“I’m pulling everyone back to the Sweetwater.”
“Why? We can hold them here till the stars burn out.”
Williams was a farmer, and his knowledge of the mountain range was limited. Most people believed the Yeagers were impenetrable but for the pass.
“There’s another way in; it’s called Sadler’s Trail after a brigand that rode these parts forty … fifty years ago. It starts in a boxed canyon, and unless you’re real close, you’ll miss it. It cuts up through the range and onto the Sweetwater. Sooner or later the Hellborn will stumble on it, and I can’t take the risk. It would put them behind us, and we’ve not the numbers to hold on two fronts.”
Williams cursed and spit. “How do we know they ain’t found it already?”
“I’ve got people watching it. And anyway, I figure once they find it, they’ll stop these frontal assaults. That’ll tell us they feel they’re on to a better bet.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Nothing. I just wanted you to know in case you saw us moving and felt you’d been left here.”
“Well, would you believe that?” said Williams, pointing over Cade’s shoulder. He turned to see a small doe rabbit squatting several feet from the talking men. “You surely do have a way with animals, Daniel.” The rabbit shook its head and darted away …
In the tents of the Hellborn a young warrior opened his eyes, a look of triumph on his face.
“There is another way in,” he told the hawk-faced young officer beside him. “It’s called Sadler’s Trail, and it starts in a boxed canyon; it must be to the south. The entrance is hidden, but it backs onto an area called Sweetwater, and Cade is trying to get his people there before we find a way behind them.”
“Fine work, Shadik. I will tell the general.”
“It is their first mistake,” said Shadik.
“May it also be the last. I shall have the attacks stopped at once.”
“No, sir. That’s what Cade is waiting for.”
“He has a cunning mind, that one. Very well.”
The officer walked down the line of tents until he reached a dwelling of white silk and canvas. Before it were two guards; they saluted him, and he ducked under the tent flap.
Inside, working at a folding desk, was the general Abaal, said to be one of the great-grandsons of Abaddon. Many claimed that distinction, since it could not be proved, but in Abaal’s case he could point to the special favor his family always received from the king.
“I take it, Alik, you have some good news for me?”
“Yes, Lord General.”
“The bear killed him?”
“No, lord. The man lied. It seems he departed from the beast at the moment Cade pointed his pistol.”
“And what did the brigand do? Pat it and send it on its way?”
“He fed it with sugar biscuits, Lord General.”
“Then your other news had better be good.”
“The man has been put to death, but another of my brothers has, I think, redeemed the situation. There is another way into the valley.”
“Where is this place? The other pass?”
“In a boxed canyon; to the south, I believe. We scouted it last week, but the entrance is said to be hidden; this time we will find it.”
“Take three hundred men.”
“You are giving me the command? Thank you, Lord General.”
“Do not thank me, Alik. If you fail, you will die. How long will it take Cade to get his people back into this Sweetwater?”
“A week, ten days. I’m not sure.”
“You have six days to get behind him. If you have not breached the pass in that time, hand over the command to Terbac and take your life.”
“Yes, Lord General. I shall not fail.”
11
GAMBION ARRIVED TWO hours after dusk and advised his thirty men to make a cold camp while he scouted the entrance to Sadler’s Trail. He took Janus and Evanson with him, leaving Burgoyne to point out the best campsites. Janus appeared to be in his early twenties, blond and lean, while Evanson was maybe ten years older and running to fat. The older man was soft-eyed, and Gambion had no faith in him, but the younger had the look of eagles about him: sharp, sure, and confident.
“They came about six days ago,” young Janus told them, “but they missed the entrance to the pass. We were all set up, and there were only ten of them; we could have stopped them. It’s unlikely they’ll be back.”
“If Cade asked me to come here, then they’ll be back,” said Gambion. “Count on it.”
“Was it a message from heaven?” asked Evanson.
