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a whiplash in it that his friends had never heard before. "Did I not say
'ofWales ' clearly enough for you to hear?"
"Why& " Edouard literally stammered, "is it not almost the same thing? I
meant "
"OfWales ," said Dafydd, still softly but implacably. "I am a Welsh archer,
one of that breed who were putting arrows where they were aimed while those
ofBritain still fumbled with string and sticks in their attempts to shoot a
short bow. OfWales ! I am a master of my trade and a greater master at it than
you are at yours, shipman. OfWales !"
Dafydd was tall already, but now he seemed to tower over all of them; and,
most of all, over Edouard, who was short by comparison even with Giles and
Brian, though broad-shouldered and able-looking.
"OfWales ," agreed Edouard meekly. "I crave your pardon, Master bowman. If
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what you say is true, then indeed there is hope this day for all of us. But it
is a slim hope, even at best; for we have no fighting castle on either bow or
stern from which you can loose your bolts. Yet, we will do our best to build
you some sort of shelter in the time that remains before we are caught by
Bloody Boots."
He turned to Jim and the other two knights.
"As for you, messires," he said, "I will suggest that you do your armoring
and whatsoever else is involved down in the forecastle out of sight. There is
no need to let them know our strength before they are upon us."
"Stay!" said Sir Brian, frowning. "It is not done that belted knights should
shelter behind a bowman; even such a bowman as Dafydd. We'll do our changing
on deck."
Edouard looked savage.
"Do you that, sir knight," he said, "and we throw away half the advantage
there is to be gained by you, your armor and your skill with weapons."
"Nonetheless " Brian was beginning; when Jim decided that he had better lose
no time in interfering.
"Brian, Giles," he interrupted, "perhaps we should have a private word by
ourselves; and perhaps the forecastle is not a bad place to do it. For one
thing, there is a matter with Secoh. Meanwhile, you, Master shipman, must
think of some way of hiding our horses from the sight of the other ship.
Perhaps you have odds and ends you can pile around them. So that if they do
not neigh, they will not be suspected until the other ship is so close it will
make no difference."
It was a little, thought Jim to himself in the wake of his own words, rather
like the lion tamer's trick of presenting a lion with the four legs of a
chair. Whether it was true or not he did not know; but he had been told that
the reason the chair legs baffled the lion was because they created a
conundrum in the animal mind. The question was which one of the four legs
menacing him should be batted down first; and while he hesitated, the tendency
to flee rather than fight or at least, back up, was likely to take control of
him.
Jim himself had just now confronted Brian and the others around him, not with
merely one but three things to be done; and while they sorted out their
objections to find the one with which they should argue, he was already
walking toward the entrance of the forecastle, all but herding the other two
knights and Secoh before him.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Getting Secoh down the stairs proved to be the largest problem. Even with his
wings folded, the doorway was a very tight fit for him; and although, being a
dragon, he was perfectly at home in darkness and enclosed spaces, the fact
that he had to head down the stairs to get to it in this case caused him to
hesitate.
However, Secoh had long since given up any self-acknowledgment that he could
be frightened by anything. So, even though it was somewhat gingerly, he wedged
himself through the doorway and made his way down the steps.
No more was said by Brian or Giles until they were all in the forecastle; but
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with all of them there, including Secoh, the space which might have held as
many as six or eight men was definitely crowded particularly for three men who
would be trying to get into armor and helping each other in the process. It
was apparent to all of them.
"Would you like to turn me back into a& human?" asked Secoh of Jim.
Jim felt a twinge of emotion. He knew now how little Secoh had liked losing
his dragon form for a human one.
"No, Secoh," he said, "I'm going to send you for help. All of you wait a
moment, would you please? I want to ask our shipmaster something more. I'll be
right back."
He turned to the ladder leading back up to the deck.
"James?" said Brian. "You called us aside to have a privy word with us; and
now instead of that you are off to talk to the shipmaster. This is strange
behavior, indeed. I should think "
"Bear with me, please, Brian," said Jim. "It's only a word I want. I'll just
go to the top of the ladder and call him. Then I'll be right back down. The
rest of you can listen if you like."
Without waiting for any agreement from Brian and in fact, he got none Jim
went on up the ladder and stuck his head out the opening to the forecastle
with its sliding door, which could be closed to keep out sea water that came
aboard, but which now was slid completely back to let some much-needed fresh
air into the rather smelly space below.
"Shipmaster!" Jim called. "Would you come here a minute? It's important!"
With his head out of the forecastle he was able to hear a sort of grumble
among the mixture of voices up toward the front of the boat beyond the
forecastle and out of his sight. Then, after a moment the sound of footsteps
thumped overhead and Edouard jumped lightly down opposite the forecastle door,
crouching over to look at Jim.
"What is it, sir knight?" he said. "If we are to build a protection for the
bowman, every moment counts "
"I know that. And I want Dafydd protected as much as anyone else possibly
more," said Jim. "But I've got a quick question for you. You're carrying no
cargo, are you?"
"Hmm," Edouard looked at him shrewdly for a moment, "you know something of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]