Rib Bone Jack: Thief's Honour by John Williamson

Author:John Williamson [Williamson, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-04-27T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Drum had continued up the slope, almost ignoring the cannon-fire, having at least half expected it to happen. Despite his injured head, he remained entirely focused on the women; his thinking being that apart from the total misery they had already suffered, they were the only true innocents on that island, and as such the Major’s gold could wait.

At first, he couldn’t see them in the weak light, his vision being further impaired by the blood trickling into his eyes. They had moved, though only by a few feet, now huddled in what at first glance appeared as a pile of filthy and torn cloths. Drum wiped the blood from his eyes, blinking in an attempt to refocus his vision. He could see clearer now, the younger of the women lay, clutching the lifeless body of the other; her mother.

It had been the cruellest of stray shots that had left the girl entirely alone in the world, owning only the clothes she wore, which were torn to a point that they barely covered her. Drum knelt beside her, at first not daring to touch her, in fear startling her further. She was the most pathetic of sights. Only about nineteen, and of great beauty, yet utterly destroyed. He tentatively pulled the sleeve of her dress back up to her shoulder, covering her exposed breast. This was a demonstration of his honourable intentions, a first step on a long road to gain her trust.

She didn’t respond to his actions. Her attention entirely consumed by her loss. “We must find somewhere safer,” Drum whispered softly, clueless as to what else he could say. She remained speechless, gripping her mother’s blood-soaked body ever tighter.

Drum waited, knowing there was no time to wait, yet he felt he had a new, and more worthwhile purpose; a responsibility which dwarfed any plot the Major could dream up. As he waited, he looked down the hillside. There, he could see Viv tending to a wounded man. Beyond that, to his amazement, the jetty remained undamaged, despite the cannon volley. This meant only one thing; they had not done. He had hoped they had the bulk of the gold, and would cut and run, but the fact that they had halted their fire at the jetty made their plans clear.

He turned to the girl once more. “We must go. They plan to come back,” he insisted, gently lifting her to her feet. “We will come back when it’s safe.” She reluctantly gave way to his superior strength; releasing her grip on her mother’s body and allowing him to carry her to the others.

With the passing minutes, the light strengthened, illuminated a battlefield, which had previously been unseen. Dead soldiers lay randomly where they dropped. Amongst the bodies on the hillside, lay a number of sealed wooden boxes, as if to tempt each and every one of them. The contents of each of them being an unimaginable fortune for any common man.

The boxes were left untouched. Being heavily

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