Culpepper's Cannon Read Online Free Page B

face in disgust. “War is such a nasty business.” He sighed. “But still, it must be done, mustn’t it?” He looked back down at the desk and picked up Amos’s digital wristwatch. Amos had asked for it for Christmas last year because with a push of a button it converted to a Space Zowies video game. But he had broken the wristband, so he kept it in his pocket.
    â€œOh, look at this!” the captain said. “There’s numbers on it!”
    â€œIt’s a watch, sir.”
    â€œA watch? But there are no hands. Eight forty-five. That is the right time. But—oh my goodness! It just changed to eight forty-six!”
    â€œIt’s called a digital watch, sir.”
    â€œA digital watch?”
    â€œYes, sir, and there’s more to it than that. It’s also a video game.”
    â€œA video game?” The captain looked back up at Amos. “Do you play that on a football field?”
    â€œNo, sir. Let me show you.” He walked around the desk and leaned over the captain’s shoulder. “Now,” he said, “when you push this button …” He pushed the mode button, and the time disappeared. Little Space Zowies started to descend toward the bottom of the screen. “And now you shoot them with this button.” He pushed the fire button, and one of the Zowies disappeared in a tiny digital explosion.
    â€œOh, my heavens!” the captain cried. “Let me try!” He pulled the watch away from Amos’s fingers and started pushing the buttons. There was another tiny digital explosion.
    â€œI got one!”
    â€œGood for you, sir.”
    â€œMy, but this is good fun.” The captain was leaning over the desk now, too absorbed in the invasion of the Space Zowies to worry about a suspected spy. Amos slipped quietly out the canvas door of the tent and disappeared into the darkness.

• 6
    It was close to midnight now, and cold. Amos had been hiding in a stack of barrels near the southeast corner of the plaza for hours, waiting for the plaza to clear. There was a huge pile of boxes fifty yards west of the monument. He had been watching it for hours and had seen no movement. If Dunc was hiding there, he had hidden himself well.
    The plaza was empty now except for one guard who was patrolling its perimeter. Every time he passed Amos, he walked slower and paid less attention. Amos figured threeor four more rounds, and the guard would be walking in his sleep.
    Amos rubbed his legs. He had been sitting cross-legged for a long time, and they were starting to get numb. He didn’t try to stretch them out. A little brown spotted dog had crawled up in his lap and fallen asleep. Amos didn’t mind. The little guy kept him warm.
    Amos peered around the barrel directly in front of him and watched the guard. He had quit walking around the plaza and was leaning against a building on the far side. Amos watched as his head started to fall then bob back up again. He did it over and over until his head looked like a yo-yo. Finally it went down and didn’t come back up. Amos waited. The guard’s knees started to bend, and a moment later he slid down the wall to the ground and collapsed in a little heap. Amos woke the dog up and it yipped in complaint, then crawled out of his lap and settled itself against a barrel to sleep again. Amos stood up.
    The hours of sitting had left pains like long needles in his knees, and he had totake a few minutes to rub them out. When they were gone, he looked around the plaza again. Except for the sleeping guard it was empty. He starting tiptoeing toward the monument. Halfway there, a door opened on the far side of the plaza. Yellow lamplight streamed out and framed the silhouette of Bremish as he stepped into the night.
    Amos froze like a rabbit caught on the freeway in a pair of headlights, half frightened out of his wits. The sergeant stood in the doorway of the building with his hands on his hips and