.
Abruptly, she heard the sound of feet. They came stamping through the house toward her. She could hear anger in them.
The front door was snatched open, and a man confronted her, a lean figure in old jeans and a T-shirt, a few inches taller than herself. About forty years old. He had an intense face. His mouth was as strict as a stone tablet; his cheeks were lined with difficulties; his eyes were like embers, capable of fire. His hair above his forehead was raddled with gray, as if he had been aged more by his thoughts than by time.
He was exhausted. Almost automatically, she noted the redness of his orbs and eyelids, the pallor of his skin, the febrile rawness of his movements. He was either ill or under extreme stress.
She opened her mouth to speak, got no further. He registered her presence for a second, then snapped, "Goddamn it, if I wanted visitors I'd post a sign!" and clapped the door shut in her face.
One of my most favorite scenes of the entire series. Despite the learning experiences he got from the Land and it’s people he still acts like a jerk, I’ve another word for it but won’t do it here. Things haven’t changed obviously in the “real-world” and TC still being outcast/unclean has to deal with people’s irrational fear and ostracism. Of course this suits him fine. I mean, leave me alone means leave me alone...period. But now the outside world wants to intrude upon him again. But of course LA isn’t one of those who hates him. But with her next lines she obviously hates anyone who feels sorry for themselves. Her insight is clear here, as well as her sense of irony.
A battle of wills begins here I think. Establishing the strengths of the characters in the trials up ahead. Establishing if you will the characters’ character. Covenant seems the stronger until Linden smacks him in the face with this line...She blinked after him momentarily while darkness gathered at her back, and her uncertainty turned to anger. Then she hit the door so hard that the wood rattled in its frame. He came back almost at once. His voice hurled acid at her. "Maybe you don't speak English. I -- "
She met his glare with a mordant smile. "Aren't you supposed to ring a bell, or something?"
That stopped him. His eyes narrowed as he reconsidered her. When he spoke again, his words came more slowly, as if he were trying to measure the danger she represented.
"If you know that, you don't need any warning."
She nodded. "My name is Linden Avery. I'm a doctor."
"And you're not afraid of lepers."
His sarcasm was as heavy as a bludgeon; but she matched it. "If I were afraid of sick people, I wouldn't he a doctor,"
His glower expressed his disbelief. But he said curtly, "I don't need a doctor," and started to swing the door shut again.
"So actually," she rasped, "you're the one who's afraid."
His face darkened. Enunciating each word as if it were a dagger, he said, "What do you want, doctor?"
Was it intuition on her part. Or did the physical contact strike a chord inside her. There’s no obvious connection (for her) between the old man and Covenant, except that he was at the end of his drive.But then a leap of intuition crossed her mind. Speaking before she could question herself, she said, "That old man told me to 'Be true.'"
His reaction startled her. Surprise and fear flared in his eyes. His shoulders winced; his jaw dropped. Then abruptly he had closed the door behind him. He stood before her with his face thrust hotly forward. "What old man?"
That fact takes whatever hot-air out of Covenant’s sails and makes him realize that it’s not over yet.
Now what I can’t figure out is why LA left after hearing (Joan) scream the first time. She finds the easy way out by deciding to confront Berenford instead of Covenant for answers.
At Berenford’s he doesn’t give her any clearer answers except a brief history, he’s bound by doctor’s ethics not to go into detail of Joan’s affliction which is B.S. because LA is a doctor as well and that kind of exchange is alright if it’s on a consultation basis which Berenford could use to protect himself legally. My thought is that he does have a suspect but in this modern day and age it’s a step towards the asylum to suggest it.
Note that she totally forgets about the “old man” until she arrives at the spot where she first met him.
Coincidence? Convenient? Maybe.
Back at his house she confronts him and he does everything he can to deny her help. It’s his cross to bear. The old man’s appearance is almost like a fore-warning to him. Time is close and he’ll have to return and fight Foul again. It’s his cross to bear and no-one else’s.
Of course the next important line sums up for me the whole crux of the reason TC has to go back and faces the hell the Land has become."Or is something going to happen to me? What does that old man have to do with me? Why do you say he chose me?"
"He's using you." Covenant's hands occluded his voice. But he had mastered himself. When he dropped his arms, his tone was dull and faint, like the falling of ashes. "He's like Berenford. Thinks I need help. Thinks I can't handle it this time." He should have sounded bitter; but he had momentarily lost even that resource. "The only difference is, he knows-what I know." "Then tell me," Linden urged again. "Let me try."
By force of will, Covenant straightened so that he stood upright against the light. "No. Maybe I can't stop you, but I as sure as hell don't have to let you. I'm not going to contribute to this. If you're dead set on getting involved, you're going to have to find some way to do it behind my back." He stopped as if he were finished. But then he raged at her, "And tell that bastard Berenford he ought to try trusting me for a change!"
.""This you have to understand. There's only one way to hurt a man who's lost everything. Give him back something broken
Joan’s “feral hunger” for TC’s blood is evident that Foul has possessed her. It’s almost symbolic that once she/he (Foul) tastes TC’s blood that he leaves sated and returns Joan to as she is... a broken shell of who she once was. Foul is wanting revenge. A classic villain desire if ever there was one.
Wonder if Covenant would be so willing if he could feel the pain? Or would he even care. Joan is back. Now all he’s gotta do is fix it."It doesn't hurt," he said. "The backs of my hands have been numb for years." The torment was gone from his face; it held nothing now except the long weariness of a pain he could not heal.
Awesome lead-in Seafoam!! 
