Part 35 (2/2)

Back in the cabin, Cade s.h.i.+elded 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 d.a.m.ned 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 h.e.l.l 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 s.h.a.ggy 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 h.e.l.lborn 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 pa.s.s 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 G.o.d 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.'

'You may be lucky. I only need ten days to get everyone back into the Sweet.w.a.ter Valley.

Now there's only one way in there and we can hold that for d.a.m.n nigh a year.'

'If we had supplies,' put in Gambion.

'One day at a time. We've food enough for at least a couple of months, but we're running low on ammunition. I'll fix that. But you pick your men and hold Sadler's Trail.'

'Will G.o.d be with me, Daniel?'

'He'll be as much with you as he is with me,' promised Cade.

That's good enough for me.'

Take care, Ephram. And no heroics - I don't need another martyr. I just need ten days!

With luck, you won't see any action at all.' The sound of distant gunfire came to them but neither man was unduly alarmed. Every day the h.e.l.lborn tried some action in the pa.s.s and always they were beaten back with losses.

'Better be going,' said Gambion.

'Evanson is already there, with Ja.n.u.s and Burgoyne -good men.'

'We're all good men now, Daniel.'

'd.a.m.ned right about that!'

After Gambion had left, Cade dressed and rode to the rim of the pa.s.s, where down on the rocks were four h.e.l.lborn corpses. Cade dismounted and limped to the first defender, a youngster called Deluth.

'How we doing, boy?'

'Pretty good, Mr Cade. They tried just the once and we burned 'em good. Must have hit five or six more, but they rode out.'

'Where's Williams?'

Deluth pointed to a ledge some forty feet away.

'Go get him for me. I don't think I can make that climb.' The boy left his rifle, bent double and ran along the rockline. Shots spattered close to him, but he moved too fast for the h.e.l.lborn snipers to catch him in their sights. Cade hefted the boy's rifle and sent a shot towards the tell-tale powder clouds on the far side of the pa.s.s. He hit nothing, but it kept their minds from the running Deluth.

Within minutes the manoeuvre was repeated with Williams running the gauntlet of shots; a short stocky man of forty-five, he was breathing hard as he slumped down beside Cade.

'What is it, Daniel?'

'I'm pulling everyone back to the Sweet.w.a.ter.'

'Why? We can hold them here till the stars burn out.'

Williams was a farmer and his knowledge of the mountain range was limited. Most people believed the Yeagers were impenetrable but for the pa.s.s.

'There's another way in; it's called Sadler's Trail after a Brigand that rode these parts forty .

. . fifty years ago -starts in a boxed canyon and unless you're real close you'll miss it. It cuts up through the range and on to the Sweet.w.a.ter. Sooner or later the h.e.l.lborn will stumble on it and I can't take the risk. It would put them behind us, and we've not the numbers to hold on two fronts.'

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