[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
vanishing.
"What did he say, Cuchillo?" Ryan asked.
"Nothing. Long Knife lets his words run faster than his brain."
"I say that I will fight the pony soldiers, and you stay and be safe and cook
and sew beads with the other women," the warrior retorted, hand gripping the
hilt of his saber so hard that his knuckles showed white through the bronze
Page 66
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
skin.
"Man once said that talk was cheap& but the price of action is colossal," Ryan
replied, deliberately in-sulting Long Knife by calmly turning his back on him,
knowing that J.B. was in a position to chill the Apache if he tried to
coldcock him
file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Jam...20Deathlands%20006%20-%20Pony%
20Soldiers.html (126 of 280) [1/7/2005 1:19:23 AM]
Dland6a from behind.
"They are closer," another of the Mescalero inter-rupted, crouching out of
sight, peering between two of the boulders.
J.B. joined him, again easing the focusing screw on the glasses. "Yeah. Got
'em now. There's around a dozen, with another out front. Don't seem too
wor-ried about any attack. They're cantering along like they were going to a
friendly barn raising."
Ryan glanced across at his old comrade. "Barn raising, J.B.? Fireblast! What
do you know about raising a damned barn?"
The Armorer looked sheepish. "Heard them say that on westie vids, Ryan. Don't
know for sure what it means, but it sounded right."
Long Knife wouldn't let the argument go. He stood so close to Ryan that the
white man could smell his sweat. He turned his face to stare into Ryan's
single eye.
"You believe I fear you?"
"No, Long Knife. I don't think you're frightened of me at all."
"You think I fear the pony soldiers."
"Oh, by the long winter! We're all here for the same reason, you stupe
bastard!"
It was the response that the Apache wanted. He took two shuffling steps away,
drawing the dull steel blade from the makeshift sheath. He waved it in the
air, threatening Ryan with it. "You will accept this in your stinking flesh
and you will die, white-eye devil."
Ryan watched him, calm and controlled. "If I draw this handgun, you'll be on
your back looking up at the sun, Long Knife. And the sec men'll hear it and
all of this is for nothing."
file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Jam...20Deathlands%20006%20-%20Pony%
20Soldiers.html (127 of 280) [1/7/2005 1:19:23 AM]
Dland6a
Cuchillo didn't interfere, watching as the two men faced each other. For
several long heartbeats neither moved. Finally the chief spoke.
"If you wish to fight the Anglo, Long Knife, then do so. Then we can return to
the rancheria, for the hunt will be over."
The warrior's eyes flicked to his chief. "You take the side of the Anglo
against your own brother! How can this be?"
The hand fell to the hilt of the golden knife. "I am leader here. It is you
and it is me, my brother. We must not fight each other."
"They're stopping by the stream," J.B. said, seem-ingly ignoring the conflict.
"Unsaddling, so they're resting up for an hour or so."
"Now what do we do?" Stones in Face asked.
Ryan stared down at the tiny, antlike figures. The horses had been tied in the
shade of the trees, while the men relaxed, some of them filling canteens at
the edge of the stream. The leader was clearly not the yellowhaired General
but a tall, burly man with gingerish hair that was thinning around the top. As
Ryan watched him, the man took the bright golden ker-chief from his neck and
wiped sweat from his fore-head.
Two sentries were posted, one walking slowly to-ward them, the other trailing
his
Springfield carbine as he picked his way back toward the narrow notch at the
Page 67
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
mouth of Many Deer Canyon.
The discipline was evident, and Ryan whistled softly. It wasn't going to be
easy to take such an or-ganized force of sec men. He glanced around, look-ing
at the weapons that the Mescalero had brought with them.
There was an 1841 muzzle-loading Mississippi rifle in the hands of a tall
warrior whose name Ryan didn't know. A Winchester carbine at the side of
Stones in
Face. Another warrior hefted a sawed-off 12-gauge percussion scattergun that
J.B.
file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Jam...20Deathlands%20006%20-%20Pony%
20Soldiers.html (128 of 280) [1/7/2005 1:19:23 AM]
Dland6a had spotted as a twen-tieth-century replica of a much older English
blaster.
