Honour Be Damned by Donachie David

Author:Donachie, David [David Donachie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780749015640
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Published: 2013-03-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter eleven

The last part of the day was the worst time for insects. They seemed to rise out of the still damp earth in droves to torment people who, of necessity, had to remain stationary. The ones that couldn’t fly crawled into garments or across bare flesh; ants, beetles and spiders in a quantity that Markham had rarely seen. While the bugs ate them, they fed on hard biscuit, and sipped warm water from the marine bottles. It was also a time for speculation, though no voice was raised to ask the obvious question; why were the French looking so hard just ahead of them? Every ear was tuned to the sound of the French soldiers searching the woods, tensed ready to move as they came closer, easing as the sounds faded. Whispering, Markham had outlined the kind of grid he thought they were working on, and the calculation he had made that they’d never get this far down the hillside before nightfall.

What sunlight they could see was now slanting across the treetops, the colour slipping from pure gold to orange. The road was in near darkness, and Markham waited patiently for the order that must come soon, calling the men in. Once that had happened they could move again, perhaps even using the road to increase their rate of progress. They had planned to be ashore a mere forty-eight hours, and if they delayed too long, then the problems of reembarking on Syilphide would only increase.

Rannoch had set the men in an arc round the rest of the party, who occupied the centre of a thicket so dense that no one would see through it. Markham, de Puy and Germain were on the outer edge, nearest the road, watching the light fade, waiting for the moment when it would be just dark enough to move, but still with some ambient light by which to see any obstructions.

The flare of the torchlight, as well as the smell of fresh-lit pitch, was faint through the undergrowth. But it was unmistakable. He realised, with a sinking feeling, that they were not going to give up, but intended to continue throughout the night. Killing those two soldiers had obviously stung the man who commanded the regiment, and nothing was going to stop him from finding the culprits. He could hear de Puy cursing under his breath, with an unusual degree of passion.

‘Our man is determined.’

‘He may also be a fool. You do not wander around in these parts with lit torches. That is a very dangerous thing to do. The forest might not be tinder dry as it usually is at this time of year. But one badly handled torch could set the whole area on fire.’

‘How dangerous?’ asked Germain.

‘Put it this way, Captain, I’d rather be caught by the enemy. A fire, once it takes in hold these Provencal forests, can consume a thousand hectares in no time. Neither man nor animal can outrun the flames.’

Markham had eased himself forward to the edge of the trees again, and stuck his head out through a small gap in the hedgerow.

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