Spirits of Flux And Anchor by Jack L. Chalker

Author:Jack L. Chalker [Chalker, Jack L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fiction, General
ISBN: 9780812533125
Publisher: Tor Books
Published: 1986-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

By the time they’d packed their meager belongings, bargained for horses, saddles, and riding gear, picked up what supplies they thought they would need, and checked out with Government House, it was close to dark. Matson had been right on one thing, though—everybody concerned seemed unnaturally glad to see both of them leave.

Although he had taken her word for the urgency and gone along, it wasn’t until they were on the road out of Persellus that she felt safe enough to explain to Dar what was going on. He thought about his own brief contact with the goat-man, and admitted there were some similarities, although he was by no means as certain as she about it.

It was well into night when they passed through the small farming village, and they were grateful for the paved road as the stars gave very little light. They stopped to rest the horses, though, in a grass field near a small creek, and while just sitting there, silently, they heard sounds from the direction they’d just come, the sounds of several horses riding steadily towards them.

Cass frowned. “This is too dead a place to have that kind of traffic.”

Dar nodded. “Maybe it’s Matson with some others.”

“I doubt it. He said he had just a little business and he said nothing about horses or passengers.” She thought a minute. “Get the horses and let’s keep very quiet and still off the road here. We can’t outrun them, but they don’t have to see us, either.”

He nodded and did as instructed. There was nothing particular to hide behind, but it was a very dark night and they couldn’t make out the road from where they were, which was down in a slight indentation made by the creek. A small wooden bridge over the creek was not far.

The riders reached the area but did not hesitate, and they could hear the hollow sounds of hooves hitting the wood, echoing hollowly across the landscape, and then they were gone.

Dar breathed. “Could you make out anything about them?”

“Not a thing. Just a blur. There were at least four of them, though.” She sighed. “I wish we knew more about weapons and had some around.”

“If they reach the train and we’re not there, they’ll be back,” Dar pointed out.

“Maybe. But they’ll have to have some excuse when they get to the train, and that should bog them down. No, I think they’ll get close to the train, then lay ambush for us just up from it. It would make sense, and if any of them’s a wizard they won’t attract the duggers, either.”

“We could stay here until daylight. That might make it a little easier. There may be people around, and Matson’ll be on his way back.”

She considered it. “I don’t think it’ll work. For one thing, down this far there weren’t many people. I don’t remember any, do you? And they’re not going to stay all night. When we don’t show after a while they’re going to come back slow and sneaky.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.