Power of the Sword - Smith Wilbur. Страница 92

Here, Digger, here! howled Max, lying back deep but ready to race up when the ball came clear.

Then Bunty hit his third and last scorcher of the day, right in the sweet spot of the hardwood mallet head, but the ball flew only a few feet before it hit the fore hoof of the Natal back's pony and rebounded under Bunty's stirrups, kicking back into the Weltevreden deep field, right out in the open.

Shasa had anticipated almost instantly and sent Tiger Shark away. He tapped the ball to change its direction and then wheeled Tiger Shark so sharply that the pony went down on his haunches.

Ha! Shasa put his heels in and the pony launched himself into full stride with the ball dribbling along just ahead of him.

Shasa leaned out, concentrating all his attention on the little white ball as it popped and flicked erratically, and he got the head of his mallet to it again, putting top spin on the ball so that it came under control and flew low across the turf, aimed at the Natal goal two hundred yards ahead.

Tiger Shark followed it beautifully, easing out to precisely the right distance for Shasa to get a full shot at it. Plum Pudding couldn't have judged it better, and Shasa hit it again with a neat click of wood on wood, and the ball skipped obediently ahead of him. He looked up over the ball and there was the Natal goal dead ahead, only one hundred and fifty yards away, and a kind of savage joy filled him as he realized that instead of merely holding Natal to the draw, they really did have a chance to win.

Hal he called to Tiger Shark, Hal And the big animal plunged forward under him. At the same moment Max Theunissen on Nemesis wheeled onto the line ahead and rode directly at him.

Down the throat, was the term that described this most hazardous of all interception angles. On two powerful and swift animals they were charging each other down the throat; the roar from the grandstand faded into a horrified hush, and the spectators rose to their feet in unison.

Shasa had only once before witnessed a head-on collision between two big horses at full gallop. That had been at the trials before the Argentinian test match the previous year.

He had been in the top row of the stand and he had heard the bones break clearly from there. One of the riders had burst his spleen and died later in hospital; the other had broken both legs. Afterwards they had shot the ponies as they lay in the middle of the field.

My line! he yelled at Max Theunissen as they swept towards each other.

Damn you, Courtney! Max yelled back defiantly. He had regained his courage, and he glared at Shasa over his pony's head; Shasa saw in his eyes that he was going to force the collision and he shifted slightly in the saddle. Tiger Shark felt it and flinched. They were going to give way, and then without warning Shasa was overwhelmed by the berserker's deadly passion.

Even from the stand Blaine Malcomess sensed it. He recognized that what had seized Shasa was not ordinary courage, rather it was a type of madness, the same madness that had once driven Blaine himself out into no man's land, alone with only a grenade in his hand, straight into the winking red eyes of the German Maxim guns.

He saw Shasa check Tiger Shark's turn and instead force him the opposite way, heading him directly at the black stallion, moving across the line of the ball in a deliberate challenge. it seemed that time slowed for Shasa. His vision was suddenly concentrated to brilliant clarity; he could see the wet pink mucous membrane deep in the flared nostrils of the great stallion in front of him; he could define each minute bubble in the froth that foamed from the corners of his mouth around the snaffle irons, each stiff black bristle in the charcoal velvet of his muzzle, each blood vessel in the lacework that covered the bloodshot corners of the stalhon's eyes and each individual lash that surrounded them.

Shasa looked over the black stallion's head into Max's face. It was contorted with fury. He saw the tiny blisters of sweat on Max's chin, and the gap between his square white incisors as his lips were drawn back in a rictus of determination, and he looked into Max's brown eyes and held their gaze.

It was too late, Shasa judged; they had left it too late to avoid the collision, and as he thought it he saw the sudden shock in Max's face, saw his lips crumple and the flesh of his cheeks frost over with terror and watched him jerk back in the saddle and drag Nemesis head around, pulling him off the line, breaking away right, only just in time.

Shasa swept past him, brushing him aside almost contemptuously, and with the passion still upon him he rose in the stirrups and struck the ball hard and true, driving it between the centre of the posts.

Blaine was still on his feet in the stand as the teams came in, and Shasa was flushed with triumph looking up at him for approbation, and though Blaine gave him only an airy wave and friendly smile, he was almost as exultant as Shasa.

By God, the lad has the makings, he told himself. He really has got it. And he sat down again beside Isabella. She saw his expression; she knew him so well. She knew how desperately he had wanted a son, and the reason for his interest in the boy. It made her feel inadequate and useless and angry.

That child is reckless and irresponsible. She could not help herself, even though she knew that her censure would have the opposite effect on Blaine. He doesn't give a fig for anybody else, but then the Courtneys have always been like that. Some people call it guts, Blaine murmured.

An ugly word for an ugly trait. She knew she was being shrewish; she knew there was a limit to his forbearance, but she could not help this self-destructive urge to try and hurt him. He is like his mother - and she saw the anger snap in Blaine's eyes as he rose to his feet, cutting her off.

I'll see if I can get you some lunch, my dear. He strode away, and she wanted to cry after him: I'm sorry, it was only because I love you so!

Isabella ate no red meat, for it seemed to aggravate her condition, so Blaine was contemplating the display of prawns and crayfish, clams and mussels and fish which formed the centrepiece of the buffet, a pyramid taller than his head, such a veritable work of art that it seemed sacrilegious to make the first inroad upon it. He was not alone in his reluctance; the display was surrounded by an admiring cluster of guests exclaiming with delight and admiration so that Blaine was not aware of Centaine's approach until she spoke just behind his shoulder.

Whatever did you say to my son, Colonel, that turned him into a savage? And he turned quickly, trying to cover the guilty delight that he felt at her closeness. Oh yes, I saw you talking to him before the last chukka, she went on.

Man talk, I'm afraid, not for tender ears. She laughed softly. 'Whatever it was, it worked. Thank you, Blaine. No need for that, the lad did it himself. That last goal was as plucky an effort as I've seen in a long time. He is going to be good, very good indeed. Do you know what I thought as I watched it? she asked softly, and he shook his head, leaning closer for her reply.

I thought Berlin, she told him softly, and he was perplexed for a moment. Then it dawned upon him.

Berlin 1936. The Olympic Games, and he laughed. She must be joking. From junior league to the seniors was the distance to the moon and the stars. Then he saw her expression and he stopped laughing.

You really are serious! He stared at her.

Of course, I won't be able to afford to keep his ponies.

But his grandfather loves to watch him play. He will help, and if he had the advice and encouragement of a really top man, She gave a graceful little shrug, and it was a moment before he could recover from his astonishment sufficiently to reply.

You never fail to amaze me. Is there nothing you won't reach for? Then he saw the sudden, sly, lascivious gleam in her eye, and he went on hurriedly, I withdraw the question, madam. For a moment they looked at each other with the veil stripped aside, their eyes and their love naked for anyone to see. Then Centaine broke the contact.