s [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

same time. The bugler of the Red Cadre played a tune that carried a relentless
savagery in it,
file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Ja...athlands%20037%20-%20Demons%20o
f%20Eden.html (60 of 258) [12/30/2004 8:13:12 PM]
Dlands 37- Demons of Eden stirring, repetitious and a little nerve-racking.
"What're they doing?" Ryan asked. "Serenading us?"
Doc's lean body tensed. "No, they're sending us a message. That's the
'Deguello.' "
"The what?"
"The 'Deguello,' the throat-cutting song," Doc replied, "a perennial of
Mexican army regimental bands a few hundred years ago. Very old, dating back
to the bloody wars between Spain and the Moors. When Generalissimo Santa Anna
had the Texans boxed up within the Alamo, his bands played it on the night and
morning preceding the final assault."
Ryan nodded in comprehension. "No quarter. No mercy for the loser."
Suddenly Felicity ran swiftly toward them. "Rider coming in. Looks like Eli."
Hasslich and the guards joined them at the edge of the pass. A rider was
coming across the plain, but the horse was walking.
"What's wrong with the fool?" one of the guards demanded. "Why's he meanderin'
like that?"
The guards raised their voices in irritated mutterings at the horseman's
leisurely pace. As he drew nearer, they could see it was indeed Eli. "Perhaps
he's hurt," Doc ventured. "Or drunk," Hasslich growled. Ryan drew his blaster
and, bidding a guard and Hasslich to follow him, sprinted out of the gorge.
All of them stopped dead in their tracks when they came to within twenty feet
of the mounted man. They walked the remaining distance.
There was no need to hurry.
Eli was bound to his saddle by a wooden A-frame that held him upright. His
face, drained of all color, save for a smear of blood, was twisted in a rictus
of terror and pain. The blood had streamed from the top of his head where his
scalp had been before it had been shorn away. His chest bore a narrow, gaping
wound that had obviously been made by the blade of a broad-headed hatchet.
Pinned to the front of his coat with a sharpened bone needle was a square of
paper.
Scrawled on the paper, no doubt in Eli's own blood, was a single word: "Soon."
file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Ja...athlands%20037%20-%20Demons%20o
f%20Eden.html (61 of 258) [12/30/2004 8:13:12 PM]
Dlands 37- Demons of Eden
Ryan turned away from the corpse, his face expressionless. In a flat voice he
said, "Well, Mr. Hasslich, I hope your ass isn't too disappointed."
Chapter Eight
Ryan's plan was simple. There was no need to fancy it up, at least not at
first.
Leaving the guards at their posts, despite their terror, he, Doc, Felicity and
Hasslich ran back to Amicus to rouse the citizens. They had freed Eli's corpse
from the framework, and Hasslich led his horse, the man's body draped over the
saddle. The animal wasn't very tall, and Eli's fingers and toes dragged the
ground, the blood from his raw scalp leaving a sticky crimson trail in the
dust.
Ryan fetched Mose Autry from his shack at the shores of the lake. He was pale
Page 38
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
and reluctant to go.
"The Cadre will strike at first light," said Ryan. "We've got to be ready."
Autry wagged his head repeatedly from side to side. "Why would Hatcher warn us
like this?"
"Ego, like you said. Also to shake us up, scare us so we can't think clearly.
Right now we'll concentrate on defense. When that's done, we'll map out an
offensive strategy."
"You think either one will do us any good against all of them?"
"Mebbe it will, mebbe it won't, but we can't sit here all night waiting to die
at dawn."
When Autry didn't respond, Ryan growled, "You're the leader here."
"They blame me for this. By offering you and your people refuge, I dragged
them into this predicament."
file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Ja...athlands%20037%20-%20Demons%20o
f%20Eden.html (62 of 258) [12/30/2004 8:13:12 PM]
Dlands 37- Demons of Eden
"You can let them think you can drag them out of it."
Autry massaged his eyes with the heels of both hands. "I'm tired, Cawdor.
Tired of fighting for lost causes. That's all Amicus is, you know another
lost, empty dream. And
Deathlands won't suffer dreams to live. I should have known."
Ryan grasped the man's arm, squeezing so tightly Autry grimaced in pain. "I
know about lost dreams, believe me. I also know it's not always possible or
even desirable to fight on the winning side. Maybe the buzzards'll end up
making dinner out of our carcasses, but we can make sure we won't be the only
corpses."
Autry dropped his hands and stared unblinkingly at Ryan. Slowly a smile spread
across his face. He clapped him on the shoulder, saying, "You've the gift of
finding hope in hopeless situations, Mr. Cawdor. Mebbe some of that gift will
rub off on me, and I can pass it on to my people."
Within twenty minutes most of the Amican population was assembled at the main
bonfire. Autry told them of Eli's fate and the message he carried, which drew
a collective moan of dismay.
"No, don't let that bastard scare you," Autry shouted. "Brothers and sisters,
we can give
Hatcher a fight yet. We'll send the Red Cadre back to the Yellowstone to die
on its banks.
They'll be coming about breakfast time, so by God, let's give them snakes to
eat!"
None of the people cheered at the words, but they listened and they accepted
the reality there was no other option than to make a fight of it. They weren't
determined or inspired;
they were simply resigned. Nevertheless, they hustled off in all directions to
prepare.
All of the weapons in town were brought to the tavern. Most of them were
Hasslich's muzzle loaders, rifles and pistols. Everyone had knives, many of
the them homemade replicas of Bowie's famous blade. A few possessed tomahawks,
and there were plenty of bows and arrows. Hasslich had powder and shot in his
workshop, but it was barely enough for a protracted battle.
As Hasslich had indicated, there was an AK-47 in town. J.B. inspected it,
opening the breech and snorting in disgust. "The firing pin's busted. Might
make someone a piss-poor club, though."
Autry took a group of men and women to the mouth of the pass and set them to
work
file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Ja...athlands%20037%20-%20Demons%20o
f%20Eden.html (63 of 258) [12/30/2004 8:13:12 PM]
Page 39
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Dlands 37- Demons of Eden building a barricade of rock, linking the largest
boulders by chest high walls of sandstone and shale that would serve as [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]