High Citadel / Landslide. Desmond Bagley
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think that is good,’ she said. ‘I will go with him to help, and I can bring more food when I return.’
‘He might be able to help Willis with his bits and pieces,’ said O’Hara. ‘After all, he can’t do much down at the bridge anyway, and Willis wouldn’t mind another pair of hands.’
Benedetta pulled her coat about her. ‘Was it as cold as this in Korea?’
‘Sometimes,’ O’Hara said. He thought of the stonewalled cell in which he had been imprisoned. Water ran down the walls and froze into ice at night – and then the weather got worse and the walls were iced day and night. It was then that Lieutenant Feng had taken away all his clothing. ‘Sometimes,’ he repeated bleakly.
‘I suppose you had warmer clothing than we have,’ said Benedetta. ‘I am worried about Forester and Miguel. It will be very cold up in the pass.’
O’Hara felt suddenly ashamed of himself and his self-pity. He looked away quickly from Benedetta and stared at the snows above. ‘We must see if we can improvise a tent for them. They’ll spend at least one night in the open up there.’ He stood up. ‘We’d better get on.’
The camp was busy with the noise of hammering and the trebuchet was taking shape in the central clearing between the huts. O’Hara stood unnoticed for a moment and looked at it. It reminded him very much of something he had once seen in an avant-garde art magazine; a modern sculptor had assembled a lot of junk into a crazy structure and had given it some high-falutin’ name, and the trebuchet had the same appearance of wild improbability.
Forester paused and leaned on the length of steel he was using as a crude hammer. As he wiped the sweat from his eyes he caught sight of the newcomers and hailed them. ‘What the hell are you doing here? Is anything wrong?’
‘All’s quiet,’ said O’Hara reassuringly. ‘I’ve come for one of the drums of paraffin – and some grub.’ He walked round the trebuchet. ‘Will this contraption work?’
‘Willis is confident,’ said Forester. ‘That’s good enough for me.’
‘You won’t be here,’ O’Hara said stonily. ‘But I suppose I’ll have to trust the boffins. By the way – it’s going to be bloody cold up there – have you made any preparations?’
‘Not yet. We’ve been too busy on this thing.’
‘That’s not good enough,’ said O’Hara sternly. ‘We’re depending on you to bring the good old U.S. cavalry to the rescue. You’ve got to get across that pass – if you don’t, then this piece of silly artillery will be wasted. Is there anything out of which you can improvise a tent?’
‘I suppose you’re right,’ said Forester. ‘I’ll have a look around.’
‘Do that. Where’s the paraffin?’
‘Paraffin? Oh, you mean the kerosene. It’s in that hut there. Willis locked it up; he put all the booze in there – we had to keep Peabody sober somehow.’
‘Um,’ said O’Hara. ‘How’s he doing?’
‘He’s not much good. He’s out of condition and his disposition doesn’t help. We’ve got to drive him.’
‘Doesn’t the bloody fool realize that if the bridge is forced he’ll get his throat cut?’
Forester sighed. ‘It doesn’t seem to make any difference – logic isn’t his strong point. He goofs off at the slightest opportunity.’
O’Hara saw Benedetta going into one of the huts. ‘I’d better get that paraffin. We must have it at the bridge before it gets dark.’
He got the key of the hut from Willis and opened the door. Just inside was a crate, half-filled with bottles. There was a stir of longing in his guts as he looked at them, but he suppressed it firmly and switched his attention to the two drums of paraffin. He tested the weight of one of them, and thought, this is going to be a bastard to get down the mountain.
He heaved the drum on to its side and rolled it out of the hut. Across the clearing he saw Forester helping Benedetta to make a travois, and crossed over to them. ‘Is there any rope up here?’
‘Rope we’ve got,’ replied Forester. ‘But Rohde was worried about that – he said we’ll need it in the mountains, rotten though it is; and Willis needs it for the trebuchet, too. But there’s plenty of electric wire that Willis ripped out to make crossbow-strings with.’
‘I’ll need some to help me get that drum down the mountain – I suppose the electric wire will have to do.’
Peabody wandered over. His face had a flabby, unhealthy look about it and he exuded the scent of fear. ‘Say, what is this?’ he demanded. ‘Willis tells me that you and the spic are making a getaway over the mountains.’
Forester’s eyes were cold. ‘If you want to put it that way – yes.’
‘Well, I wanna come,’ said Peabody. ‘I’m not staying here to be shot by a bunch of commies.’
‘Are you crazy?’ said Forester.
‘What’s so crazy about it? Willis says it’s only fifteen miles to this place Altemiros.’
Forester looked at O’Hara speechlessly. O’Hara said quietly, ‘Do you think it’s going to be like a stroll in Central Park, Peabody?’
‘Hell, I’d rather take my chance in the mountains than with the commies,’ said Peabody. ‘I think you’re crazy if you think you can hold them off. What have you got? You’ve got an old man, a silly bitch of a school-marm, two nutty scientists and a girl. And you’re fighting with bows and arrows, for God’s sake.’ He tapped Forester on the chest. ‘If you’re making a getaway, I’m coming along.’
Forester slapped his hand away. ‘Now get this, Peabody, you’ll do as you’re damn well told.’
‘Who the hell are you to give orders?’ said Peabody with venom. ‘To begin with I take no orders from a limey – and I don’t see why you should be so high and mighty, either. I’ll do as I damn well please.’
O’Hara caught Forester’s eye. ‘Let’s see Rohde,’ he said hastily. He had seen Forester balling his fist and wanted to prevent trouble, for an idea was crystallizing in his mind.
Rohde was positively against it. ‘This man is in no condition to cross the mountains,’ he said. ‘He will hold us back, and if he holds us back none of us will get across. We cannot spend more than one night in the open.’
‘What do you think?’ Forester asked O’Hara.
‘I don’t like the man,’ said O’Hara. ‘He’s weak and he’ll break under pressure. If he breaks it might be the end of the lot of us. I can’t trust him.’
‘That’s fair enough,’ Forester agreed. ‘He’s a weak sister, all right. I’m going to overrule you, Miguel; he comes with us. We can’t afford to leave him with O’Hara.’
Rohde opened his mouth to protest but stopped when he saw the expression on Forester’s face. Forester grinned wolfishly and there was a hard edge to his voice when he said, ‘If he hold us up, we’ll drop the bastard into the nearest crevasse. Peabody will have to put up or shut up.’
He called Peabody over. ‘All right, you come with us. But let’s get this straight right from the start. You take orders.’
Peabody nodded. ‘All right,’ he mumbled. ‘I’ll take orders from you.’
Forester was merciless. ‘You’ll take orders from anyone who damn well gives them from now on. Miguel is the expert round here and when he gives an order – you jump fast.’
Peabody’s eyes flickered, but he gave in. He had no option if he wanted to go with