“And you can’t take to the woods?”
“Not unless you ship us a pair of wings!”
“You’ve called the police?”
“We’re still calling. And they’re still not answering. The Sergeant’s in Augusta, and we ain’t got no other friends among the azuls.”
Silence, as Yackle digested all this. Then he asked, “What do the people who’ve stopped you want?”
“Dunno. They’ve just been yellin’ at us to come out.”
“Don’t do that!” Yackle’s rising tone reflected his rising alarm.
“Like you say, Chuck—we won’t! You sending a posse to rescue us?”
“Well—I’m have to. But we don’t want a confrontation.”
“What the hell does he think we’ve got now?” muttered Barbara.
“The fleet’s out so there aren’t enough men with guns for a posse,” murmured Sam.
“Not enough men with guts!” snapped Barbara, easing the spring on her .22.
“Any suggestions for us, while you’re getting a posse together?” asked Jehu.
“Try to come to some arrangement. Offer them half the gold to let you pass.”
Jehu choked. “Offer these bastards half our earnings?”
“All of it, if you have to. Better to lose gold than to lose life. Who’s with you?”
“Barbara Bernard—she’s driving.”
“That young hothead! Don’t let her do anything rash! Who else?”
“Sam Summers.”
“He’s as thoughtless as the Bernard girl!”
“And Midge—she’s working the radio.”
“Jehu—you went up into Standish with only three juniors?”
“Mister Gavin’s here. I asked him to come along.”
“Gavin? Don’t let him start trouble.”
“Chuck—the trouble’s already started. And we didn’t start it. We’re sitting here in a cutting, can’t move either way, and bandits all around us.”
“Stay in the truck. I’m calling a meeting of Council.”
“Call the State Troopers too. They might come.”
“We don’t want to involve the State Police if we can help it, Jehu. You know that. Remember—you’re quite safe if you stay in the truck.”
“If you say so, Brother Yackle. Is Enoch there?”
“He’s fishing off Gull Rock. I don’t want to radio him y He’ll only worry about his daughter. Jehu, just stay calm.”
“We’re calm. Not so sure about you! Over and out.” Jehu put down the microphone and spoke through the hatch. “You heard! We can’t expect no help for hours. Not until Enoch gets in anyway.”
“We may not have hours,” I said.
“How do you mean?”
“Three men just slipped out of the ditch and they’re underneath us now. No good trying to run over ’em, Barbara!” I said, as she reached to start the motor. “They’ll be well clear of the wheels and you’ve got no room to swing.”
“What are they doing under the Brinks?” asked Sam.
“My guess is that they’re about to cut up through the floor with a fluorine torch.”
Jehu stiffened and cursed. “Fluorine torch? And they said the bandits didn’t have such things! No way we can get at ’em down there. Not from here!” He started for the door, shotgun in hand.
“Hold it, Jehu!” I shouted. “They’ll zap you as soon as you poke your head outside!”
He turned to glare at me, saw the truth in my warning, and sat down on the floor. Then he looked at me “Mister Gavin, you’re a fighting man. I knowed you were when I asked you to come along. What should we do?”
“Try offering them the gold,” I suggested.
“It’s not just the gold they’re after,” said Barbara in a low voice, and in it I heard a trace of fear. “It’s Midge and me they’ll want as well!”
The situation was a microcosm of the eternal charade. Civilians get themselves into desperate situations by not listening to the military. Then shuck their responsibilities onto the soldiers and demand the soldiers get them out of it. And the hell of it is that the soldiers are never in a position to refuse the civilians’ request.
And, of course, the obverse is true. Soldiers get themselves into the shit, and then shout for civilians to pull them out, We are all members, one of another. Et cetera, et cetera. I attempted to think like neither a soldier nor a civilian, but like an intelligent gunman trying to save his own neck arid, hopefully, the necks of those with him.
“They’ve got a torch going,” said Midge quietly “I can feel a hot spot on the deck.”
“Relax, Midge,” I said to reassure her, although she seemed the calmest of the lot of us. “Keep calling the cops.
It’ll take ’em half an hour to get through.” If they knew how to use the fluoride they could be into us in ten minutes. I could only hope they were not experts. “We’ve got to flush ’em out from under.” I studied as much as I could see of our surroundings through the periscope and view-slits. “Sam, do you remember if there’s underbrush along the crest of that bank?”
“Thick bushes all the way.”
“Then here’s what we do. I’ll go out the side door and into the ditch. They’ll see me and start shooting. I’ll move along the ditch, and zap those three underneath us. While they’re trying to nail me, you go up that bank. It’s almost dark, and they’ll be too shaken by a Believer shooting back to notice you. You hunt deer, so you know how to move quietly at night, don’t you Sam?”
“Sure do, Mister Gavin!”
“When you reach cover at the top of the bank, hide there. And pick your targets.”
“Then I start shooting?”
“God, no! Keep hidden but ready to shoot I’ll be crawling along the ditch, letting go the odd round to hold their interest. When I’m in position to make a dash for that truck I’ll call you on the com. Then I’ll wait for your shot—you’ll be giving me covering fire.”
“Got it, Mister Gavin!” He repeated his orders, almost like a trained Trooper. The boy had potential.
I called back through the hatch to Jehu. “Hear that? When I make my run you open up too. That buckshot spreads, so aim at anything except me. Midge—you stay on the radio.” “Gav—don’t! You’ll get killed!” Barbara’s hand was on my arm.
She had never before called me anything but “Mister Gavin.” She had never spoken to me with such agonized concern. And never before had I seen her gray eyes glisten.
“I’ll be okay, Barb!” I squeezed her hand. “This is my specialty.” I suddenly realized how much I cared for these four people. Whatever happened to me I must get them out of this mess alive. Barbara must never be taken by the pack around us. I kissed her. “Start the motor! When I get that truck rolling, you roll right behind. I’ll drive for a couple of clicks, then ditch it to let you pass. And you keep going. Don’t stop for Sam or me!”
“I’m not going to leave—”
“You’ll do as you’re damn well told! We can look after ourselves, can’t we Sam?”
“Sure can! Barb—do like Mister Gavin says. If those cabron come into the woods, maybe I’ll get myself a brace of ’em!” His laugh was too much like mine had once been. But, hell, I hadn’t any choice! If they got into the Brinks we’d be dead and they’d have both the gold and the girls.
“I’ll wait for you at the twelfth post,” said Barbara stubbornly.
There was no time to argue with her. I made sure everybody understood what we were about to try without letting them realize how desperate it was. Then I put my hand on the door-lock. “I can guarantee to make it far enough to zap those bastards with the torch. If I don’t get any farther, then sit it out. Sam, don’t hang around trying to be a hero. Hot-tail it through the woods and shame the Council into sending up a posse. You try doing the same on the radio, Midge!”