Page 17 (1/2)

Up on the road ahead of the, while the other stood with head hanging and shoulders slumped, forlorn in its solitude and unable to reach any leaf or steetation

Matthew followed Walker up the hillside It was still the di, the clouds thick overhead, and the air s rain Walker had already pointed out the clear prints of Slaughter&039;s bare feet "He&039;s carrying so heavy," Walker had said, and Matthew had nodded, knowing it was the explosive safebox

The ht that surely neither of those old swaybacked nags would have carried a rider and, anyway, how fast could the horse go, even if whipped by a sticki Still, for Slaughter to have a horse s a rest, which was a definite advantage over his trackers-or at least one of the, the wet nose of a dog sniffing his face had brought Matthew up fro His hands and feet were sore, his left shoulder badly bruised; if he&039;d awakened in such condition in New York, he ered out to see a doctor, but in this country he thought that such injuries aer Not a half-minute after Matthew had pushed aside his blanket and tested the strength of his legs, Walker In Two Worlds had e with his usual garb of deerskin loincloth, leggings, and reen cloak tied at the throat Fixed to Walker&039;s scalplock with leather cords was an arrangeht shoulder was a leather sheath, decorated with the beaded i his bow, and around the left his quiver of a dozen or so arrows a knife hung in a holder fro with a sht probably contained a supply of driedbolts-had been painted in black on Walker&039;s cheeks, his forehead, and across his chin His eyes had been blackened, and er of tarpit pools as Greathouse ht have said, Walker was ready for bear

Matthew, in contrast, realized he was as dangerous-looking as a sugar cookie, in his dirty white shirt and cravat, his dark burgundy-red breeches and waistcoat s, which bared his calves and ankles down to the ritty scalp ht, was as fearsoh he pushed hie he felt his courage was made up of tinfoil and could be crumpled by any child&039;s fist

They were trailed fro at Walker,fun of his perceived insanity perhaps, but Walker paid theame and turned back, and the two travelers were left alone Walker ht, but with his eyes fixed ahead and his shoulders slightly lowered He had a strange rolling gait that Matthew had seen other Indians use: the "fox walk" hat the leatherstockings in New York, the fur traders and rough-edged men who had experience with the tribes, called it Very soon it was a chore for Matthew to keep up, and when Walker seeht of each other the Indian slowed his pace to as probably for hiht Matthew had slept soundly on the earth, beneath a tan-colored blanket, until he&039;d been awakened in the stillness Why he&039;d been awakened he didn&039;t know a few Indians were sitting around the e quietly as the ht converse, but their voices did not carry No, it was so else that had disturbed Matthew, and he lay with his eyes open, listening

In acry, barely audible at first, then becoled rush of breath or a sob again the cry rose up, and this tilance back at Walker&039;s house, for the tortured wailing was surely coer, then quietened once ain it rose and fell, now more of a hoarse moan than a cry Matthew felt the flesh crawl on the back of his neck; Walker&039;s de him no mercy Whatever insanity Walker believed he possessed-or that possessed hiht he was its prisoner

The men around the fire went to their own houses The eain, with the blanket up to his chin In thewas spoken about the visitation of demons, and for once in his life Matthew had known to ask no questions

The wagon was ahead, where it had been left The single horse, seeing the ave an exhausted whinny

Walker reached the ani hand on its flank "Is this what Slaughter was carryingi" he asked Matthew, and nodded toward the back of the wagon

and there it was The safebox, its lid open, sitting right there next to the chains Mattheent to it and saw that it was e But within it was a rectangular conized the flintlock mechanism of a pistol that had been tripped by a rachet-like device and caused to ignite a powder charge The walls of the conition, which had blown sh the keyhole Of additional interest was a small square of iron and a piece of metal that resembled a miniature hammer Mattheith admiration at the skill and trickery of this ruse, that the little ha released by the rachet, had unshot when it struck the iron plate It was an elaborate way to foil a robbery, but certainly would have worked to scare off an overly-curious Indian or two Still, the thing was a puzzle Hoould its owner get into it without setting off the chargei and who hadfor a maker&039;s mark His reward for that supposition was not just a in, burned into the wood by a piece of redhot iron used as a quill

It read O Quisenhunt, Phila and was followed by a nu else," Walker said, and knelt down beside the wagon He held up a eant silver brooch, studded with four black stones Walker continued to search the ground, while Matthew ca his stolen itehter had dropped at least two things and what had he transferred the had had no pockets He looked beneath the wagon&039;s seat, and saw that his s with his water flask His razor and shaving soap had been in the bag and now, horribly, the razor belonged to a

