The Vicky Series: Book 3: Living A Dream

Chapter 26

"I am." Quin shook his head. "And we know how that turned out, don't we."

Kit chuckled and Quin shook his head again at the lousy hand they'd been dealt. Kit was right. There was nothing they could do for the moment but hold their ground. Hold their ground and pray that something changed. He was forced to join the Colonel and his men for the next hour as wave after wave kept him pinned in place.

When at last he made his way back to his post he was pleased to see the young corporal was still holding his own, although he had an arrow in his leg. Quin frowned and hurried to his side in a crouch.

"Keep me covered, son." He said as he pulled out his knife.

He enlarged the cut in the trouser leg and saw the arrow was sunk deep. It would cause more damage to pull it out than it would to push it through. Quin frowned and cut away the trouser leg then cut it into strips. The first he wrapped above the cut and tied down as tight as he could.

"Take it easy Major." the boy said through clenched teeth as he turned his eyes back to the horizon again. "It didn't hurt that much when the arrow hit me the first time."

"Well, I'm sure it didn't hurt as much as this will either." Quin said as he gripped the arrow shaft low and leaned forward.

The young corporal screamed as Quin pushed it the last few inches through. He broke the shaft and tossed the fletching aside before he grabbed the bloodied head and pulled it the rest of the way through. His first binding served to slow the bleeding in lieu of a tourniquet. Now he acted swiftly to use the rest of the cloth to pad and bind the wound as tight as he dared.

"Sorry Corporal." Quin offered as the young man shook his head and blew a breath as he fought to remain conscious.

Quin grabbed up his rifle again and fired as a warrior leap from his horse at them. His momentum knocked Quin into the ground. Throwing the body off he turned back to the corporal to see the young man had already turned back to the battle though he was pale as a bed sheet. His jaw was clenched tight and sweat poured from his brow.

The boy was in obvious pain, but he was alive and most likely would walk again if infection didn't set in. They needed to get the hell out of here so he could properly treat that wound. The enemy lines scattered again as the howitzers alternately fired four consecutive rounds. Quin sent up a prayer that they wouldn't run out of cannon shot!

The hours passed in an endless repetition as the enemy was reinforced more quickly than the soldiers could reduce their numbers. The odds were growing worse. At that moment Quin had to roll out of the way of another warrior. As he did so he grabbed up his pistol and fired. As he threw the body off him he realized the sky was dimming.

It would set in a few hours and then they'd be in real trouble. The bugler sounded retreat and Quin knew Kit had the same thought. It was difficult to get the sick and wounded mounted while keeping off the enemy attack but the artillery boys were able to discourage the enemy from mounting a full attack and swarming them as they made a fighting retreat.

Quin hadn't dared to hope for as much as the village they'd come through in the morning came into view. As they passed through it now, Carson ordered it burned behind them. Not that it would serve much of a purpose at this point, except maybe to provide a distraction and the smoke might give a little cover for their continued retreat.

Out in the open as they were, even mounted and moving they were in a bad spot. And the enemy knew it. The warriors continued to flank the retreating soldiers as they rained arrows upon them and charged in an attempt to break their ranks and get to the howitzers. The men knew that the artillery was the only advantage they had and guarded it well.