Arf Walker

Alfred "Arf" Walker is a character in the Eden Pond Series.

Biography

Arf Walker served as an Air Raid Warden at the same post as Harry Pond.

People who didn't know him well thought him a heavy drinker, not unfairly as whiskey had been a factor in the fishing accident that cost him two ribs. When he recovered, he was no long able to fish. He survived doing odd jobs and accepting tips from drunks he drove home from the Smokehouse Tavern at the end of each night. He spent a great deal of time at the Smokehouse, sitting at the bar drinking coffee and staring at the half-empty bottle of whiskey he'd been drinking the day of his accident. The level of the whiskey has been unchanged ever since, though the casual observer couldn't be faulted for assuming he still drank.

Fred Turley was one of the men he drove home.

Once a fisherman, he owned a 32' flat-bottom gillnetter. In 1936, he took on Eaton Turley, the younger brother of Fred Turley, as mate. A heavy drinker, Arf misjudged the weather and put out in a brewing storm with Eaton Turley aboard. When the storm kicked up in force, the young mate was swept overboard. Arf tried to save him by reaching out with a long gaff, but in his inebriation lost control and caught himself with the hook under the ribs. He barely survived to bring the boat back in to port. Eaton's body was never recovered. Though the two brothers had never been close, years later Fred Turley used to Arf's guilt to force him to "lease" the vessel to him, which then served Sergeant Verner Getty's scheme.

Appearances

• Tillamook Guerillas (working title), Eden Pond Book 1