JК
Sharpes Gold :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 28 из 179"
Sharpe turned back. 'Yes, sir.
'One rule, Sharpe. I know the country, you don't, so no questions, just instant obedience.
'Yes, sir.
'Company prayers at sunset, unless the Froggies interfere.
'Yes, sir. Good Lord!
Kearsey returned Sharpe's salute. 'Nine o'clock, then. At the north gate! He turned and clattered down the winding stairs and Sharpe went back to the battlement, leaned on the granite, and stared unseeing at the huge sprawl of defences beneath him.
Josefina. Hardy. He squeezed the silver ring, engraved with an eagle, which she had bought for him before the battle, but which had been her parting gift when the killing had finished along the banks of the Portina stream north of Talavera. He had tried to forget her, to tell himself she was not worth it, and as he looked up at the rough countryside to the north he tried to force his mind away from her, to think of the gold, of El Catolico, the praying killer, and Cesar Moreno. But to do the job with Josefina's lover? God damn it!
A midshipman, far from the sea, came on to the turret to man the telegraph, and he looked curiously at the tall, dark haired Rifleman with the scarred face. He looked, the midshipman decided, a dangerous beast, and he watched as a big, tanned hand fidgeted with the hilt of an enormous, straight-bladed sword.
'She's a bitch! Sharpe said.
'Pardon, sir? The midshipman, fifteen years old, was frightened.
Sharpe turned, unaware he had been joined. 'Nothing, son, nothing. He grinned at the bemused boy. 'Gold for greed, women for jealousy, and death for the French. Right?
'Yes, sir. Of course, sir.
The boy watched the tall man go down the stairs. Once he had wanted to join the army, years before, but his father had simply looked up and said that anyone who joined the army was stark mad. He started untying the ropes that secured the bladders. His father, as ever, had been undoubtedly right.
CHAPTER 4
On foot Kearsey was busy and, to Sharpe's eyes, ludicrous. He strutted with tiny steps, legs scissoring quickly, while his eyes, above the big, grey moustache, peered acutely at the mass of taller humanity. On horseback, though, astride his huge roan, he was at home as if he had been restored to his true height. Sharpe was impressed by the night's march. The moon was thin and cloud-ridden, yet the Major led the Company unerringly across difficult country.
Sharpe turned back. 'Yes, sir.
'One rule, Sharpe. I know the country, you don't, so no questions, just instant obedience.
'Yes, sir.
'Company prayers at sunset, unless the Froggies interfere.
'Yes, sir. Good Lord!
Kearsey returned Sharpe's salute. 'Nine o'clock, then. At the north gate! He turned and clattered down the winding stairs and Sharpe went back to the battlement, leaned on the granite, and stared unseeing at the huge sprawl of defences beneath him.
Josefina. Hardy. He squeezed the silver ring, engraved with an eagle, which she had bought for him before the battle, but which had been her parting gift when the killing had finished along the banks of the Portina stream north of Talavera. He had tried to forget her, to tell himself she was not worth it, and as he looked up at the rough countryside to the north he tried to force his mind away from her, to think of the gold, of El Catolico, the praying killer, and Cesar Moreno. But to do the job with Josefina's lover? God damn it!
A midshipman, far from the sea, came on to the turret to man the telegraph, and he looked curiously at the tall, dark haired Rifleman with the scarred face. He looked, the midshipman decided, a dangerous beast, and he watched as a big, tanned hand fidgeted with the hilt of an enormous, straight-bladed sword.
'She's a bitch! Sharpe said.
'Pardon, sir? The midshipman, fifteen years old, was frightened.
Sharpe turned, unaware he had been joined. 'Nothing, son, nothing. He grinned at the bemused boy. 'Gold for greed, women for jealousy, and death for the French. Right?
'Yes, sir. Of course, sir.
The boy watched the tall man go down the stairs. Once he had wanted to join the army, years before, but his father had simply looked up and said that anyone who joined the army was stark mad. He started untying the ropes that secured the bladders. His father, as ever, had been undoubtedly right.
CHAPTER 4
On foot Kearsey was busy and, to Sharpe's eyes, ludicrous. He strutted with tiny steps, legs scissoring quickly, while his eyes, above the big, grey moustache, peered acutely at the mass of taller humanity. On horseback, though, astride his huge roan, he was at home as if he had been restored to his true height. Sharpe was impressed by the night's march. The moon was thin and cloud-ridden, yet the Major led the Company unerringly across difficult country.