The March North Read Online Free Page B

through as whole files, which left the other three files on each tube doing tube-shield work or filling and re-digging the berms when the tubes moved. Neither Part-Captainnor Master Gunner felt making the crews move stacked short shot appropriate to a first game of catch. The crews are not so good at digging or the tube-shields, which is no surprise; doctrine says you have a whole heavy battalion covering your battery, hopefully your artillery battalion, if you’re taking return fire.
    Lots of pen-scratching as the company clerk completes a fair copy. Neater columns,full notes, and no blots.
    “Those are strong platoons”, Blossom says, nearly silent. Whispers carry, speaking without force does not.
    I nod. It’s one of the frustrations. Nothing the company regularly does taxes the individual platoons, motivation to more fully cohere the company is lacking in regular work.
    “Three’s sergeant is unusually talented.” Blossom’s more quiet saying this.
    “So is One’s.”A reason to promote Toby, despite youth. Talent for the Power matters to ease of acquiring skill with any focus, it’s not merely a substantial individual contribution.
    “Three’s moreso than One’s”, Blossom says, voice strangely sorcerous while the Part-Captain’s face stays entirely the battery-commander’s, watching the caissons rumble up to the waiting artillery tubes.
    The artillery hitches up;they get back up the road to the bluff-top and lunch first, having won. The company doesn’t feel over-grumbly, coming after, and the marching is still smart. I’ll make something of them yet.

Chapter 5
    Marching back into town gets us some looks.
    The artillery going first is just odd; five tonnes of sheep with blood drying in its underwool and eel-tree ichor splattered all over the rest of it is unexpected.
    Rust has found a couple of horse-favouring town kids happy to earn some money by making much of the horse-ghost’s feeding and grooming. It’s essential to the ghost to have contactwith some technical variety of innocence Rust is unable to provide. A delegation of matrons resulted; Blossom was able to reassure them with impeccable tact that the definition of innocence was on the order of “never summoned a demon”. Since good Creeks don’t do any such thing, and even more do not mark themselves as suitable for consumption should a demon arrive, all was well.
    Halt’s comprehensivedefinition — never consumed a human soul, never slaked wrath by wide killing, and, oh yes, never coerced a bound demon into a shape empty of all but pain — was not provided to the matrons. Even more fortunately, Halt’s oddly wistful expression was not observed by any townsfolk at all.
    The true list is longer, and gets into strange technical questions of removal of the will and self; it’s quiteall right, apparently, to send someone quietly to sleep in the middle of attacking you. Overriding the will in lesser actual degree to make them more willing to obey is not.
    Eustace has no such requirements; Halt’s wave sent Eustace into an inadequately fenced paddock shining clean by a mechanism no more apparently strenuous than the waving hand.
    It’s only two days in ten for drill. So the sergeantsand their dents are dismissed with their platoons, and the Quartermaster’s clerks make a point of letting the public houses know the company is being dismissed thirsty, and I get to figure out how to use the next four days.
    Which is why the Captain’s House has a meeting room.
    “Part-Captain; how is your battery for ammunition?”
    “Expended fifty shot per tube, all short black-black-black. Full caissonshave an even hundred per tube of that. Resupply is slow” — the Creeks have no canal or Hard Road connection to the rest of the Commonweal, there’s an inescapable slow haul with waggons for a hundred-odd straight-line kilometres and four days of decent but very twisty road over the Folded Hills, that were towering mountains once and are