The Ruined City by John Wilson

Author:John Wilson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459819719
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2018-06-30T16:00:00+00:00

SANXINGDUI

EARTHQUAKE

“We won’t make it.” It was evening, and Chen and Ting were on the hillside high above the eastern end of Min Lake. They had stopped to drink and water the horses where a small stream crossed the road.

“They’re getting closer,” Chen agreed, looking back at a dust cloud that was nearer every time he checked. He stretched. Every bone in his body hurt, and it felt as if his insides had been shaken and rearranged.

“The scouts ahead of the army are only a mile or two back, and they’re moving fast,” Ting said with urgency. “They will overtake us on the open stretch of road sloping down to the plain.”

Chen had trouble caring. He felt so miserable after the long day on horseback that capture and torture almost seemed like something to hope for.

“It’s too open ahead,” Ting went on. “We’ll have to find somewhere to hide. Do you see that cliff up there?”

Chen grunted in reply.

“If we follow the base of it around the shoulder of the mountain, we might find a cave or a wide overhang. We’ll be out of sight of the road, but we should still be able to see what’s happening out on the plain. Come on.”

Ting led her pony off the road and up the hillside, with Fu, happy to be let go, frolicking at her feet. Chen forced his stiff muscles to move and stumbled behind her.

“Come on,” she repeated. “We have to hurry!”

With Ting’s encouragement and Fu rushing back to see what was keeping him, Chen forced himself to increase his plodding pace up the slope. He had never felt less like a wushu master. Every step hurt. But the more that he took, the more his stiff joints eased. By the time they’d reached the foot of the cliff, he could almost believe he would be able to move normally again one day.

“Here they come,” Ting said, looking back at the road.

Chen turned to see the first mounted riders in the distance. “I hope there’s a big cave,” he said as he tried to hurry on and ignore his pain.

“I think we’re far enough around now,” Ting said after a few minutes. “We can’t be seen from the road, but we’ll be able to see the army when it comes out of the valley and onto the plain.”

“That won’t do us or Sanxingdui any good,” Chen said wearily. “We needed to stay in front of them. We’ve failed.”

“We have no choice,” Ting said. “We’ve done our best, and who knows what will happen tomorrow. Let’s at least make ourselves as comfortable as possible.” She led the way to an overhang that was already in deep shadow. They encouraged the horses in with coarse grass pulled from the hillside and collected enough to build a small pile in front of each animal.

“I wish I ate grass,” Chen said wistfully as he watched the horses eat. “I’ve had nothing but a few berries for days.”

“At least Fu and I got fed. We can go days without food, and we’ve had plenty of water today, so we’ll be okay.

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