JК
Sharpes Havoc :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 231 из 242A French infantryman aimed his musket up at the taunting Portuguese, but when he pulled his trigger the spark fell on damp powder and nothing happened except that the jeering became louder.
And then Sharpe saw him. Saw Christopher. Or rather he saw Kate first, recognized the oval of her face, the contrast of her pale skin and jet-black hair, her beauty apparent even in this dark, wet horror of an early dusk, and he saw, surprised, that she was wearing a French uniform which was strange, he thought, but then he saw Christopher and Williamson beside her horse. The Colonel was dressed in civilian clothes and was trying to edge and bully and force his way through the crowd so that he could get across the bridge and so know himself to be safe from his pursuers. Sharpe snatched up Hogan’s telescope, wiped its lens and stared. Christopher, he thought, looked older, almost aged with something gray about his face. Then he edged the lens to the right and saw Williamson’s sullen face and felt a surge of pure anger.
„Have you seen him?” Hogan asked.
„He’s there,” Sharpe said, and he put the glass down, slid his rifle from its new leather case and eased the barrel forward across a lip of rock.
„That’s him, so it is.” Harper had seen Christopher now.
„Where?” Hogan wanted to know.
„Twenty yards back from the bridge, sir,” Harper said, „beside the horse. And that’s Miss Kate on the horse’s back. And, Jesus!” Harper had seen Williamson. „Is that — ”
„Yes,” Sharpe said curtly, and he was tempted to aim the rifle at the deserter rather than at Christopher.
Hogan was gazing through the telescope. „A good-looking girl,” he said.
„She makes the heart beat faster, right enough,” Harper said.
Sharpe kept the rifle’s lock covered, hoping to keep the powder dry, and now he took off the scrap of cloth, pulled back the flint and aimed the gun at Christopher, and just then the heavens bellowed with thunder, and the rain, which was already heavy, increased in malevolence. It crashed in torrents to make Sharpe curse. He could not even see Christopher now! He jerked the rifle up and stared down into the blurred air which was filled with silver streaks, a cloud-bursting rain, a deluge fit to make a man build an ark. Jesus! And he could see nothing! And just then a slash of lightning sliced the sky in two and the rain drummed like the devil’s hoofbeats and Sharpe pointed the barrel toward the heavens and pulled the trigger. He knew what would happen, and it did. The spark died, the rifle was useless and so he threw the weapon down, stood up and drew his sword.
„What the hell are you doing?” Hogan asked.
„Going to fetch my damn telescope,” Sharpe said.
And then Sharpe saw him. Saw Christopher. Or rather he saw Kate first, recognized the oval of her face, the contrast of her pale skin and jet-black hair, her beauty apparent even in this dark, wet horror of an early dusk, and he saw, surprised, that she was wearing a French uniform which was strange, he thought, but then he saw Christopher and Williamson beside her horse. The Colonel was dressed in civilian clothes and was trying to edge and bully and force his way through the crowd so that he could get across the bridge and so know himself to be safe from his pursuers. Sharpe snatched up Hogan’s telescope, wiped its lens and stared. Christopher, he thought, looked older, almost aged with something gray about his face. Then he edged the lens to the right and saw Williamson’s sullen face and felt a surge of pure anger.
„Have you seen him?” Hogan asked.
„He’s there,” Sharpe said, and he put the glass down, slid his rifle from its new leather case and eased the barrel forward across a lip of rock.
„That’s him, so it is.” Harper had seen Christopher now.
„Where?” Hogan wanted to know.
„Twenty yards back from the bridge, sir,” Harper said, „beside the horse. And that’s Miss Kate on the horse’s back. And, Jesus!” Harper had seen Williamson. „Is that — ”
„Yes,” Sharpe said curtly, and he was tempted to aim the rifle at the deserter rather than at Christopher.
Hogan was gazing through the telescope. „A good-looking girl,” he said.
„She makes the heart beat faster, right enough,” Harper said.
Sharpe kept the rifle’s lock covered, hoping to keep the powder dry, and now he took off the scrap of cloth, pulled back the flint and aimed the gun at Christopher, and just then the heavens bellowed with thunder, and the rain, which was already heavy, increased in malevolence. It crashed in torrents to make Sharpe curse. He could not even see Christopher now! He jerked the rifle up and stared down into the blurred air which was filled with silver streaks, a cloud-bursting rain, a deluge fit to make a man build an ark. Jesus! And he could see nothing! And just then a slash of lightning sliced the sky in two and the rain drummed like the devil’s hoofbeats and Sharpe pointed the barrel toward the heavens and pulled the trigger. He knew what would happen, and it did. The spark died, the rifle was useless and so he threw the weapon down, stood up and drew his sword.
„What the hell are you doing?” Hogan asked.
„Going to fetch my damn telescope,” Sharpe said.