JК
Sharpes Eagle :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 65 из 203”
“I know we lost the other one, sir, but that wasn’t our fault, was it, sir?”
“No. If it hadn’t been for us they’d have lost both flags. Well done!”
The boy beamed. “And you and Sergeant Harper, sir.” The boy’s words tumbled out in his urgent need to share the excitement. “They was terrified of you, sir!”
Sharpe took his rifle and laughed. “I don’t know about Sergeant Harper, but I was fairly frightened, too.”
Pendleton laughed. “You’re just saying that, sir!”
Sharpe smiled and walked away among the bodies. There was so much to do, the dead to be buried, the wounded to be patched up. He looked towards the bridge. It was empty now, the fugitives had crossed, and Sharpe could see them being organised into companies on the far bank. The French were half a mile away, in ordered ranks, and watching a lone horseman who was trotting his horse towards Sharpe. He supposed it was a French officer coming to discuss a truce while they sorted out their wounded. Sharpe felt a great weariness. He looked back at the bridge and wondered why Simmerson was not sending any men across to start the grave-digging, the bandaging, the stripping of the dead. It would take a whole day to clear up this mess. Sharpe slung his rifle and started walking towards the Chasseur officer, whose horse was picking a delicate course through the bodies. He raised a hand in salute. And at that moment the bridge exploded.
CHAPTER 8
The bridge was reluctant to be destroyed. It had stood through two millennia over the waters of the Tagus, and the old stonework yielded slowly to the modern explosives. The central pier gave a deep shudder that was felt as far away as Sharpe and his company; they wheeled round to see what had caused it, and dust flew from the crevices of the masonry. For a second it seemed as if the bridge might hold; the stones bulged and then tore themselves apart with an agonising slowness, until the black powder finally won and the masonry was blasted outwards in an obscene gout of smoke and flame. The road on the bridge rose into the air, hung suspended for a fraction, and then collapsed into the water. The pier, two arches, the purpose of the bridge, all were destroyed by the thunderous explosion that rolled interminably across the flat grasslands, frightening the horses of the French, making the loose horses whose owners had been unseated in battle whinny and gallop fitfully on the grass, as though looking for human reassurance.
“I know we lost the other one, sir, but that wasn’t our fault, was it, sir?”
“No. If it hadn’t been for us they’d have lost both flags. Well done!”
The boy beamed. “And you and Sergeant Harper, sir.” The boy’s words tumbled out in his urgent need to share the excitement. “They was terrified of you, sir!”
Sharpe took his rifle and laughed. “I don’t know about Sergeant Harper, but I was fairly frightened, too.”
Pendleton laughed. “You’re just saying that, sir!”
Sharpe smiled and walked away among the bodies. There was so much to do, the dead to be buried, the wounded to be patched up. He looked towards the bridge. It was empty now, the fugitives had crossed, and Sharpe could see them being organised into companies on the far bank. The French were half a mile away, in ordered ranks, and watching a lone horseman who was trotting his horse towards Sharpe. He supposed it was a French officer coming to discuss a truce while they sorted out their wounded. Sharpe felt a great weariness. He looked back at the bridge and wondered why Simmerson was not sending any men across to start the grave-digging, the bandaging, the stripping of the dead. It would take a whole day to clear up this mess. Sharpe slung his rifle and started walking towards the Chasseur officer, whose horse was picking a delicate course through the bodies. He raised a hand in salute. And at that moment the bridge exploded.
CHAPTER 8
The bridge was reluctant to be destroyed. It had stood through two millennia over the waters of the Tagus, and the old stonework yielded slowly to the modern explosives. The central pier gave a deep shudder that was felt as far away as Sharpe and his company; they wheeled round to see what had caused it, and dust flew from the crevices of the masonry. For a second it seemed as if the bridge might hold; the stones bulged and then tore themselves apart with an agonising slowness, until the black powder finally won and the masonry was blasted outwards in an obscene gout of smoke and flame. The road on the bridge rose into the air, hung suspended for a fraction, and then collapsed into the water. The pier, two arches, the purpose of the bridge, all were destroyed by the thunderous explosion that rolled interminably across the flat grasslands, frightening the horses of the French, making the loose horses whose owners had been unseated in battle whinny and gallop fitfully on the grass, as though looking for human reassurance.