“Cade says no, but I’m not sure anymore.” He told them about the bear that had smashed its way into Cade’s cabin only to leave with a few biscuits.
“And you saw it happen?” asked Janus.
“As true as I’m standing here,” answered Gambion. He wiped a piece of toweling across his shiny bald pate. “Damn, but it gets hot here.”
“The sun reflects off the white rock, especially at dusk. It’ll be mighty cool in a few minutes,” said Janus. “The men can fix a fire; no one could see it from the pass.”
“Well, the three of you can go back into Yeager,” said Gambion. “You’ll be glad to see your folks, I don’t doubt.”
“The other two can go,” declared Janus. “I’ll stay here. I know this land.”
“Pleased to have you.”
“If it’s all right with you, I’ll leave now,” said Evanson, and Gambion nodded, dismissing the man from his mind.
Janus watched the big man, noting the catlike movements and the sureness with which he carried himself.
“What are you staring at?” asked Gambion, sensing the other’s hostility.
“I’m looking at a man who drove people from their farms,” said Janus evenly. “And I was wondering why God would choose you.”
“Because I was there, son,” said Gambion, grinning. “You don’t fight the Hellborn with a plow, and this here’s the work of men who know weapons.”
“Maybe,” said Janus doubtfully.
“You don’t have to like me, boy. Just stand beside me.”
“Have no fear on that score,” said Janus. “I’ll stand as firm as any man.”
“I know that, Janus—I’m a good judge. Show me the killing ground.”
Together they strolled down the narrow slope that led to the cleft in the cliffs, opening onto the rich plain that flared from the mountains into the canyon. Once they were beyond the cleft, Gambion glanced back and the entrance had all but disappeared.
“The mountains are young,” said Janus, “probably volcanic in origin, and the cleft was made by lava flow.”
“But a few men could hold it for quite some time,” responded Gambion.
“Depends on how anxious the enemy was to take it.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, if they charge, they can ride through the gap in a couple of seconds. Sure, we could catch them in a murderous cross fire, but once they’re through, they can spread out and circle us.”
“Then we don’t let them get through,” stated Gambion.
“Easy to say.”
“Son, we don’t have no choice. Daniel needs ten days to get all the people back into Sweetwater. He said ten days to me, and I promised it. Ten days is what he’ll get.”
“Then you better hope they don’t find us,” said Janus.
“Whatever it is, it will be the way God planned it.”
“Yes? Well, I don’t believe in God.”
“After all you’ve seen?” asked Gambion, amazed.
“What have I seen? A band of brigands and a lot of death. If you don’t mind, Gambion, I’ll put my faith in this here rifle, and God can keep the hell out of my way.”
The young man strode back to the campsite and ordered Burgoyne to watch the pass. Burgoyne refused, saying he was going back to Yeager, and Janus turned to Gambion.
“Any of your men who can be counted on not to fall asleep?”<
br />
“Peck!” called Gambion. “Take the first watch. I’ll relieve you in four hours.”
“Why me?”
“Because I told you to, you son of a bitch.”
“Nice line in discipline you have,” said Janus, sitting down and wrapping his blankets around himself.
“Move yourself, Peck!”
“I’m going.”
“And don’t go to sleep. Daniel is relying on us.”
“I hear you.”
“I mean it, Peck.”
“Have a little faith, Ephram.”
Gambion lay back in his own blankets for about two hours, but he could not sleep. Finally he got up and moved off toward the pass, where he found Peck curled up and fast asleep between two boulders. He grabbed the man by his shirt collar and hoisted him upright; then he hit him in the mouth, smashing two front teeth. Three more blows and Peck was unconscious, his face bloody and swollen. Gambion took away his rifle and pistol and sat until dawn, watching the plain.
Janus joined him there as the sun was rising. He stopped to look down at the unmoving Peck.
“Heavy sleeper?” he asked.
“Shut it, Janus. I’m not in the mood.”
