Sabbanath - Book 1 of The Elements of Destiny

Chapter 16

The water was cold but surprisingly welcome. The strain of crawling in the dirt to the makeshift ferry had brought up a sizable sweat on Val's brow. Not for the first time he asked himself what he was doing putting himself into such a position. Shouldn't he be sitting in a comfortable Inn somewhere, a glass of port within easy reach, writing about the subtle differences in manner between the people of Kiryn and of The New Land? He was too far involved to back out now but he promised to give himself a firm talking too once he got through tonight's... What? Adventure? No, that sounded like he was involved in something out of a book, and they never seemed to focus enough on how much the "heroes" didn't want to be in the situation they found themselves in. Madness? Yes, that sounded better. What were Thomas and himself thinking when they signed up for this trip with the army? Did they not stop to think about what the end game was? To find and put an end to this band of thieves and murderers. At what point did they think that this would not involve putting themselves in harm's way at the ultimate risk of losing their lives! Thinking back now he had been focused on the ride, seeing the homesteaders and having the opportunity to witness first hand how they lived. The Glory? Yes, he had relived the triumphant moment many times when he would present his papers to the Hall. Seen the jealousy on the faces of those that had previously only shown disdain.

The bandits were the army's business, not theirs but yet here he was holding on to the rope that spanned the river fighting the current that wanted to carry him away downstream. The rope was low in the water and taut enough that there was not too much give but it squeezed him hard under his arms as he pulled himself forward hand over hand. There was a 2nd rope tied around his waist and that jolted now as Sergeant Friar began to reach the maximum allowable distance between them. Val turned back to look behind him but just then the Sergeant gave a hard pull on the rope and when Val looked his way he saw him motioning to move faster. Val would have sworn at him if he wasn't afraid that the river would take the opportunity to flow down his throat. To make matters worse, he could feel Sankerson close behind him and no doubt he too would soon be prodding him onwards. He wanted to turn around to see how Thomas was doing behind Sankerson but in the present circumstances he didn't have the luxury of time and instead focused his energy on pulling himself further across the river. Overhead, the half moon was still hidden behind some thick clouds that had been the signal for them to proceed but as the Captain had said they would have to move quickly as at night there was no easy way of telling when that concealment might break.

Earlier on in the day they had followed Olive's directions along the river but had then held back a little as they approached the crossing to wait for the sun to begin to set. It was then that Olive had crept forward with the Captain and Sergeant Friar to the crest of a hill to get a better view of where they meant to go. She had told them that the gang usually kept one on guard with a view of the river but most nights all they did was drink their whiskey and sleep so she didn't expect them to be very observant. All the same, the Captain wanted to proceed as if the river was being watched at all times and had planned their approach to offer them the most concealment from the hill where she had said the lookout would be stationed. True to her word, the Captain had relayed to them that they had seen a sentry who left around sundown and was shortly after replaced by another. Olive had told them about the layout of the camp and the three entrances. Apparently, there was the one main entrance that they rode in and out of, a small entrance that led up to the lookout point that they had seen the sentry at and a back entrance through the waterfall. It had been decided that they would try to cover all three. It worried Val that it was the Captain's plan to take as many if not all of the outlaws alive to face trial back in Sabannath. That plan hadn't worked out well back at the ranch and that was with just two. How did he expect it to work facing seven!? They were over half way across the river now and Val could feel his arms tiring. He wasn't used to this kind of exertion. He wasn't the worst though. Even though he couldn't see him in front of the Sergeant, Val could hear John Rabbit's exertions in the water. The big man had not been happy when he had learned how they would be crossing the river. Conversely, Val had been surprised when Olive had said she was coming across with them. The Captain had wanted her to stay with Lay and the horses but she wouldn't hear a word of it. She explained that it would be very difficult for them to find the entrance to the cave that led to the waterfall without her help and besides, she could be of value to them in talking with the bandits. It hadn't been said exactly how she could do that but the Captain had allowed her to come and as soon as he did, Lay was demanding that he be allowed to come too. He reasoned that they would need every gun that was available to them. After some thought, and to Lay's delight, the Captain agreed. Val wasn't sure if the Captain's decision was based purely on what the young man had said or if it was based more on the realisation that he would have to leave him alone with their supplies and horses and while most of the soldiers trusted Lay now there was still that nagging doubt. The other option would be to leave one of the soldiers with him but as the Captain well knew, they couldn't afford to leave another gun behind so it was decided that everyone would go. They had left the horses a distance back. All going well it would be just for a few hours and they would be able to come back for them soon enough.