Read Online Flight of the Eagles by Gilbert L. Morris - Free Book Online Page B

picked up the whip and lashed the horses into a dead run down the road.
    â€œHow long will it take the escort to get here?” Josh whispered to Crusoe.
    â€œAbout four hours—unless he meets a patrol already on the march. We’ve got to get loose.”
    â€œQuiet!” Onar suddenly stood over them. “You will not speak.” Then he looked at Crusoe and said, “Maybe you will talk. There is much that you can tell me before the Master returns. What is your name, Old One?”
    Crusoe tightened his lips and made no answer.
    His silence seemed to infuriate Onar. He seized the frail hunchback and carried him toward a clump of trees almost as easily as Volka would have done. When the pair was concealed by the thicket, Josh heard Onar ask a questionand pause. Then, instead of an answer, there was the sound of a blow being struck—then another, and many more.
    â€œHe’ll kill Crusoe,” Mat whispered in a fury. “Can’t any of you get loose?”
    â€œI can’t,” Sarah said.
    Volka groaned. “No, too tight.”
    Perhaps Onar had been in too much of a hurry, but Josh felt a slackness in the ropes around his wrists. He gasped with effort and was almost free when Mat warned him, “Watch out, Josh! He’s coming.”
    The hulking figure came toward them, carrying the limp body of Crusoe. He threw him down with a curse. “Stubborn fool!”
    Then his eyes lit on Sarah. He moved toward her and jerked her to her feet. “Maybe you will be more talkative,” he said. He moved with the frightened girl, now helpless in his grasp, toward the trees.
    â€œNo!” Josh cried.
    Onar glanced at him with an evil grin. “Don’t worry, boy, your time is coming—and you’ll be begging me to take her instead of you!”
    He laughed cruelly as he moved to the trees, but this time he was not concealed. His broad back was just visible.
    Josh grunted fiercely, and his hands finally broke free. At the same time, he heard Sarah cry out in pain. Blind with rage, Josh started to run to her aid, but Mat’s whisper stopped him.
    â€œNo, Josh! You won’t have a chance! The bow! Josh, the bow!”
    Mat nodded at a nearby tree, and Josh saw Onar’s bow and a full quiver of hunting arrows. He seized the bow and strung it in one smooth motion. Then he cocked an arrow and pulled it to his cheek. Suddenly he paused.
    â€œShoot! Shoot!” Mat urged.
    Josh had never loved hunting, though he had often accompanied his father on trips. Looking at Onar’s back, he realized that he was about to take a human life. Everything in his past said no.
    Yet, even as he wavered, Sarah cried out again.
    Mat whispered desperately, “They’ll kill Sarah, Josh. They’ll kill all of us, if you don’t get us away from here! And you can’t do it as long as Onar is alive!”
    Perhaps even this would not have been enough, but then there came into Josh’s mind the same faint voice that he had heard once before. He heard the words again, The House of Goél must be filled.
    Josh set his jaw and sent the arrow right through Onar’s broad back. The Servant grunted once, then fell forward.
    Josh ran and pulled the scarlet-clad form away from Sarah.
    â€œCome on. It’s all right now, but we have to hurry,” he urged.
    As he pulled her away, Josh took one clear look at the blood that stained the ground around Onar. He realized that he had lost something very precious. Never again, he knew, could he be the simple boy that he had been.
    They freed the others quickly.
    â€œWhat are we going to do about Tam and Jake?” Sarah asked.
    â€œWe can’t help them by staying here,” Josh said. “We’ll find some way to get them back later.”
    â€œWhere are we going?” Sarah asked as they moved toward the sea.
    Volka was carrying the limp form of Crusoe. The others carried the supplies.
    â€œWe’re