by Candy Rae
The inhabitants of the settlement were indeed in a great deal of trouble. The fires had taken hold. The flames fed greedily on the dry timber roofs and walls of the cabins and storehouses.
Kath and Matvei felt, rather than heard, the penultimate heavy crash of steelwood upon steelwood that was the battering ram destroying the gate joists. The final bang that actually felled them was almost an anti-climax. The gates tottered then with a resounding crash of dust and splintering wood fell inwards. Baker and his regiment were not long in taking advantage of this and they spilled through the gap and into the courtyard. A ragged hail of arrows hit them but it was not enough to stop their forward momentum.
Kath craned her neck to look in the direction of the gates in dismay. She watched the dust cloud appear as the broken gates hit the ground. She was still on the parapet where she and Matvei were successfully dissuading those men who had climbed up the ladders that it was not a good idea to try and jump on to the parapet right where an angry woman and furious Lind were waiting, teeth bared and upraised sword at the ready.
She spied yet another ladder clumping against the wall and ran to help, Matvei at her side. Sometimes all that was needed was for Matvei to look down over the parapet at those climbing up. Underneath him, the more timid of their enemies would refuse to climb, much to the anger of their officers. Matvei noticed that these selfsame officers showed no inclination to lead by example and take pole position on the ladders. It appeared that in the southern officers’ eyes, discretion was the better part of valour.
Murdoch’s regiments had tried to scale the walls twice already and had been beaten off but that was before the gates had fallen in. Kath knew that those lined up in the courtyard would not be able to hold the regiments off for long as the convicts surged through the empty gateway.
“This is very bad,” announced Matvei. “Ptatch, now!” The two words were a command. Kath obeyed.
She did so and from the vantage point of Matvei’s back saw what happened next.
Along the parapet came the shouts of the commanders ordering the men and women to leave the perimeter walls and to retreat behind the secondary barricades on the other side of the river. It was not a wide river, but it cut deeply through the gentle hill on which the settlement was built.
Matvei and Kath fled with the rest, Matvei making a gigantic leap to jump over both river and barricade. Those on foot ran as fast as they could, those already manning the secondary defences giving a helping hand when they could. Once all that could escape the outer area reached them and had climbed over, the rope ladders were pulled in.
* * * * *
