David Gemmell - Wolf in Shadow

The wagon-master would either live or die, and there was nothing more the bearded farmer could do for him. Madden ate some food — a little bacon and some stale bread — and left the cabin.

Bodies littered the ground, but he ignored them and walked on towards the foothills of the mountains. Here he picked flowers until dusk, when he returned to the graveside where he sprinkled the blooms over the fresh-turned earth and dropped to his knees.

'I don't know if you're there, God, or what a man has to do to have the right to talk to you. I keep being told there's a paradise for them that believes, but I'm sort of hoping there's a paradise for them that don't know. She wasn't a bad girl, my Rachel; she never done evil to anybody, ever.

And my boys didn't live long enough to learn what evil was, not until it killed them. So maybe you'll just overlook their disbelief and let 'em in anyway.

'I ain't asking nothing for myself, you understand. I ain't got much time for a God who allows this sort of thing to happen in his world. But I'm asking for them, because I don't want to think about my girl just being food for worms and suchlike.

'She deserves better than that, God. So do my boys.'

He pushed himself to his feet and turned. There at the edge of the paddock was Ethan Peacock's dapple-grey mare and Madden walked slowly over to her, speaking in a soft gentle voice. The mare's ears pricked up and she wandered towards him. He stroked her neck and led her into the paddock; she must have jumped the fence when the shooting started.

Back in the cabin, he found Griffin awake.

'How you feeling?' he asked.

'Weak as a day-old lamb.'

Madden made some fresh tea and helped Griffin to a sitting position.

'I'm sorry, Jacob. I brought you to this.'

'Too late for sorries, Con. And I don't blame you, so put it from your mind. We got us a horse and guns. I figure to go after them bastards and at least get Donna back.'

'Give me a day, maybe two, and I'll ride with you.'

‘I’ll find you a horse,' said Madden. There must be more than one that the Hellborn didn't take.

I'll scour the western valleys. You feel up to eating?'

Madden lit two oil-lamps and cooked bacon and the last three eggs on the griddle-iron of the stove. The smell of the frying bacon made Griffin acutely aware of his hunger.

'I reckon you might live,' said Madden, watching the wagon-master wolfing the food. 'No dying man would eat like that.'

Tve no intention of dying, Jacob. Not yet, anyhow.'

'Why did they do it, Con? Why did they hit us?'

'I don't know.'

'What did they gain? We must have killed a couple of hundred of them, and all they took was the guns. It don't make no sense. It's not as if they wanted the land — it was just killing for the sake of it.'

'I don't think there are answers for people like them,' said Griffin. 'It's like the Brigands. Why don't they farm? Why do Daniel Cade — and others like him — move around the land killing and burning? We can't understand them or their motives.'

'But it must be for something,' insisted Madden. 'Even Cade could argue that he gains by his evil.

. stores, coins, weapons.'

There's no point in even wondering at it,' said Griffin. They are what they are. Plain evil. Sooner or later someone is going to give it back to them.'

'You ever hear of an army, Con? There ain't nobody to stop them.'

There's always somebody, Jacob. Even if it starts with you and me.'

Two wounded men, one horse and a couple of pistols? I don't think we'll put much of a scare into them.'

'We'll see,' said Griffin.

The grizzly had found the beehive in a rotting tree trunk and was busy tearing away the wood when the Zealot struck into its brain. The beast reared in anger and pain; settled down and ambled away to the south, towards the wooden homes of the Yeager men.

The bear was the undisputed monarch of the high country, weighing more than a thousand pounds, and even the lions crept from his path. Wisely he had avoided the haunts of Man, and even more wisely the hunters of Yeager had steered clear of the grizzly, for it was well-known that a large bear could soak up musket balls as if they were beestings — and no one wanted any part of a wounded grizzly.

It was an hour before dawn when the bear moved into the settlement, heading unerringly for the cabin of Daniel Cade. Mounting the porch, it reared up before the door; then its huge paw swept down, splintering the wood.

Cade awoke and scrambled from his bed. His captured Hellborn pistol hung in its scabbard from the bed-post and he whipped the gun clear. The bear moved into the room beyond, smashing a table. When it reached the bedroom door and crashed it inwards, Lisa screamed and Cade cocked the pistol, aiming it for the bear's head. The Zealot, his work all but done, fled the bear's mind and returned to his own body in the camp before the pass.

Back in the cabin, Cade shielded Lisa with his body and watched as the grizzly dropped to all fours, shaking its great head. Cade reached slowly for the jar on the shelf by the bed. Inside were flat sugar biscuits Lisa had made the day before and he tossed one to the floor. The bear growled and backed away, confused and uncertain. Then it sniffed at the biscuit, savouring the sweetness.

Finally it licked out, lifting the biscuit to its mouth and noisily devouring it. Cade threw another -

and another — and the grizzly settled down on its haunches.

'Climb out of the window,' Cade told Lisa. 'But move slow — and don't let any fool shoot the damned bear.'

Lisa opened the catch and stood on the bed. The bear ignored her, its eyes on Cade and the jar.

She climbed over the ledge and ran to the front of the house where Gambion, Peck and several others were waiting with rifles in their hands.

'Daniel says not to shoot the bear.'

'What the Hell is he doing in there?' asked Gambion.

'He's feeding it biscuits.'

'Why don't he climb out and let us kill it?' asked Peck. Lisa spread her hands and shrugged.

Inside, Cade was down to the last four biscuits. Slowly he stood and tossed one of them over the bear's head and into the room beyond. The grizzly sat looking at him.

Cade grinned. 'No more till you get that one,' he said. The bear growled, but Cade was beginning to enjoy himself. 'No use you losing your temper.' He tossed another over the shaggy head and the bear turned and ambled into the room. Cade followed and threw the third biscuit into the doorway. The bear lumbered after it and came face to face with the men beyond, who scattered in fear. Peck threw his rifle to his shoulder.

'Don't shoot it!' screamed Lisa.

The bear moved to the porch. It was frightened by the sudden noise and moved off at an ambling run towards the hills as Cade appeared in the doorway.

'What's the matter with you people?' he asked. 'Never seen a bear before?'

'It's no joke,' said Gambion.

'You're right about that. It only left me two biscuits!'

Gambion climbed the porch. 'I mean it, Daniel. A bear don't just come out of the hills and smash its way into a man's home. It's not natural. I don't know how, but the Hellborn are behind it; they were trying to kill you.'

'I know. Come inside.'

Cade sat down by the ruined table and Gambion pulled up a chair.

They've tried frontal attacks on the pass and they know it's suicide,' said Cade. 'Now they'll be more cagey. They'll be scouting north and south and it won't be long before they find Sadler's Trail — and then they'll be behind us.'

'Did God tell you this?'

'He didn't need to; it's plain common sense. We need the trail held. I've sent a rider south for help, but I don't know if there'll be any. I want you to take thirty men and hold Sadler's.'

'It's pretty open, Daniel. Any big attack will win through in the end.'