Cuchillo himself had a long Sharps buffalo gun. The .50-caliber weapon was one
that Ryan had used a couple of times in his life, and he admired the accu-racy
of the gun. It was bound around with silver wire, holding a split stock
together, and a pattern of tiny brass nails had been hammered into the butt.
As well as his saber, Long Knife was carrying a
"Fireblast!" Ryan exclaimed, jumping to his feet as he saw the Mescalero
warrior vault lightly onto the back of his pony. He kicked it in the slats to
force it into an instant gallop, down the winding trail that eventually led to
the floor of the wide canyon. To-ward the sec men.
Cuchillo Oro called out to the disappearing figure, but the sound of the
pony's hooves on the rocky path drowned out any hope of Long Knife hearing
him. The chief turned grimly to Ryan.
"I am sorry for my brother," he said. "But he must do what he must."
"I heard that before," Ryan said.
"Best get out of here," J.B. called. "Soon as the sec men see him the crap'll
hit the windshield for us all."
There wasn't time.
Long Knife came out of the mouth of the trail onto the bottom of Many Deer
Canyon like a gren out of a launcher, whooping and firing his old Remington
pistol in the morning air. He held the reins of the pony in his mouth, the
saber whirling in a circle of singing death in his left hand.
It was like seeing a nest of insects disturbed by heavy feet. The two guards
came running back to rejoin the rest of the sec men. Orders were yelled out,
voices thin and reedy to the listeners on the top of the plateau far above.
file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Jam...20Deathlands%20006%20-%20Pony%
20Soldiers.html (129 of 280) [1/7/2005 1:19:23 AM]
Dland6a
One of the warriors spun around, darting toward the tethered ponies, ignoring [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szamanka888.keep.pl
vanishing.
"What did he say, Cuchillo?" Ryan asked.
"Nothing. Long Knife lets his words run faster than his brain."
"I say that I will fight the pony soldiers, and you stay and be safe and cook
and sew beads with the other women," the warrior retorted, hand gripping the
hilt of his saber so hard that his knuckles showed white through the bronze
Page 66
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
skin.
"Man once said that talk was cheap& but the price of action is colossal," Ryan
replied, deliberately in-sulting Long Knife by calmly turning his back on him,
knowing that J.B. was in a position to chill the Apache if he tried to
coldcock him
file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Jam...20Deathlands%20006%20-%20Pony%
20Soldiers.html (126 of 280) [1/7/2005 1:19:23 AM]
Dland6a from behind.
"They are closer," another of the Mescalero inter-rupted, crouching out of
sight, peering between two of the boulders.
J.B. joined him, again easing the focusing screw on the glasses. "Yeah. Got
'em now. There's around a dozen, with another out front. Don't seem too
wor-ried about any attack. They're cantering along like they were going to a
friendly barn raising."
Ryan glanced across at his old comrade. "Barn raising, J.B.? Fireblast! What
do you know about raising a damned barn?"
The Armorer looked sheepish. "Heard them say that on westie vids, Ryan. Don't
know for sure what it means, but it sounded right."
Long Knife wouldn't let the argument go. He stood so close to Ryan that the
white man could smell his sweat. He turned his face to stare into Ryan's
single eye.
"You believe I fear you?"
"No, Long Knife. I don't think you're frightened of me at all."
"You think I fear the pony soldiers."
"Oh, by the long winter! We're all here for the same reason, you stupe
bastard!"
It was the response that the Apache wanted. He took two shuffling steps away,
drawing the dull steel blade from the makeshift sheath. He waved it in the
air, threatening Ryan with it. "You will accept this in your stinking flesh
and you will die, white-eye devil."
