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The sun ca in the trees a passing breeze stirred the liht down a shower of autumn-burnt leaves, and Matthew picked up an arrow and saw on its bloody point a piece of skin iven a new part across his scalp last night Good, Matthew thought On his inspection of the scene of battle this , he&039;d found the two other arrows Walker had launched, but only this one showed dae There was soh to indicate that Slaughter had been hit by a lead ball His legs were still working, that was for certain Whatever Slaughter was up to by taking Lark and Faith fro

Matthew picked up Walker&039;s bohere the Indian had dropped it in the dark after the ball had hit him He could see where thebodies and, e of a ravine about forty feet away, falling down onto jagged rocks and a sht, and their bones lay together hter for all eternity was not in Matthew&039;s plans

He followed the blood trail, as Walker had instructed They&039;d known Slaughter was hurt froht Either ball or arrow grazed him, Walker had said But only a flesh wound

Matthehere Slaughter had torn through the thicket like a mad bull Drops and splatters of blood on the forest floor led Mattheard into an area of slender pines He stopped, looking closely at what appeared to be the bloody iainst one of the pine trunks Slaughter had briefly paused here either to get his bearings or make a decision about what he intended to do Obviously, he&039;d made a quick decision and carried it out with military efficiency after all, hadn&039;t he said he&039;d been a soldieri

But why, Mattheondered as he&039;d already wondered several tiht himi Well, of course she knehat he was capable of, and as she going to fight hiht, they should have left her the knife, or at least wakened her and told her to take Faith and , or hidden thehter to get past them To slip into the ca Lark and herto the southwest, Walker had said after he&039;d found the trail Don&039;t need an Indian to follow this one, he&039;d told Matthew The stuck pig is still bleeding

Matthew left the blood-shter had taken to the clearing There were soh theht, when Lark had heard so, had called his nahter getting off a shot at the sound of his voice-and been answered by a quiet whisper up close to her ear, and maybe the hot barrel of the pistol up under her throat Now tell your dear oing to play hide-a-seek, or any da, but knoill kill her first if you scream I don&039;t want to hear any noise from either of you Just take her hand, and walk ahead of hter had told Lark that there was no hope for the toot a distance away Would Lark have believed that, after what had happened at her housei Or ht she have seized upon it, as a way to survivei Maybe she thought she could talk hi them Maybe perhaps possibly who could knowi

I hter had said It seemed to Matthew that he&039;d certainly been well-trained in cohter elevated murder to the realm of art He could plan an escape days-weeksi-in advance, plot his moves like a chess master, travel overland like an Indian, confidently stalk the dark like a cat, and shake off the pain of a nasty wound to fix his mind upon his purpose He was skilled with pistols, knives and razors He was utterly ruthless and ice-cold, and he possessed, as Walker had said, "a killer&039;s eye in the back of his head"

a soldieri Maybe so But it sounded hter had been trained to be an assassin For that job he seemed to be exceptionally capable

His jobi Oh, that: Between jobs, but going back into the business of settling accounts

What did that ood, and likelyto pay with his or her life

Matthew had his own account to settle When he eainst a tree on the far side of the clearing, next to the ashes of last night&039;s fire that had soothed Faith to sleep Matthew felt the saht, upon seeing the bloody hole in the Indian&039;s side

Walker&039;s eyes were closed, his face uplifted toward the warmth of the early sun But even in the short tiround and find Walker&039;s bow, the Indian seemed ray as a gravestone The bandage that Matthew had made from his cravat-the sa of To-was tied around the lower part of Walker&039;s chest It was dark with blood on the left side

Walker opened his eyes and watched as Matthew approached "Do I look that terriblei" he asked, reading Matthew&039;s expression and he answered his own question: "Death has been called et you out of here"

Walker slint of inescapable pain "No, you are not If you wish to beco you have to do " He had to stop speaking, as he silently battled his internal agony "Have to do," he repeated "Is accept reality"

Matthew could find no reply He&039;d already seen, in his inspection of the wound, that the ball had splintered at least one rib and driven deep into the organs Where it had coe could not be deterht, that Walker was even able to talk, much less move Walker had taken a handful of reen pine needles and pushed it into the hole, and then he&039;d said, Bind it up

"Is there nothing you can doi" Matthew asked

"No" It was firret: the Indian way "You&039;d better eat soo"

Matthew ate a piece of the dried meat and drank so tasted like the sunsmoke, which per to slow hiain lifted his face into the sunlight "So is his wound They&039;re leaving a trail any Englishman could follow" He winced, and waited for the pain to pass "You knohy he took the to trade"

"For you," Walker said

Matthew agreed: "For me"

"You know him well I think he must know you well, too" Walker shifted his position a few inches and pressed his hand against the bandage "He&039;s not sure if he hit you last night He knows if you&039;re not too wounded toafter hiht place"

"Where ht it bei"

"Somewhere that limits your choices," said Walker "He&039;ll knohen he finds it Until then, we follow"

