[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Having also served with Davis as an outrider, Garth liked and trusted him.Despite being Garth’s senior by at least three years Davis held no grudge; as Big Jon Lamon had not so long ago observed, a boss’s job was onerous, bearing a great weight of responsibility.And while Davis was no slouch, still he preferred to be led rather than to lead.Moreover he recognized Garth’s leadership potential from their time together as scavs and outriders, and he valued the younger man’s friendship.Stationed with Davis at a vantage point looking out over a broad, misted stream, one of Big Jon’s “volunteers”—a fresh-faced, nervously thoughtful young man called Gavin Carter, not much older than Garth himself—seemed in the flickering glow of electric torchlight for some reason to appear very pale and shivery.Having noticed this at a glance, Garth asked what was wrong; when last he’d stopped by here all had been well.“Oh, young Gavin will be all right,” Davis shrugged it off.“He thought he saw something out across the stream, that’s all.We were sitting on that old log there when I suddenly felt him slump against me.If you ask me I’d say he’d simply nodded off for a second, but after he bumped into me he shot awake scared for his life! That was just a moment ago, right before you got here.”Nodded off? It was easily done, as Garth was only too well aware! As for being scared: but wasn’t that entirely understandable, too, of a highly-strung impressionable young fellow out here in the dark and the mist? Of course it was…and yet:“Scared?” Garth stared hard into Carter’s eyes.“Scared of what, Gavin? What was it you think you saw? Or is it just that you knew you shouldn’t be falling asleep?”The other licked dry lips, shivered again and said, “First off, I didn’t nod off…at least I don’t think so.It was—oh, I don’t know—more like I had fainted or something! Except I don’t think it was that either! Maybe it was some kind of daydream: scary pictures in my head that were there and then gone; something out there, across the stream…” For a moment as Carter paused, his wide unblinking eyes turned from Garth and gazed fearfully out over the writhing mist and darkly swirling water.But then, giving himself a shake, he sheepishly added: “Anyway, I’m sorry if I’ve let anyone down and…and it’s not going to happen again.”Garth took his arm, gripped it and said, “It’s okay, and no harm done, Gavin.But you still haven’t said what you think you saw.It could be important.”Eric Davis, who of course knew of the changes in the watchkeeping routines, if not why they’d been made or why he must be quiet about them, frowned and said, “Important? How, important? What’s going on, Garth?”“Nothing special,” Garth lied, releasing Carter and turning toward his friend.“Just a theory Big Jon and my father seem to have cooked up between them.I don’t understand it myself!” And before Davis or Carter could question him further, he added: “I shouldn’t worry too much about it…” And then, to Carter: “But Gavin—if you should have any more of these faints—well, I suppose you can always tell me about them later, okay?”“I’m truly sorry, Garth,” Carter answered him.“But anyway, like I said, it won’t happen again.I’ll stay sharp, and that’s a promise.”“That’s okay then,” said Garth, slowly nodding his forbearance (while in fact itching to know more) but reluctant to pursue the matter in the presence of the inquisitive Davis.Beside which, and as he had suggested, he could always speak to Carter later; if not tonight, perhaps tomorrow.And anyway it was time he was moving on from here.Thus, deep in thought as he went—but with all five of his senses tinglingly aware of the night and in tune with the darkness as never before—Garth got on with his patrol…Except for the sure knowledge that fly-by-nights were out there in some force in the dark beyond the perimeters, knowledge that was common to the other squad bosses and almost every experienced watchkeeper except perhaps the dullest and least sensitive, the rest of Garth’s duty hours that night stayed mainly free of troubling occurrences.The only exception came toward morning, something less than an hour before first light, when a weary Garth visited the most northerly junction of perimeters and met up with the phlegmatic Don Myers who had arrived at the same sentry point while patrolling his own adjoining stretch of the perimeter.On this occasion, however, the normally dour Myers seemed much more disposed toward conversation, and after Garth had spoken to his men the older squad boss took his elbow and drew him aside.“Garth,” he said then without preamble, “how about it, eh? I mean…what do you think?”“What do I think?” Garth was mystified.“About what?”“Why, about what’s going on here, of course!” Myers rasped.“Or rather—” and he flicked an urgent, suspicious glance into the unknown night, “—what’s going on out there!”“Out there?” Garth repeated him listlessly.“What, you mean the movement?” He spoke inadvertently, without thinking what he was saying, and only then considered his words.But the other had immediately tightened his grip on Garth’s elbow.“Ah!” he said.“So you have felt it, eh?” And he glanced this way and that, and once again into the swirling mist beyond the perimeter before continuing: “Yes, the movement! Damn right that’s what I mean! They’re on the move, these bloody things!”And finally it struck home: that insidious, flowing motion that Garth had been sensing all along, without that it had registered as anything especially sinister.A thing of the mind—a mental thing, more often sensed than visible—yet stemming from a physical source.Oh, sinister enough, certainly, as anything remotely connected with fly-by-nights always was; but at the same time cloaked in this disarmingly dreamy inertia, this hypnotic effect, with which Garth, the other watchkeepers, and perhaps even a majority of the clan as a whole had become so—but so what?—so familiar, that it had indeed bred contempt in them…or if not contempt, then at least some kind of acceptance or leaning towards the inevitable!Donald Myers was nodding his head knowingly.“Oh yes, I can see that you’ve definitely felt it! And so have I, often—and mainly ignored it, at least until tonight—until it changed!”“A movement, yes,” said Garth thoughtfully.“But haven’t we known about it, been aware of it, for quite some time now—at least a week or more? Haven’t we spoken of it at some length to Big Jon Lamon and the other elders? Isn’t it common knowledge?” Now he felt as though he was arguing with himself!“Yes, yes!” Myers answered, impatiently.“But that was when the bloody things were only watching us, keeping up with us and doing bugger all else! I reckoned maybe it was because there weren’t enough of them to mount an attack, but—”“Not recently!” said Garth, cutting him short
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]