Conquering Kilmarni Read Online Free

boy and the woman talked, Peter could hear the murmur of their voices but not what they were saying. It lasted only a moment or two, anyway. Then Miss Lorrie stepped back into the kitchen, and Zackie went on down the path.
    Peter stood at the veranda rail awhile longer, and then went back into the living room. To his surprise, Miss Lorrie was there with his father. "What do you think?" Mr. Devon was saying. "Will he have sense enough to come back?"
    "Him will not come," the housekeeper predicted.
    "I hope he goes to a doctor, then. That leg needs attention."
    "It will heal, Mr. Devon. Just like the bush creatures heal when them get hurt."
    "Bush creatures?"
    "That's what him is, suh. Him seldom go to school, though all children are supposed to. That boy don't do a thing but run all day in the bush."
    Suddenly there was a rustling sound at the double front doors, which were still open to let in the cool night breeze, and Zackie Leonard's little dog came racing in. At the same time, a voice said from the doorway, "Mr. Devon, me nuh find Mr. Campbell. Him not in the cottage."
    When opportunity knocked that loudly, Peter was not one to ignore it. He said quickly, "Dad, why don't I help him carry the pig down? It's not late yet."
    His father looked from one boy to the other and seemed undecided. But at last he said, "Can the two of you handle a thing that heavy?"
    "Yes, suh!" Zackie Leonard almost shouted.
    "Hey, of course!" cried Peter.
    "All right. Take a couple of flashlights, Peter. I don't believe you're as used to the dark as Zackie is. And be careful, Peter. Please be careful."
    He was thinking of Mark again, Peter guessed. Still, what was it Miss Lorrie had said only a little while ago? "Him love you. If anything was to happen to you..."

THREE
     
    W ith Zackie leading the way, the two boys proceeded slowly down the steep path to the village of Mango Gap, each using a flashlight to show him where to put his feet. The wild pig hung between them from a bamboo pole that rested on their shoulders, and, as Walter Devon had predicted, it was heavy. Zackie's dog seemed content to trot quietly along with them.
    Peter wondered how heavy the pig actually was. Some wild pigs in Jamaica's Blue Mountains weighed more than a hundred and fifty pounds, he had heard. This one was probably not fully grown, though. He would have to ask Zackie about it. There was so much here that he wished he knew more about. That was another reason for staying with his dad and going to school in Jamaica.
    Zackie slowed his pace, then stopped altogether and turned his head. "You must be tired, Peter. Mek we rest a minute."
    "All right," Peter said. "But, hey, if I'm tired, you must be, too. We're both about the same age, I bet. How old are you?"
    "Twelve."
    "Well, so am I. But almost thirteen."
    "That's good. Anyway, me must have to tell you something."
    "Go ahead," Peter said. "What is it?"
    "We can't go to my house. Mek we put this pig down for a minute and talk." Zackie lowered his end of the pole to the ground, and Peter did the same.
    What Zackie said then took all of five minutes, while the two of them sat together on a slab of stone at the side of the track, in the dark, with the dead pig lying a few feet away. Mongoose watched them with his head atilt, as if he understood every word.
    If the pig were carried to his house, Zackie explained, his father would claim it because it had been shot with his gun. "And the trouble is, we will not have it to eat, even though there is no other food in the house. What him will do is sell it and buy rum to stay drunk on."
    "So what should we do?" Peter asked.
    "When me did leave your house the first time, Peter, Miss Lorrie was waiting by the kitchen door. She did say me can leave the pig at her house. So that's where we must go, Peter, to her house. She will sell the pig and give me the money."
    "And what will you do with the money?" Peter asked. "Buy food with it?"
    "Only with some of it. The rest me will put