Matthew offered him water, but Walker shook his head; he had also previously refused the food "Listen," Matthew said, as he corked the flask "I want you to know I thank you for doing this for o "You didn&039;t have to"

"I&039;ve already told you I wanted the watch"

"Is that all of iti"

Walker paused; ht But noith the hole in his side and his life leaking away, Walker decided to speak honestly "Not all," he said "When I first agreed yes, it was just the watch The ould be the wordi The novelty of it and the idea that life is a circle Things coathering his strength again "Then," he continued, "when I sahat Slaughter did at the reverend&039;s house I knehat you were What you are"

"What is thati"

"My chance," said Walker, looking into Matthew&039;s eyes, "to walk the Sky Road"

Matthew said nothing

"Though I am insane and taunted by demons confused in my mind," he went on, "I may be accepted home by the Great Spirits if I can help you catch thiscivilized men The Great Spirits don&039;t see red skin, or white They see only the war between good and evil, which e us to be their weapons Their strength They charge us to be their arrows, and fly true" He nodded, with the sun on his face "You have given me my chance to fly true," he said "But first we have to catch the hed, spat dark blood onto the ground beside hiht frown "We havea walker in three worlds Will you help me upi"

Matthew did When Walker was steady, he asked for his bow to be returned to its sheath and the sheath slung across his shoulder, along with the quiver of arrows He had his knife in its fringed belt and his rawhide bag of dried one On his face the black paint was smeared, the spirit symbols blurred by rain, sweat, and circumstance He had lost a few feathers, but he was ready

Matthew put the loaded pistol and the waterflask into his shooter&039;s bag and the bag&039;s strap over his shoulder He looked at his black tricorn, which lay on the ground where he&039;d left it last night He decided he didn&039;t want it anymore, since two snakes had worn it Then he was ready too He offered his shoulder for Walker to lean against, but the Indian didn&039;t even grace that gesture with a glance; Walker went on, slowly at first, as if over hot coals, but then with his hand positioned fire he set off at a decent speed following the red spots and splatters that hter&039;s trail

The sun continued its ascent Within an hour, Matthew noted that Walker&039;s pace had slowed dra When Matthew again offered to give support, Walker shook his head His face was ashen, and glistened with sweat

Walker was right about the trail being easy to follow Though the blood spots had stopped, there was clear evidence of the passage of three people The ground cover showed a plentitude of broken twigs and crushed weeds, and at one point Matthew stopped to examine an area under some pines that indicated dead needles had been brushed aside for so to make her ht have rested here until daybreak In the thicket nearby he found a few ragged pieces of blue cloth, trimmed with yellow, and held them up for Walker to see

"The mother&039;s apron," Walker said; his eyes were sunken and bloodshot "Made hie of another hour, Walker did not resist when Matthew put an arht Every so often Walker spat blood upon the ground, and now his knees eak and Matthe he couldn&039;t go on e white boulders shaded by yellow el over his shoulder By now the Indian was all but stue rhythe

"Matthew," Walker whispered, his eyes heavy-lidded "Stop here"

Matthew instantly obeyed, and helped hiainst one of the boulders Walker&039;s hand carasped the front of Matthew&039;s jacket

"Someone behind us," he said

"Behind usi" Matthew looked back along the trail they&039;d come, but saw only trees, brush and rocks a spear of panic pierced hi," Walker said thickly Bloody foam had collected in the corners of his mouth "I saw him twice Very fast"

"Sahoi"

"Death," caain fixed his gaze along the trail, and focused on detecting the slightestHe crouched beside Walker, as breathing raggedly and holding his side as if to keep his organs froo ahead," he said quietly "You stay here and-"

"Diei" Through his deliriurin "Not yet I&039;o any further"

"I&039;ll say when I&039;ain Matthew helped hih the jumble of boulders and found, just on the other side, a narrow but obviously well-used track that caht and led off into the forest on the left Whether it was another Indian trail or a pathway used by fur trappers, Matthew didn&039;t know Fresh boot and shoehis relentless advance to reach Philadelphia, with captives or not, and had gone left in the southerly direction

In another fewwhich Matthew feared Walker was surely at the end of his strength, they came out of the forest and faced a new obstacle

Before them was a ravine, about thirty feet in width When Matthew stood at the edge and looked down, he saw gray rocks fifty feet below, and that sa on its way to the nearest river a rope bridge had been strung across the ravine, but it was history; though it was still tied to its supports on this side, it had been cut away on the other, and now hung useless

Matthew cursed under his breath It was certainly Slaughter&039;s work How far would they have to go to find another wayi The ansas quick in coht he saw, at a distance of forty or so yards, a massive dead oak that had been felled in some turbulent windstorm, its roots wrenched up froled in the foliage on the other

Though Walker&039;s vision was fading, it was still strong enough for hie the situation "Careful," he whispered "This is the place"

Mattheas Slaughter had e He opened his shooter&039;s bag and withdrew his still-loaded pistol

"I can&039;t get across that," Walker said, "unless I groings"