“There is going to be a mutiny,” Aberlott whispered to Blacktooth at the first opportunity, “unless the glep cardinal quits.”
Nimmy shook his head. “These townsmen could mutiny in Valana, but not out here between two unfriendly armies.”
Chuntar Hadala remained at the head of his command. Sergeant Ulad shot a deserter who made a break for Grasshopper lines during the night. When the body was dragged back to camp, it turned out to be the cardinal’s Grasshopper guide, who was only quitting his job to return to his people.
Blacktooth told Aberlott: “He was the sharf’s man, and here we all are in the sharf’s jurisdiction—so look at the sergeant now.” The monk was remembering how Ulad at their first meeting in Valana had expressed hate for all Nomads. But now that he had killed one, he showed in his face not satisfaction but an astonishing fright.
CHAPTER 24
If a brother who through his own fault
leaves the monastery should wish to return,
let him first promise full reparation for
his having gone away; and then let him be
received in the lowest place, as a test of his humility.
FRIGHT, THE MOTHER OF HATRED, POSSESSED the whole militia, but there was nowhere to run. Behind them, the Grasshopper; in front of them, the Emperor. Prowling among them were Chuntar Hadala, and two willing killers of conscripts: the major and Ulad. The flanks were faced with fires, but it was an unusually windless day. The fires had been set in the night, and no one was sure who set them, but because of the calm air nobody worried about them much. Before dawn, Ulad and three husky townsmen unloaded two cannon from the wagons and dragged them forward to face the foe to the east. Then they unloaded two more and aimed them toward the Nomads. The sharf watched them do it, then broke his forces into two equal groups. He moved one group north and one south; they halted so as to face the Valanans from the southwest and northwest. Ulad rearranged the cannon accordingly, but the Nomad movement spoke of no need for cannon. The way west was wide open, by invitation of the sharf. In Blacktooth’s opinion, acceptance was the only sane thing to do, but Chuntar Cardinal Hadala was adamant.
“All you who repent your sins, I absolve you,” he announced to the assembled troops at dawn, “in nomine patris, filii, et spiritus sancti. And if you die in battle for God’s glory and the Holy Father’s righteous cause, you will attain Heaven without purgatory’s purifying pain. I now bless you…”
“This,” Aberlott whispered, “from a man with the Holy Father’s excommunication in his pocket.”
Surprised that other conscripts were not jeering Hadala, Blacktooth asked, “Didn’t you tell the others what I told you to?”
Aberlott was meekly silent. Nimmy looked him in the eye, then laughed bitterly. Everybody knew that Aberlott was an outrageous liar, not to be believed. Besides, where would he get the courage to accuse a cardinal behind the cardinal’s back when every man would in the end point his finger right at Aberlott and say, “I heard it from him”? Well, Blacktooth would have to spread the word himself, or at least enlist one of the Yellow Guard. It was not easy to get close to them, however. They were close only to Cardinal Hadala, as they had always been to Brownpony.
Water was rationed. The supply of jerky was exhausted, and with no hunting possible, the men ate beans and biscuits. The enemy waited for Hadala to move. Hadala waited for gleps from the Valley to attack the enemy from the rear, but this seemed wishful thinking to Blacktooth. On the third day of the standoff, in plain view of the Valana forces, Sharf Bråm sent a messenger under a flag of truce to the Texark commander. This further traffic with the enemy increased the cardinal’s fury. At Cleaver’s orders, several townsmen shot at the messenger, but he was riding beyond range for accurate rifle fire.
That night before the moon rose, fourteen Grasshopper warriors stole into camp, killed two sentries, and stole or drove away most of the horses. After the rise of the gibbous moon, a detachment of Texark cavalry, which had approached noiselessly in total darkness, mounted and rode through the camp screaming and killing with sabers and horse pistols. Several attackers were killed in turn by the well-armed militiamen. After dawn, eighteen bodies were buried, five of them wearing Texark uniforms. There were seven nonfatal casualties as well. Aberlott had lost his right ear to a Texark saber.
“You never left your bedroll, you bastard,” he said to Nimmy.
“I guess I slept through it,” Blacktooth lied.
The loss of the horses drove the Hadala over the edge. He ordered an infantry attack on the now entrenched Texark position. The cardinal took a cross and proceeded to march proudly with it at the head of the army, his red cap and sash making him a conspicuous target. Major Gleaver shot three men who refused to move out. Three companies of green troops with bayonets fixed to their excellent rifles moved forward behind sporadic covering fire from three cannon. Ulad, furious as usual, led the way behind the cardinal crucifer, but kept looking back to see that the others stayed in line. Terror whitened men’s faces as they came into range and some of them began to fall from a crackle of fire by the enemy. Nimmy kept his eyes half closed and prayed to the Virgin. He was astonished that there was no artillery fire directed at them from the Texark rear.
When they had covered half the distance to the enemy lines, he could see that berms of earth and sod had been thrown up. Imperial troops were firing at them from well-protected positions, and the effect was devastating. About a third of the men had fallen. Twice Ulad ordered the attackers to halt and fire, but each time the enemy’s heads ducked behind the berms.
“Double-time march! Shoot while you run!”
In terms of accuracy, it was a waste of ammunition, but it kept the enemy’s heads down. After five shots, it was necessary to slow to a walk in order to reload. Most men had brought two extra cylinders, already loaded, but while it was faster to change cylinders than to reload individual chambers, it was necessary to stop altogether to avoid dropping the pins. And to stop was to be shot by a spook officer.
“Look! They’re clearing out. Run, damn it, run!”
Terror changed to a furious glee as the townsmen realized that the Texark rifle fire from the forward berm had ceased, although there was still shooting in the distance.
“Pope’s children! My people are there!” Hadala was shouting back at them. He kept waving his cross like a club toward the foothills. “They’re attacking from the rear.”
“That explains why cannonballs aren’t raining down,” Nimmy said toward Aberlott’s bandaged ear. The message was not received above the sound of gunfire, but he added, “Maybe the gleps’ cardinal is not as crazy as we thought.”
The Texark army was not at all defeated. Forced by guerrillas from the Valley to defend their rear, they had retreated from the attack out of the west to defend their artillery from an attack out of the east. The retreat was limited. When militiamen climbed the first berm, three of them were shot down as they went over the top.
Gleaver called a halt. Obviously there were defenders of the second berm. But the attackers could use the enemy’s first berm for their own shelter while they ate pocket rations and sipped from canteens.
Nimmy looked up to see Gai-See crawling toward him up a shallow gully. He was not hiding from the enemy, he was hiding from Hadala and the officers.