The Thunder King (Bell Mountain) Read Online Free Page A

Spider, was with him: he had a fresh scalp tucked into his belt. Behind them came the burly old Abnak subchief, Uduqu. He would have some fresh scars to show for this fight.
    Helki grinned at Ryons. He cut a fantastic figure, with his wild mop of hair and his clothes that were nothing but a stained and grimy crazy-quilt of patches in every color you could think of.
    “Well, Your Majesty!” he said. “I don’t know whether to bow down to you or turn you over my knee and tan your hide! What the devil were you thinking of? But you saved the day, no doubt about it. When you and your lads piled into them, and they never expecting it, they lost their heads and took off like scared rabbits.”
    “I didn’t mean to do it!” Ryons said. His throat was sore. “The horse just ran off—I couldn’t stop him.”
    “And I think you’ve had enough of horseback riding for one day, Majesty,” said Uduqu. He tucked his bloody tomahawk into his belt and plucked Ryons from the saddle, holding him off the ground. His scarred and fierce face showed tenderness. “From the moment you were first brought into my wigwam and made sassy comments while we old chiefs smoked tree-beans, my heart went out to you. And when I saw you charge into the enemy and disappear among them, I grieved for you.”
    “You should have seen him, Your Majesty!” Hlah said. “He fought like six men, trying to get over there to save you. Old fool!” And Uduqu threw back his head and laughed.
    They all laughed, out of pure relief, and some of them shed tears; but they fell silent when Obst came riding down the slope on his white donkey and joined them.
    “He’s all right, Obst,” Helki said, “not a scratch on him.”
    Obst nodded. He looked around at all the warriors.
    “This day you have seen the salvation of the Lord, accomplished by the means of a boy and captive women,” he told them. “Remember it! And give thanks in your hearts to the true God, who has given you another victory.”
    Prayers went up in a dozen barbaric languages. But Helki said, “Our work’s not done. We have to see these women safely across the river, and then get ourselves safely back to Lintum Forest. I want trees over my head again!” And under his breath, he added, “Can’t help feeling naked out here under all this sky.”
     

CHAPTER 4
Faces in the Fire
    Wytt could find water by sniffing the air for it. Sometimes he seemed to find it by watching birds in the sky or studying the aimless maneuverings of insects.
    However he did it, without him, they would have died of thirst. Those plains south of the great river and west of Lintum Forest, which in good times fed the whole country, were now depopulated. The Heathen were coming; the people had fled, deserting their villages, abandoning their farms. They took all their livestock with them. Worse, they stopped up the wells so the enemy couldn’t drink from them. So there was no water, except where Wytt found it seeping from the ground or bubbling up in little springs. Neither Jack nor Ellayne had the slightest idea where to look for water in a country where there were no people.
    “It’s funny,” Martis mused, as they trekked on eastward. “This is Obann, my own country; but if I go any distance from the river, I discover that I don’t know Obann very well. Traveling along the river, you don’t have to worry about finding water.”
    Finding food was easier. There were peach orchards coming into fruit, blackberry patches, and plenty of rabbits running wild. The young ones were not as cautious as they would have been, had people and dogs remained in the country. Borrowing Jack’s slingshot, Martis had some success providing them with meat.
    “It’s so beautiful out here!” Ellayne said. Mounted on Dulayl with Jack, she had a good view of the plain in bloom—rippling waves of green grass, purple heather, pools of deep yellow where goldflowers clustered, and red and pink and white and powder-blue queens-slippers,