Alphabet House Read Online Free Page A

with. The sound of voices stopped and all movement in front of them ceased. James whispered softly that the soldiers might have passed behind them. He half dropped his arms.
    That was when they started shooting.
    The dull, greying winter darkness was to their advantage. Falling heavily to the ground they lay side by side, flat on their stomachs, staring at one another questioningly.
    Bryan immediately began worming his way towards the railway line, glancing constantly over his shoulder at James, who was struggling on knees and elbows over the knolls and frozen branches with a wild look in his eyes. The wound beside his ear had opened up again and with every move, small red spots mixed with the whipped-up frosty snow.
    Short rounds of machine gun fire ticked crisply, blasting the air above them to pieces. The soldiers were shouting as they fired.
    ‘They’re going to let the dogs loose,’ James panted, gripping Bryan’s ankle in front of him. ‘Are you ready to run?’
    ‘Where to, James?’ A wave of heat moved down Bryan’s diaphragm and his guts contracted spontaneously in panicky defence.
    ‘Over the railway line. There’s no train just now.’ Bryan raised his head and checked out the long, treacherous open slope. And then what?
    James got up and grabbed hold of Bryan just as a long burst of machine-gun fire ceased. The slope was steep. It was extremely dangerous to charge down it in their stiff boots, not to mentiontheir stiff, frozen feet that were incapable of feeling any unevenness in the ground. The bullets started whistling over their heads again.
    Bryan reached some flatter ground a few hundred yards further on and glanced quickly behind him. James was running after him as if all his joints were frozen, fingers splayed and his head cocked backward. Behind him a torrent of soldiers poured softly over the hillside and slithered down the first steep incline on their backs as they approached.
    This delayed the soldiers a bit and the shots ceased for some valuable seconds. When they started firing again they were off target. Maybe the bastards were already tired! Perhaps they would leave the rest of the work to the dogs.
    Lithe and muscular, the barking killing machines broke rank without hesitation as they’d been taught.
    When Bryan reached the bottom of the slope he could see a fair distance in both directions in the pale morning light.
    In front of him two trains were approaching, one from each direction, thus preventing them from disappearing into the windbreaks on the other side of the tracks. A loud explosion made Bryan jump. James had managed to draw his Enfield revolver on the run. A sprawling black patch in the snow behind him confirmed that James had wounded an attacking dog.
    The three remaining dogs made instinctively for the two men’s tracks and headed straight for James’ back.
    In its thirst for blood, a German shepherd had torn itself away from its master so the chain entangled between its legs slowed it down somewhat compared to the two Dobermans.
    The snow whirled around Bryan and James again. The scattered gunfire was sure to get them before long.
    James fired again. Bryan fingered the flap of his revolver holster and took hold of the butt. Then he stepped to one side and took aim as James dashed past him.
    For a fatal second the dog James had just wounded was distracted by Bryan’s manoeuvre, snapping in the air just asthe shot rang out. The animal rolled over several times before lying still. Without hesitation the other dogs made instinctively for Bryan’s arms and chest. He was knocked over, managing to shoot one of them as it fell on him, but not wounding it seriously.
    He struck a hard blow to the neck of the German shepherd on his left with his revolver butt. It fell beside him, lifeless. Jumping to his feet, he faced the first animal, which was already springing towards him.
    The instant the dog seized hold of his arm, it began shaking its victim. It had no intention of letting