[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
dummy1
Mildred remembered the mercenaries who'd ridden in from Yuma. "Six mercies
took out the little boy, easy as snuffing a candle. You think men like Ryan
Cawdor and John Dix would let treachery pass unpunished?"
The dowager shrugged, the gun still pointed at the black woman. "Don't care!"
Dean pushed Mildred away from him, drawing his blade from its sheath,
advancing toward the white-haired dowager.
"No," Krysty warned, also moving in the direction of the woman in the chair.
"Dad would want me to zero her," the boy said, switching the knife from hand
to hand, like a magician preparing a trick.
"I won't kill you, child."
"No. But I'll kill you."
He was less than ten short strides away from her. The click of the hammer of
the revolver being thumbed back was surprisingly loud.
"I'll put one through your leg. Cripple you and that'll be a shame. Stop you
going running and hunting with your father."
Dean stood still. He'd seen what the .22 had done to a solid wall, and he had
more than enough imagination and experience to visualize what the bullet would
do to his leg.
"Krysty?" Mildred said.
"Yeah," she replied, picking up instantly on the mental shorthand. "We have to
do it soon."
"Now?"
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%...ands%2018%20-%20Shockscape%20-%20h
tm.html (194 of 259) [12/28/2004 12:57:22 AM]
dummy1
Krysty nodded. "Why not?"
Dean looked at the two women, struggling to hang on to what was going on,
puzzled.
The dowager shook her head in malignant irritation, the gesture making her
long hair fall like a curtain over her eyes.
Outside the room, though none of them was aware of it, there was the sound of
heavy boots mounting the staircase.
"Now," Krysty said.
She dived quickly to her right, the sudden movement attracting the attention
of the old woman, the barrel of the little revolver swinging toward her.
But Mildred also made her play, dodging and crouching to her left, splitting
the dowager's attention. The gun wavered.
Dean had the fastest reflexes, and he dropped to his knees and started to
crawl toward the chair, knife in his teeth.
The blaster cracked twice, and someone screamed.
The door was thrown open and the towering figure of Baron Nelson strode in, to
Page 95
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
be confronted by his mother, holding out bloodstained hands.
"I'm sorry, son," she whispered.
Chapter Thirty-Five
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%...ands%2018%20-%20Shockscape%20-%20h
tm.html (195 of 259) [12/28/2004 12:57:22 AM]
dummy1
The performance on the previous night had seemed to Ryan to be superbly
successful. But both Diego and Ellie had a variety of comments and criticisms,
calling everyone together for a discussion after a late breakfast, which was
served by a Rose Owen who was starry-eyed with delight from her enjoyment of
the play.
"You was fuckin' wonderful, all of you. Liked the bit where you all got to
fuck together. Good that was."
They hadn't finished eating when they heard feet clattering along the corridor
toward their large bedroom.
"Sec men," J.B. warned, rolling off his bed and grabbing the Smith & Wesson M-
4000 12-gauge scattergun, loaded with the flechettes.
"Not in here," Ryan said urgently. "Not a fire-fight in here."
J.B. knelt behind the bed, out of sight of anyone coming in, holding the
lethal shotgun at the ready.
Without even the minimal courtesy of a knock, the door was flung open and in
trooped half a dozen of the ville's finest, a ragged, vicious crew, unshaved
and scruffy.
Their leader was one of the guards on the barrier on the blacktop into Yuma.
"Told to tell you Baron Sidler's coming tonight. For definite."
Ryan noticed that Ossie Grant was there again, hanging around at the back of
the group, bicolored eyes darting everywhere.
"Thanks. Be ready at eight to give him a real good show."
"Liked it last night," said one of the men, unable to stop boggling at Ellie,
who
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%...ands%2018%20-%20Shockscape%20-%20h
tm.html (196 of 259) [12/28/2004 12:57:22 AM]
dummy1
was lying on the sofa, wearing a thin cotton robe that revealed more of her
thighs than it hid.
She smiled at him, got up, taking care to show just a little bit more of
herself, and kissed the man on the cheeks. "Bless you, my dear sweet man," she
whispered.
"Bless you all."
"I liked it, too," a second man complained. But the leader of the group
punched him on the arm. "Just shut your mouth!"
He turned to Ryan. "That's the message, all right?"
"He and his friends coming to the play tonight?" Ryan asked, pointing at Ossie
Grant, who was already halfway out of the door.
"Yeah. Baron comes, then they come. Specially that Reena." He laughed and
nudged the sec man next to him.
Ossie Grant glowered at Ryan. "One of your group not here. Word is there's
another. Little bastard in glasses."
"Yeah. At the stable."
They left the room, and everyone waited until the sound of their boots had
faded away into the morning stillness.
Capestrano whistled between his teeth. "Rather play a hundred years of
romantic slush than go through that ghastly moment again. I felt as though I
had a big sign flashing upon my forehead. 'This man is going to kidnap your
baron.' Know what
I mean? And what is all this about John Dix? I can only assume, my friends,
Page 96
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
that there must be a small something that you haven't told us."
Ryan looked at the Armorer, who'd scrambled up onto his bed, tipping back his
fedora. "What I know, Diego, you know."
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%...ands%2018%20-%20Shockscape%20-%20h
tm.html (197 of 259) [12/28/2004 12:57:22 AM]
dummy1
J.B. WRAPPED HIMSELF UP against the cool wind that had returned from the
north, going out alone in the late morning and returning after they'd finished
eating the rabbit and jalapeno stew.
He sat and ladled a plateful for himself, dipping in his spoon, tasting it.
"Hey, that's not bad. Got some bite to it."
"I helped her cook it," Ellie said. "Threw out the meat she was going to serve
us.
Could've been horse, but it had a kind of layer of green fur to it, so it was
hard to tell."
"Where have you been, John?" Knuckles asked, his finger stroking the rad scar
on his face.
"Around the place. Checked the stable again. Thought I best make sure they had
the same horses in there. Throw the plan off center if I got there tonight and
found there wasn't enough animals to draw the wag out of the alley."
Ryan glanced across the table at his old friend, knowing that J.B. was lying.
No, not exactly lying. But not exactly telling the truth, either.
Not the whole truth.
There was something about his whole body language that made Ryan suspect that
the Armorer had finally got the information he'd been waiting for. Ever since
they first came to Yuma.
AFTER THE MEAL had been cleared away, Monsignor Diego Capestrano lived up to
his image of being a stern taskmaster, insisting that they must all go down to
the Multiplex and rehearse yet again, ready for the evening.
"Particularly the scene where the villains are tricked into going out the back
alley," he said. "That most specially."
"I'll stay here." J.B. caught Ryan's eye. "You going?"
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%...ands%2018%20-%20Shockscape%20-%20h
tm.html (198 of 259) [12/28/2004 12:57:22 AM]
dummy1
"No."
THEY STOOD TOGETHER by the window, watching as the rest of the group walked
along the muddied street, down through the sunlit ville toward Sidler's
headquarters.
"I like them," J.B. said.
"Me, too. That boy Knuckles got a real tilted load to carry all his days. He
does well."
"You think Ellie's got some kind of an illness, Ryan?"
"Yeah. You see it?"
"Rad sickness."
Ryan nodded. "That's my guess. Far on. Real cruel shame."
"Nobody ever said that life was going to be fair, did they?"
"No."
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]