JК
Sharpes Havoc :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 154 из 242Some of the wreckage still smoked where the altar had stood, but he pushed a hand into the blackened tangle and pulled out a twisted, black crucifix. It was only four inches high and he laid it on his left palm and made the sign of the cross. „Mister Vicente’s not happy, sir.”
„I know.”
„He thinks we should have defended the village, but I told him, sir, I told him you don’t catch the rabbit by killing the dog.”
Sharpe stared into the smoke. „Maybe we should have stayed here.”
„Now you’re talking like an Irishman, sir,” Harper said, „because there’s nothing we don’t know about lost causes. Sure and we’d all have died. And if you see that the trigger guard on Gataker’s rifle is hanging loose then don’t give him hell about it. The screws are worn to buggery.”
Sharpe smiled at Harper’s effort to divert him. „I know we did the right thing, Pat. I just wish Lieutenant Vicente could see it.”
„He’s a lawyer, sir, can’t see a bloody thing straight. And he’s young. He’d sell his cow for a drink of milk.”
„We did the right thing,” Sharpe insisted, „but what do we do now?”
Harper tried to straighten the crucifix. „When I was a wee child,” he said, „I got lost. I was no more then seven, eight maybe. No bigger then Perkins, anyway. There were soldiers near the village, your lot in red, and to this day I don’t know what the bastards were doing there, but I ran away from them. They didn’t chase me, but I ran all the same because that’s what you did when the red bastards showed themselves. I ran and I ran, I did, and I ran until I didn’t know where the hell I was.”
„So what did you do?”
„I followed a stream,” Harper said, „and came to these two wee houses and my aunty lived in one and she took me home.”
Sharpe started to laugh and, though it was not really funny, could not stop.
„Maire,” Harper said, „Aunty Maire, rest her soul.” He put the crucifix into a pocket.
„I wish your Aunty Maire was here, Pat. But we’re not lost.”
„No?”
„We go south. Find a boat. Cross the river. Keep going south.”
„And if the army’s gone from Lisbon?”
„Walk to Gibraltar,” Sharpe said, knowing it would never come to that. If there was peace then he would be found by someone in authority and sent to the nearest port, and if there was war then he would find someone to fight. Simple, really, he thought. „But we march at night, Pat.
„I know.”
„He thinks we should have defended the village, but I told him, sir, I told him you don’t catch the rabbit by killing the dog.”
Sharpe stared into the smoke. „Maybe we should have stayed here.”
„Now you’re talking like an Irishman, sir,” Harper said, „because there’s nothing we don’t know about lost causes. Sure and we’d all have died. And if you see that the trigger guard on Gataker’s rifle is hanging loose then don’t give him hell about it. The screws are worn to buggery.”
Sharpe smiled at Harper’s effort to divert him. „I know we did the right thing, Pat. I just wish Lieutenant Vicente could see it.”
„He’s a lawyer, sir, can’t see a bloody thing straight. And he’s young. He’d sell his cow for a drink of milk.”
„We did the right thing,” Sharpe insisted, „but what do we do now?”
Harper tried to straighten the crucifix. „When I was a wee child,” he said, „I got lost. I was no more then seven, eight maybe. No bigger then Perkins, anyway. There were soldiers near the village, your lot in red, and to this day I don’t know what the bastards were doing there, but I ran away from them. They didn’t chase me, but I ran all the same because that’s what you did when the red bastards showed themselves. I ran and I ran, I did, and I ran until I didn’t know where the hell I was.”
„So what did you do?”
„I followed a stream,” Harper said, „and came to these two wee houses and my aunty lived in one and she took me home.”
Sharpe started to laugh and, though it was not really funny, could not stop.
„Maire,” Harper said, „Aunty Maire, rest her soul.” He put the crucifix into a pocket.
„I wish your Aunty Maire was here, Pat. But we’re not lost.”
„No?”
„We go south. Find a boat. Cross the river. Keep going south.”
„And if the army’s gone from Lisbon?”
„Walk to Gibraltar,” Sharpe said, knowing it would never come to that. If there was peace then he would be found by someone in authority and sent to the nearest port, and if there was war then he would find someone to fight. Simple, really, he thought. „But we march at night, Pat.