Part 18 (2/2)
”I can't tell which way is up or down in the blizzard, much less east or west.”
”If we don't know which direction we're headed, we might be walking away from Dodge.”
”The carca.s.s of that mare is frozen stiff by now.”
”You think the other horses will come back around?”
”Not a chance with the wolves out there. I can't see them, but I can hear the hungry b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.”
”Do you think the wolves will . . .”
”At Camp Douglas, one man froze to death standing still.”
”. . . wait until we're dead?”
”They didn't with the mare, did they?”
”I'd like to get just one clean shot at that biggest b.a.s.t.a.r.d.”
”Reckon we ought to draw lots.”
”For what?”
”The man with the short straw kills the others, so we don't commit a mortal sin.”
”Then what do you call murdering someone?”
”A mercy.”
”What about the man that's left?”
”That's why we draw lots.”
”Or maybe we just kill the man with the short straw.”
A beat.
”Say what you mean.”
”We kill the man what draws the short straw, and we hollow him out-”
”To h.e.l.l with that. I ain't wearing any of you like a robe.”
”That's the stupidest idea you've had yet, Jimpson, and you have been full of stupid ideas from the start, you lumber-headed fool. We start skinning each other and the smell of blood will drive the wolves into a frenzy. We'll all die ugly and painful.”
”I can't feel my toes.”
”It was just a suggestion. It wasn't like I said we should start eating each other. At least not yet.”
”I can't feel anything.”
”They say it's peaceful, freezing to death. At least, that's what those said at Camp Douglas that nearly froze but were thawed out in time.”
”Somebody will find us, right?”
”Sure, by the spring.”
”Pretty soon we're not going to be able to . . .”
”Ha! Remember the time Mike McGlue nailed shut all the doors of the privies behind North Front? Now, that was a joke. I can't remember who McGlue was that night. Was it Hoodoo Brown?”
”. . . we're not going to be able to . . .”
”No, that was young Tom at the jail.”
”We saw some dancin' that night, I'll say.”
”. . . we won't be able to pull the trigger.”
”The camp was on Lake Michigan, and I never felt anything as cold as the snow and ice as it came off that lake. Until now. The Yankees took our clothes away to keep us from escaping, and it weren't right. They starved us.”
”When they find us, do you think they'll know who we are?”
”Not after the wolves finish.”
”I'll miss old Mike McGlue.”
”You know who I'll miss? Captain Drew.”
”The wh.o.r.e?”
”The same. Jessie is a wicked girl. I'm sorry I'll never see her again.”
”Can't stay awake.”
”I'm sorry I called you lumber-headed, Jimpson.”
”It don't . . . it don't matter now . . . anyway.”
The male voices faded into a murmuring chorus.
A calm, middle-aged male voice called out pleasantly, ”What's your game?”
Are you asking me?
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