Free Demontech: Rally Point: 2 (Demontech Book 2) by David Sherman Page A

him knowing.
    “That’s a good place for a camp,” Fletcher said. “I don’t think anybody in the company could have found a better one.”
    Haft grunted in reply, but the compliment pleased him.
    They didn’t have to wait long until the rest of the company came into view; already they heard the clop-clop of horses, and the creaking and rumbling of wagons following the horses.

 

CHAPTER
SIX
    Four horsemen came first: Spinner led, Alyline rode at his side. Silent and Xundoe were close behind. They reined up next to Haft and Fletcher.
    “All’s quiet?” Spinner asked.
    “Only birds and bears and lots of deer,” Haft said. He decided not to mention the pug of cat or the feral dog pack, they weren’t food and they didn’t present a danger to the company. He looked to the side. “There’s a glade right over there big enough for a bivouac. Complete with running water. The rest of the scouts,” he shot a glance at Fletcher, “are making sure we’re alone.”
    “Where’s Wolf?”
    Haft shrugged.
    “Well, if there was danger nearby Wolf would have alerted you.” Spinner looked into the trees where Haft had looked. “Can our wagons get through there?”
    “If they go slowly,” Fletcher said. “There’s enough room between the trees.”
    “Then lead on.”
    Fletcher turned and led the way into the trees. Haft stayed by the road to make sure everybody followed. First came a squad of Skraglander Guards on foot, looking very fierce and unmilitary in their homespun, furs, and horned helmets. Next came the rest of the Zobran Border Warders, mounted, in their forest-blending uniforms, followed closely by a squad each of Zobran Royal Lancers and Prince’s Swords in their differing blues, and a squad of Zobran Light Horse in yellow. The wagons carrying the small children and the company’s goods trailed the Zobrans. Pisau and another Kondive sea soldier, along with a quartet of sea soldiers from the Easterlies—all soft-footed men—provided guard on the wagons. Other soldiers, mostly Skragland Guards and Borderers, walked in the forest as flank security for them. After the wagons came a motley of armed men, again mostly competent Skraglanders, and a few Bostians who managed to flee their country before it was completely overrun. The group included men who in the past had served in a number of armies and men who had never served under arms, but had become willing to do so. Bringing up the rear, Sergeant Phard led the two squads of Skraglander Bloody Axes in fur cloaks that bore the distinctive maroon stripes of their unit.
    Soon enough, the company was in the bivouac. The animals and birds that called the glade home vacated in the face of the human invasion. Salt-licking and bloodsucking insects stayed, as did a few buzzing bees. The horses were cooled and watered, curried, put on tether lines, and fed. The women and children set about hearthing cook fires and gathering what few edibles were available in the clearing and the forest fringe. When the scouts came in to report that they’d found no sign of anybody in the area they brought carcasses with them, three deer and a wild boar. Everyone cheered at sight of the game. That night they would eat better than they had in more than a week. Women happily abandoned the small hearths they’d made in favor of the larger hearth pits the men dug to roast the game.
    Spinner and Haft set out watch posts and sent Fletcher with several men downstream from the camp to dig privy trenches under the trees. Most of the soldiers had at first objected to the nonsense, their word, of digging latrines downstream away from camp. They didn’t care what Lord Gunny Says , the legendary Handbook for Sea Soldiers of the Frangerian Marines, had to say about field sanitation. To the knowledge of most soldiers, books were written by people who hadn’t done any of the things claimed in them. As time passed though, they couldn’t deny that there was less illness in the company than among