“Calm down, big man. Go and get some rest. I’ll take it for a few hours.”
“I’m all right. I don’t need much sleep.”
“Do it anyway. If they come, there’ll not be much time for rest during your ‘necessary’ ten days.”
Gambion had to admit that Janus was right and that he was beginning to feel bone-weary. He passed Peck’s rifle and pistol to Janus and hoisted the unconscious Peck to his shoulder, walking off without a word.
Janus remained where he was, watching a distant herd of antelope grazing on the plain. It was so peaceful there, he thought, so hard to imagine a war with blazing guns and sudden death. He had been working on his father’s farm when the Hellborn had struck, and his father had gone down almost at once, his head blown away. His mother had followed as she ran from the house. Then Janus had picked up his father’s gun—a single-shot musket—and downed the first rider. The man had flown from the saddle. Janus had dropped the rifle and, as the horse swept past, grabbed the pommel and vaulted onto its back, galloping away across the fields with bullets shrieking past him. The horse had been hit twice, but by the time it had died under him, he was into the woods and away.
Alone now, he could not even consider the future. He had wanted to marry Susan McGraven, but she and all her family were dead, so he was told, killed by the same raiders who had struck his farm. Everything he knew was gone; everyone he had loved was dead.
He was nineteen years old, though he looked older, and he saw no future except to kill or be killed by the Hellborn. He had no faith in Daniel Cade and his visions. What little he knew of the Bible and its teachings negated any belief in Cade. Would God use a man like him, a killer and a thief? He doubted it, but then, he doubted God. So what do you know, Janus? he asked himself.
Two hours later a sullen young man relieved him, and Janus moved off the ridge and down to the campsite. On the way he passed a dozen men digging a broad trench across the trail and piling the earth in front of it. He saw Gambion directing operations and approached him.
“What’s the idea?”
“If they get through the pass, they’ll be riding hard. This line ought to separate the men from the boys.”
“True, but there’s nowhere to run to. If you don’t stop them here, you’ll be cut to pieces.”
“I wasn’t sent here to run, Janus,” said Gambion, turning back to the trench.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Why do you think?”
“I haven’t a clue, Gambion.”
“Then I can’t explain it to you.”
“I mean, what do you get out of it?”
Gambion leaned on his shovel, his heavy face showing signs of strain. He scratched his thick black beard and thought for a moment. “I joined Cade a lot of years ago, and I never thought too much about what we were. Then God spoke to Cade, and I realized it’s not too late to change. It’s never too late. Now I’m part of God’s army, and I’m not going back. Not for plunder, nor Barta coin, nor goddamn Hellborn. Daniel says to stand here, so here I’ll stand. They can send men, beasts, or demons, but they won’t pass Ephram Gambion—not as long as there’s life in this old body. That make it clear to you, farmer?”
“It’s clear, Ephram, but would you mind a suggestion?”
“Not at all.”
“Dig a second trench up there and put a few men in it. That way, if you are overrun, they can give you covering fire while you withdraw.”
Gambion followed the direction and saw a natural screen of rocks and undergrowth rising some twenty feet above their present position.
“You’ve a good eye, son. We’ll do it.”
“How’s your man Peck?”
Gambion shrugged. “He went and died on me. But that’s life, isn’t it?”
“It’s not an easy life in God’s army, Ephram.”
“Not by a long haul. We’ve no time for shirkers.”
“You mind if I get some sleep?”
“You go right ahead.”
Janus left them and wandered on. He was hungry and ate some dried fruit before settling back into his blankets.
The day passed without incident, but just before noon on the second day three hundred Hellborn riders entered the canyon. The man on watch, a youngster named Gibson, ran to fetch Gambion. Janus came with him.
“They’re not just scouting,” said Janus. “They’re looking for something.”
“I agree,” muttered Gambion. “I’ll get the men set.”
“How are you going to place them?”
“Fifteen in the two trenches, the rest with us here.”
