Free Rora by James Byron Huggins Page B

one bite at a time!"
    He spoke louder, watching them closely. "If ten men attack you at the same time, you must move quickly, hit fast and keep mo ving! Make it so they can only come at you one at a time! If you're fighting outside, put the sun at your back! If that's not possible, keep the sun on your right! Make them retreat! Make them back up! And don't give them time to look around! Try to gain the highest piece of ground and shout when you strike! It frightens your enemy and encourages you!"
    One man spoke, "What about fighting inside buildings? Going room to room?"
    "In buildings," Gianavel answered, "always fight with the door to your back or to your right! Make sure there is nothing behind you and that there is free space to your left! Chase the enemy to your left and don't give him time to look around to see what's in the room! Make him trip! Make him fall! Use the entire room to your advantage!"
    He could see their spirits rising. "What do you see coming against us? Siege engines? Cannons? Brooms and dragoons and cavalry? A dragon?"
    No one answered.
    Gianavel paused, his voice falling low and controlled. "Once you have had one or two clashes with the dragon, you will know that they are but men. They live like you. They bleed like you. What will hurt you will hurt them. Yes, they have siege engines—mortars and cannons and cavalry. So do we! They have men with rifles! So do we! They have their cause! So do we! But they fight for money! We fight for our families and our freedom to believe! For a salvation no man can take from us!"
    Standing before them, the Captain of Rora said slowly, "Only if a man fears death ...can death conquer him."
    Along the line there was silence, stillness.
    Bertino's stout visage lifted slightly, watching Gianavel with hard eyes, a grim frown. The others, too, were solemn and unmoving, watching steadily.
    Slowly Gianavel nodded. "Take a platoon into the pass," he spoke to Bertino. "You know what to do."
    " Oui !" Bertino caught his rifle. "Come," he said to those around him. "We have work to do."
    In a moment they dropped over the crest of El Combe, moving for the forest where they would drop trees and boulders into the pass itself, making it more difficult to climb. They had prepared avalanches and half-hewn trees that could be dropped on entire battalions as well as powder -kegs that could destroy dozens at once.
    Gianavel knew they would need every advantage when this battle was joined. He had overlooked nothing, he hoped, but there was no way to be certain. Nothing was so small that it could not be used to an advantage; a man needed only to keep searching. But all he could do for the moment was continue to search.
    "Again," he said and stepped through the lines to stand behind them. "In battle you'll only shoot half as well as you shoot in practice, so practice must be perfect! Again and again and again!"
    Steadily, they fired.
    Steadily, targets fell.
    * * *

     
    Chapter 5
     
    Roasted pheasant warmed before the hearth as Gianavel JLJ leaned his rifle beside the door and entered their cottage. He caught Jacob in his arms and lifted him high as the girls also rushed forward and embraced him. When he looked at Angela again, he was stunned to feel how her smile made this moment seem as though it was all there was in the world, and that the rest was only a bad dream from which he'd awakened.
    Unaware of how tired his legs were until he sat, Gianavel wearily stretched out his arms and embraced the children again. Then, smiling, Angela walked forward and collapsed on the couch, crushing the girls against Gianavel's chest. Muffled screams and laughter lasted until Angela leaned back, feigning surprise.
    "Go," she said to the girls and Jacob. "I need to talk to your papa for a minute." She silenced their remonstrations one by one, and in a few minutes they were alone.
    Gianavel softly touched her hair as she gazed at him. Neither of them hurried to speak and break the moment. They were alive