Ryan watched him, calm and controlled. "If I draw this handgun, you'll be on
your back looking up at the sun, Long Knife. And the sec men'll hear it and
all of this is for nothing."
file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Jam...20Deathlands%20006%20-%20Pony%
20Soldiers.html (127 of 280) [1/7/2005 1:19:23 AM]
Dland6a
Cuchillo didn't interfere, watching as the two men faced each other. For
several long heartbeats neither moved. Finally the chief spoke.
"If you wish to fight the Anglo, Long Knife, then do so. Then we can return to
the rancheria, for the hunt will be over."
The warrior's eyes flicked to his chief. "You take the side of the Anglo
against your own brother! How can this be?"
The hand fell to the hilt of the golden knife. "I am leader here. It is you
and it is me, my brother. We must not fight each other."
"They're stopping by the stream," J.B. said, seem-ingly ignoring the conflict.
"Unsaddling, so they're resting up for an hour or so."
"Now what do we do?" Stones in Face asked.
Ryan stared down at the tiny, antlike figures. The horses had been tied in the
shade of the trees, while the men relaxed, some of them filling canteens at
the edge of the stream. The leader was clearly not the yellowhaired General
but a tall, burly man with gingerish hair that was thinning around the top. As
Ryan watched him, the man took the bright golden ker-chief from his neck and
wiped sweat from his fore-head.
Two sentries were posted, one walking slowly to-ward them, the other trailing
his
Springfield carbine as he picked his way back toward the narrow notch at the
Page 67
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
mouth of Many Deer Canyon.
The discipline was evident, and Ryan whistled softly. It wasn't going to be
easy to take such an or-ganized force of sec men. He glanced around, look-ing
at the weapons that the Mescalero had brought with them.
There was an 1841 muzzle-loading Mississippi rifle in the hands of a tall
warrior whose name Ryan didn't know. A Winchester carbine at the side of
Stones in
Face. Another warrior hefted a sawed-off 12-gauge percussion scattergun that
J.B.
file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Jam...20Deathlands%20006%20-%20Pony%
20Soldiers.html (128 of 280) [1/7/2005 1:19:23 AM]
Dland6a had spotted as a twen-tieth-century replica of a much older English
blaster.
Cuchillo himself had a long Sharps buffalo gun. The .50-caliber weapon was one
that Ryan had used a couple of times in his life, and he admired the accu-racy
of the gun. It was bound around with silver wire, holding a split stock
together, and a pattern of tiny brass nails had been hammered into the butt.
As well as his saber, Long Knife was carrying a
"Fireblast!" Ryan exclaimed, jumping to his feet as he saw the Mescalero
warrior vault lightly onto the back of his pony. He kicked it in the slats to
force it into an instant gallop, down the winding trail that eventually led to
the floor of the wide canyon. To-ward the sec men.
Cuchillo Oro called out to the disappearing figure, but the sound of the
pony's hooves on the rocky path drowned out any hope of Long Knife hearing
him. The chief turned grimly to Ryan.
"I am sorry for my brother," he said. "But he must do what he must."
"I heard that before," Ryan said.
"Best get out of here," J.B. called. "Soon as the sec men see him the crap'll
hit the windshield for us all."
There wasn't time.
Long Knife came out of the mouth of the trail onto the bottom of Many Deer
Canyon like a gren out of a launcher, whooping and firing his old Remington
pistol in the morning air. He held the reins of the pony in his mouth, the
saber whirling in a circle of singing death in his left hand.
It was like seeing a nest of insects disturbed by heavy feet. The two guards
came running back to rejoin the rest of the sec men. Orders were yelled out,
voices thin and reedy to the listeners on the top of the plateau far above.
file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Jam...20Deathlands%20006%20-%20Pony%
20Soldiers.html (129 of 280) [1/7/2005 1:19:23 AM]
Dland6a
One of the warriors spun around, darting toward the tethered ponies, ignoring [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]