Read Online The Black Sword Trilogy: The Poacher by Jeffery VanMeter - Free Book Online Page B

language.” Holly said sternly.  “So how did ‘Hill Boy’ do on his first day?”
    Kenner looked at Holly with a hint of anger, but then softened when he saw the Sergeant give him a friendly wink.
    “Not bad.” Terry answered.  “He’s certainly not in my league; but he killed his fair share today.”
    “That’s good.  He needs to be killing as many of those foul beasts as possible.”
    “Give us a couple of days Sergeant, and Terri and I should be able to clear out that whole field.”
    “Do you hear that, Terri?” Holly asked with a hint of humor in his voice.  “This young man’s got some salt.”
    “He does indeed, Sergeant.”
    Sergeant Holly then patted Kenner on the shoulder.
    “Hold on to that confidence, lad.  When all else fails…hold on to that.”
    As Sergeant Holly walked away, Kenner turned to Terri.
    “What was that supposed to mean?”
    “Knowing Sergeant Holly; any number of things.”
     
                  With the horses saddled and bridled, Captain Krall, Sergeant Bobbra and three cavalry riders readied themselves to ride to Cordras. 
    “Sergeant Holly!” Captain Krall called out.  “It may sound a bit redundant, but you’re in charge until I get back.”
    “Yes, sir!”
    Captain Krall and his company then raced out the back gate.
     
                  After being served bread and gravy onto their metal plates, the soldiers filed into the barracks.  Each one selected an empty cot and settled down to their meal.  The barracks was the long building lined along one of the walls of the fort.  Inside was little more than wooden cots with straw piled on top of them and lined against the wall.  Opposite the back wall, were doors at ever three feet so that the soldiers could get out of the barracks quickly.  At the far end towards the back of the building was a large, wooden barrel.  When one soldier went and filled a cup, the others followed suit.
    “Help yourself.” Terri told Kenner.  “You get one ration a day, just like the rest of us.”
     
    After they had all started drinking, the company started talking amongst themselves about where they had been and what they had done to be sent to this posting.  The older soldiers were “regulars” who had joined of their own free will and been posted there; some nearly as long as a year.  They were meant to be posted at the fort for one year before being given thirty days of leave to go wherever they wanted and do whatever they wanted.  Then they were to be posted somewhere else.  The new soldiers were all petty criminals given the option of joining the Army of being more severely punished.
     
                  As they talked and laughed, they noticed a tall soldier with a dark expression get up and pour more ale into his cup.
    “Oi!” Said Terri.  “What makes you think you can have a second ration?”
    “Is there anyone here going to stop me?” He asked in response.  There was a wild look in his eyes; as if he hoped someone would confront him.  He sat down on his bunk, still glaring at Terri.
    “We’ll let you get away with it once,” Terri told him, “but not twice.”
    “And how do you intend to stop me?” He challenged.
    “Because there are a lot more of us than you.” Another soldier answered from out of the dark.  Kenner looked and saw at least twenty of the soldiers standing and holding their spears in the dim light.  The wild look dimmed from the man’s eyes.
     
                  As the men continued to talk; eventually, one of them asked Terri, “So what did you do to get sent here?  You don’t look like a regular soldier.”
    Terri laughed and finished the last few drops of ale in the cup.
    “I seduced the daughter of one of the elders of my village.”
    “I didn’t realize that was illegal.” Kenner said.
    “It is when you’re not quite what the elder had in mind for a husband for his daughter.”
    Kenner, at first seemed confused by the