Tom Derringer and the Steam-Powered Saurians by Lawrence Watt-Evans

Author:Lawrence Watt-Evans
Format: epub

Chapter Eleven

Behind the Barrier

We decided that we had been standing on or near that open path quite long enough and took shelter among the trees, away from the track and well out of sight. We did not unburden the mules; we were well aware that a quick departure might become advisable.

“Didn’t you have a mount of your own?” Betsy asked Mr. Hancock as we tethered our beasts of burden to a handy tree.

He nodded. “A horse,” he said. “A mare.”

“Is she at your campsite?”

“No.” He clearly did not wish to elaborate.

Betsy, however, was not ready to let the matter rest. “Then...” she began.

“I told you I didn’t dare leave tracks in the snow,” Mr. Hancock interrupted, not meeting her gaze. “So I couldn’t very well go hunting, could I?”

Betsy’s hand flew to her mouth in perhaps the most feminine gesture I had ever seen her make. “Oh,” she said.

“You ate your horse?” Mr. Cartwright asked, looking shocked.

“Yes, I ate her,” Mr. Hancock said, carefully not looking at Betsy. “Didn’t have any way to feed her, anyhow.”

“One less complication to worry about,” I remarked.

Betsy threw me a disgusted look, but said nothing. Messrs. Hancock and Cartwright both seemed surprised that she said no more about the horse, but I knew better. Despite her initial startlement she was a realist, more so than any of we mere men, and she understood the exigencies Mr. Hancock must have faced.

With that discussion concluded, and the mules secured, the four of us settled to the ground in a cluster of pines, reasonably well hidden from anyone who might pass by.

“Well, Mr. Hancock,” I said, once we were all fairly comfortable, “you know more about the situation here than the rest of us. What would you suggest for our next step?”

“I can’t say I have any brilliant ideas, Mr. Derringer,” Hancock admitted. “I’ve been out here for weeks, trying to catch one of the men alone, or to get a close look at the dinosaurs without being spotted, but I haven’t managed it. They’ve been very careful, always traveling in groups – that is, the men travel in groups of three or more, and while the dinosaurs usually emerge one at a time, they are always accompanied by two or three men. I’ve tried to find a way into the compound, but I haven’t managed that, either. I thought about cutting or digging my way through the barbed wire, but they do have guards patrolling the perimeter; every time I thought I might have found a spot where I could get in unnoticed, a sentry would walk past and look straight at it. I supposed I might be able to get in between patrols, but I hadn’t worked out a time and place I felt sure of, and I haven’t cared to risk it. I’ve been searching for hidden entrances with no luck. Maybe you can give us a new perspective and suggest something I’ve missed.”

I considered for a moment, then said, “Perhaps we could simply talk to them, and ask them why they’re here.

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