JК
Sharpes Havoc :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 116 из 242Sergeant Macedo had left his knife trapped in a Frenchman’s chest and instead was using a French musket as a club and a voltigeur tried to pull the weapon out of his grasp and looked stunned when the Sergeant just let him have it, then kicked him in the belly so that the Frenchman fell back over the edge of the bluff. He screamed as he fell. The scream seemed to last a long time, then there was a wet thump on the rocks far below, the musket clattered, and the sound was swamped as thunder rolled over the sky. The clouds were split by lightning and Sharpe, his sword blade dripping with rain-diluted blood, shouted at his men to check every redoubt. „And search the tower!”
Another bolt of lightning revealed a large group of Frenchmen halfway up the southern path. Sharpe reckoned that a small group of fitter men had come on ahead and it was those men that he had encountered. The largest group, who could easily have held the summit against Sharpe and Vicente’s desperate counterattack, had been too late, and Vicente was now putting men into the lower redoubts. A rifleman lay dead by the watchtower. „It’s Sean Donnelly,” Harper said.
„Pity,” Sharpe said, „a good man.”
„He was an evil little bastard from Deny,” Harper said, „who owed me four shillings.”
„He could shoot straight.”
„When he wasn’t drunk,” Harper allowed.
Pendleton, the youngest of the riflemen, brought Sharpe his shako. „Found it on the slope, sir.”
„What were you doing on the slope when you should have been fighting?” Harper demanded.
Pendleton looked worried. „I just found it, sir.”
„Did you kill anyone?” Harper wanted to know.
„No, Sergeant.”
„Not earned your bloody shilling today then, have you? Right! Pendleton! Williamson! Dodd! Sims!” Harper organized a group to go back down the hill and bring up the discarded packs and food. Sharpe had another two men strip the dead and wounded of their weapons and ammunition.
Vicente had garrisoned the southern side of the fort and the sight of his men was enough to deter the French from trying a second assault. The Portuguese lieutenant now came back to join Sharpe beside the watchtower where the wind shrieked on the broken stone. The rain was slackening, but the stronger wind gusts still drove drops hard against the ruined walls. „What do we do about the village?” Vicente wanted to know.
„There’s nothing we can do.”
„There are women down there! Children!”
„I know.”
„We can’t just leave them.
Another bolt of lightning revealed a large group of Frenchmen halfway up the southern path. Sharpe reckoned that a small group of fitter men had come on ahead and it was those men that he had encountered. The largest group, who could easily have held the summit against Sharpe and Vicente’s desperate counterattack, had been too late, and Vicente was now putting men into the lower redoubts. A rifleman lay dead by the watchtower. „It’s Sean Donnelly,” Harper said.
„Pity,” Sharpe said, „a good man.”
„He was an evil little bastard from Deny,” Harper said, „who owed me four shillings.”
„He could shoot straight.”
„When he wasn’t drunk,” Harper allowed.
Pendleton, the youngest of the riflemen, brought Sharpe his shako. „Found it on the slope, sir.”
„What were you doing on the slope when you should have been fighting?” Harper demanded.
Pendleton looked worried. „I just found it, sir.”
„Did you kill anyone?” Harper wanted to know.
„No, Sergeant.”
„Not earned your bloody shilling today then, have you? Right! Pendleton! Williamson! Dodd! Sims!” Harper organized a group to go back down the hill and bring up the discarded packs and food. Sharpe had another two men strip the dead and wounded of their weapons and ammunition.
Vicente had garrisoned the southern side of the fort and the sight of his men was enough to deter the French from trying a second assault. The Portuguese lieutenant now came back to join Sharpe beside the watchtower where the wind shrieked on the broken stone. The rain was slackening, but the stronger wind gusts still drove drops hard against the ruined walls. „What do we do about the village?” Vicente wanted to know.
„There’s nothing we can do.”
„There are women down there! Children!”
„I know.”
„We can’t just leave them.