"Take these" Walker had found twoand a necklace of grayish-blue pearls that would be very beautiful when they were cleaned up as Matthew took the four pieces of jewelry frohter posing the question What is a string of pearls selling for these daysi He put the pieces into his waistcoat pocket, as it was clear Walker had no interest in the about Walker on, then he stood up and began unharnessing the horse Matthew helped hi it difficult to look the Indian full in the face because, in truth, all that paint made Walker himself appear to be demonic, some sort of forest specter whose purpose was to stab fear into an English heart Matthew figured that was the reason for it: if he was the one being tracked, one gliiven up his flight as hopeless

Whether that would hen-and if-they found Slaughter was another question

When the horse was freed, it an to eat Walker was already cli the road, and Matthew hurried after hi weeds at the top of the hill Walker had only one comment to hter has discovered he&039;s not up to riding a horse without a saddle"

Matthew got up alongside Walker and forced hi he could maintain this, he had no idea Even so, it was evident Walker was notto burn

"I told you I like the watch"

"I don&039;t think that&039;s all of it"

"I would save your breath, if I were you" Walker glanced quickly sideways at Matthew "Did you know that lish ht&039;s sleep, he could get up at dawn and run one hundredht what it is you have brought"

"What exactly " Mattheas having trouble talking and keeping his breath "Have we broughti"

"The future," said Walker, and then he broke into a loping trot that Matthew tried to match but could not In a few seconds Walker had pulled away, heading downhill Matthew doggedly followed, as fast as he could s but no faster

Soon Matthew came to the split in the road that led to Belvedere Walker was down on his haunches, exaave Matthew ti this way" He pointed in the direction of New Unity "Boots coer ai his eyes as he stared at Matthew "He&039;s going to the trading post There was money in that boxi"

"Yes"

"He wants to buy a horse The boot tracks werequickly, with a long stride He ht have reached Belvedere by late afternoon or early evening If he bought a horse, he&039;s gone"

"Unless he stayed in Belvedere to rest"

"He et there"

Mattheas looking along the road that led to Reverend Burton&039;s cabin "I have to go that way first," he said, his voice hollow

"For what reasoni"

"I know," Mattheered, "where Slaughter got the boots" and he set off, again ht up within a few strides, and stayed a distance off to his right

Rain began to fall quietly through the trees Red and yellow leaves drifted down as Matthew reached Reverend Burton&039;s house, he saw that the door was open, sagging inward on its hinges He went up the steps to the porch, where he couldn&039;t help but note splotches of dark red on the planks Then he walked through the door, and into the world of Tyranthus Slaughter

It was a place of blood and brutality Matthew abruptly stopped, for he&039;d heard first the greedy buzzing of flies The reverend&039;s body lay on its back aone, the hands outstretched, palms upward a pool of blood surrounded the head, and there the flies were feasting The face was covered by the heavy Good Book, which had been opened about to the middle Matthew stepped forward, slowly, and saw upon the Bible&039;s back a smear of mud from the bare foot that had pressed it down

and there was Tom

The boy was on his knees, near the fireplace Half his face was a black bruise His nostrils were crusted with blood, his lower lip ripped open, a razor slash across his left cheekbone His dark brown shirt was torn open to the waist, his pale chest scored with razor cuts He looked up at Mattheith eyes sunken into swollen slits

He was holding Ja lay on its right side Matthe that it was breathing shallowly It was bleeding from the mouth and nose and its visible eye had rolled back into its head

When Walker ca a few inches What could only be called a screaony ca up again to chest-height Gradually, its piercing cries subsided

"He&039;s with ave an involuntary shiver; his voice sounded unrecognizable to hih which he&039;d just walked

Tom just stared blankly at him

Walker eased forward He leaned down and lifted the Bible

"He&039;s dead," Tom said a spool of bloody saliva unraveled from his mouth over his injured lip and down his chin His voice was listless, matter-of-fact "I touched hi himself to look at the reverend&039;s face, but he sa bad it was by looking at Walker&039;s If an Indian could ever go pale, this one did Matthe an incomprehension in Walker&039;s eyes, a statement of horror that was made more terrible because it was silent a muscle jumped in Walker&039;s jaw, and then the Indian put aside the Bible and gazed upward-not to Heaven, but at the sleeping loft He climbed up the ladder

"That man came back," Tom said "That man This mornin&039;" He shook his head "Yesterday Knocked the door down He was on us &039;fore we could move"

Walker returned with a thin blue blanket, which he used to wrap around the misshapen ave another sharp cry, and Toun to drift down "I think " Tom sed, either thick saliva or blood "I think Jaht a chair down on hiht &039;cross his back There wasn&039;t anythin&039; could be done"