“A suggestion?”
“Go ahead.”
“They won’t be geared to charge straightaway, and they’ll probably ride in slowly the first time. Put every man we have overlooking the entrance; that way we’ll hit them hard. The next time we’ll have men in the trenches for when they really put the spurs in.”
Gambion chewed his lip for a while, then nodded. “Sounds good.”
He spread the men evenly across the pass, telling them not to fire until he did but then to pour it on like there was no tomorrow. Afterward he returned to squat beside Janus as the Hellborn moved across the canyon.
Within the hour a scout had discovered the cleft and was riding through it while the main body of horsemen waited outside. The Yeager men kept their heads down as the dark-armored rider mounted the first slope. If he rode much farther, he would come in sight of the trenches, but he stopped and removed his helm. He was young, about the same age as Janus, and from where Gambion lay he could see that his eyes were blue. The rider wheeled his horse and rode back to the canyon, and the Hellborn began to move. Gambion pumped a shell into the breech and waited, his mouth dry. Beside him Janus nestled the rifle stock into his shoulder and took a deep breath, willing himself to relax. With half the riders inside Gambion sighted on the leader and took in the slack on the trigger.
“Not yet,” whispered Janus, and Gambion froze. The Hellborn moved on, and Gambion could hear the laughter from some of the riders, who were obviously sharing a joke.
“Now,” said Janus.
Gambion’s rifle thudded back against his shoulder, and then he was up on his knees, pumping shot after shot into the rearing, bucking ranks of the enemy. The pass was alive with gunfire as rider after rider was swept from the saddle. Horses went down screaming, and the Hellborn turned and galloped from the pass. Volleys swept through them, and then there was silence. Gambion rose to charge down the slope, but Janus grabbed his arm. “They’re not all dead. Get the men to hold back.”
“Back to your positions!” yelled Gambion.
Most of the men obeyed him, but one youngster, oblivious to the commands, raced down the slope. A fallen Hellborn rolled and fired his pistol at point-blank
range, and the youngster stopped dead, gripping his belly. A second shot exploded his head. Janus lifted his rifle and killed the Hellborn.
Outside the pass Alik regrouped his men. He knew he should lead them straight back, but fear gnawed at him and he dithered. He did not want to risk such slaughter again so swiftly.
“How many lost?” he asked his deputy, Terbac.
The man cantered his horse along the line, returning some minutes later. “Fifty-nine, sir.”
“We’ll go in on foot.”
“With respect, a charge could carry us past them.”
“On foot, I said.”
“Yes, sir.”
The men dismounted and tethered their horses.
Back in the pass Janus watched them, his brow furrowed.
“They’re coming in again,” he said, “but without horses.”
“What are they playing at?” asked Gambion.
“They probably mean to secure the entrance and push forward slowly.”
“Can they do it?”
“It’s possible but unlikely. Move the men on the far side about thirty paces to the right.” Gambion shouted his orders, and the men moved into position.
“What now?”
“Now we wait and take as many as we can. If they’ve got sense, they’ll wait till nightfall. But I don’t think they will.”
The first Hellborn reached the cleft and ran for the rocks. He didn’t make it.
But the third did, and that gave the enemy a chance to return fire. Gambion crept along the ridge and shot the marksman. The Hellborn retreated back to the canyon.
Gambion moved back alongside Janus, looking at him expectantly. The young man knew then that the command had passed to him, and he grinned ruefully.
“Ask your God for a cloudless night,” he said.
“I’ll do that. But what if it isn’t?”
“A man will have to stay down there, someone with sharp ears.”
“I’ll do it.”
“You’re the leader; you can’t do it.”
“You’re the leader here, Janus. I’m not too pigheaded to see that.”
“But your men don’t know that. Send someone else.”
“All right. You don’t think they’ll come again today?”
“Not with any serious intent. I think we were lucky, Ephram. I think there is a coward leading them.”
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