JК
Sharpes Havoc :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 202 из 242I’m sure you can get within two hundred paces.”
„That’ll do,” Sharpe said grimly.
„So one way or another we have to finish him,” Hogan said, leaning back. „He’s a traitor, Richard. He’s probably not as dangerous as he thinks he is, but if he gets to Paris then no doubt the monsewers will suck his brain dry and so learn a few things we’d rather they didn’t know. And if he got back to London he’s slippery enough to convince those fools that he was always working for their interests. So all things considered, Richard, I’d say he was better off dead.”
„And Kate?”
„We’re not going to shoot her,” Hogan said reprovingly.
„Back in March, sir,” Sharpe said, „you ordered me to rescue her. Does that order still stand?”
Hogan stared at the ceiling which was smoke-blackened and pierced with lethal-looking hooks. „In the short time I’ve known you, Richard,” he said, „I’ve noticed you possess a lamentable tendency to put on shining armor and look for ladies to rescue. King Arthur, God rest his soul, would have loved you. He’d have had you fighting every evil knight in the forest. Is rescuing Kate Savage important? Not really. The main thing is to punish Mister Christopher and I fear that Miss Kate will have to take her chances.”
Sharpe looked down at the charcoal map. „How do we get to the Ponte Nova?”
„We walk, Richard, we walk. We cross the mountains and those tracks aren’t fit for horses. You’d spend half the time leading them, worrying about their feed, looking after their hooves and wishing you didn’t have them. Mules now, I’d saddle some mules and take them, but where will we find mules tonight? It’s either mules or shanks’s pony, but either way we can only take a few men, your best and your fittest, and we have to leave before dawn.”
„What do I do with the rest of my men?”
Hogan thought about it. „Major Potter could use them,” he suggested, „to help guard the prisoners here?”
„I don’t want to lose them back to Shorncliffe,” Sharpe said. He feared that the second battalion would be making inquiries about their lost riflemen. They might not care that Lieutenant Sharpe was missing, but the absence of several prime marksmen would definitely be regretted.
„My dear Richard,” Hogan said, „if you think Sir Arthur’s going to lose even a few good riflemen then you don’t know him half as well as you think. He’ll move hell and high water to keep you here. And you and I have to move like hell to get to Ponte Nova before anyone else.
„That’ll do,” Sharpe said grimly.
„So one way or another we have to finish him,” Hogan said, leaning back. „He’s a traitor, Richard. He’s probably not as dangerous as he thinks he is, but if he gets to Paris then no doubt the monsewers will suck his brain dry and so learn a few things we’d rather they didn’t know. And if he got back to London he’s slippery enough to convince those fools that he was always working for their interests. So all things considered, Richard, I’d say he was better off dead.”
„And Kate?”
„We’re not going to shoot her,” Hogan said reprovingly.
„Back in March, sir,” Sharpe said, „you ordered me to rescue her. Does that order still stand?”
Hogan stared at the ceiling which was smoke-blackened and pierced with lethal-looking hooks. „In the short time I’ve known you, Richard,” he said, „I’ve noticed you possess a lamentable tendency to put on shining armor and look for ladies to rescue. King Arthur, God rest his soul, would have loved you. He’d have had you fighting every evil knight in the forest. Is rescuing Kate Savage important? Not really. The main thing is to punish Mister Christopher and I fear that Miss Kate will have to take her chances.”
Sharpe looked down at the charcoal map. „How do we get to the Ponte Nova?”
„We walk, Richard, we walk. We cross the mountains and those tracks aren’t fit for horses. You’d spend half the time leading them, worrying about their feed, looking after their hooves and wishing you didn’t have them. Mules now, I’d saddle some mules and take them, but where will we find mules tonight? It’s either mules or shanks’s pony, but either way we can only take a few men, your best and your fittest, and we have to leave before dawn.”
„What do I do with the rest of my men?”
Hogan thought about it. „Major Potter could use them,” he suggested, „to help guard the prisoners here?”
„I don’t want to lose them back to Shorncliffe,” Sharpe said. He feared that the second battalion would be making inquiries about their lost riflemen. They might not care that Lieutenant Sharpe was missing, but the absence of several prime marksmen would definitely be regretted.
„My dear Richard,” Hogan said, „if you think Sir Arthur’s going to lose even a few good riflemen then you don’t know him half as well as you think. He’ll move hell and high water to keep you here. And you and I have to move like hell to get to Ponte Nova before anyone else.