reckon The Preacher told me that Javier is trying to better his brother. Pablo never wanted to raid trains or steal the railroad payroll, so Javier will now do precisely that. Turner was serving life for various bank raids and his last failed ambush happened to be on a railroad payroll where he tried to blow up the pass they were going through. And two days ago a crate of dynamite got stolen from the train.’
‘And so, based on the babbling of a madman and your hunch, you reckon Javier will blow up the pass?’
‘That’s what it amounts to.’
‘That’s a long way short,’ Shackleton said, ‘of you leading us directly to Javier Rodriguez like you promised. This is over.’
Shackleton gestured to Kurt to tie Nathaniel up, but Nathaniel edged back out of his range.
‘How will you feel if you hear later that Javier did raid the payroll and you weren’t there?’
Shackleton winced, then looked at Kurt, who shook his head, leaving Elwood to make the final decision. As usual Elwood didn’t provide an immediate answer.
So, taking advantage of Elwood’s rumination, Nathaniel swirled round to face The Preacher. He wanted to grab his shoulders and shake him until he gave him a straight answer. Any chance of their being treated leniently depended on their working out where Javier was. He wanted to impress that upon The Preacher, but he forced himself to accept that he would have to speak to The Preacher on his terms.
‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,’ he said, starting with something they had always agreed upon.
‘Exodus twenty-one, verse twenty-four,’ The Preacher said.
‘The brother casts his net wide,’ Nathaniel said, uttering a few half-remembered words from one of The Preacher’s many quotes which, he had decided, referred to Javier.
‘All men lie in wait to shed blood,’ The Preacher said, looking past his shoulder into the pass. ‘Each hunts his brother with a net, Micah seven, verse two.’
‘We shouldn’t listen,’ Elwood said, ‘to any more of this nonsense.’
‘Wait!’ Nathaniel said. ‘The Preacher’s trying to tell us something. We’re lying in wait and Pablo’sbrother is out there trying to kill the memory of his brother by raiding this—’
‘I don’t know who’s worse,’ Kurt snapped. ‘Him for spouting this nonsense, or you for thinking it’s not nonsense. For a start, Javier ain’t hunting his brother and he hasn’t got a net.’
‘He’s speaking in a different way from the way we do!’ Nathaniel said, then forced himself to calm down before he spoke again to The Preacher. ‘That hunt must end one day.’
The Preacher nodded. ‘A mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, Revelation eighteen, verse twenty-one.’
‘That’s enough,’ Kurt said, slapping a hand on Nathaniel’s shoulder, but Nathaniel threw him off.
‘And the ungodly deserved it,’ Nathaniel urged.
‘Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine, Samuel fifteen, verse five.’
This comment made Kurt stay his hand and look at The Preacher.
‘Is he trying to tell us something, after all?’ he asked.
Nathaniel ran all the comments through his mind, trying to think what he could say next to get something more meaningful from him. The Preacher had mentioned ambush, brother, ravine, boulder….
He noted that The Preacher was still staring over his shoulder. He swirled round, then sat beside the man to see what it was that he had been staring at.
And there, 500 yards away at the mouth of the pass and less than half that distance from the recedingline of men guarding the payroll was a massive boulder . It stood on an eroded outcrop of rock 200 feet above ground level, waiting for time and the elements to send it crashing down into the pass.
Nathaniel lunged for Kurt’s telescope and put it to his eye. After several sweeps he sighted the boulder. Magnified, it appeared to be in an even more precarious position
‘And so, based on the babbling of a madman and your hunch, you reckon Javier will blow up the pass?’
‘That’s what it amounts to.’
‘That’s a long way short,’ Shackleton said, ‘of you leading us directly to Javier Rodriguez like you promised. This is over.’
Shackleton gestured to Kurt to tie Nathaniel up, but Nathaniel edged back out of his range.
‘How will you feel if you hear later that Javier did raid the payroll and you weren’t there?’
Shackleton winced, then looked at Kurt, who shook his head, leaving Elwood to make the final decision. As usual Elwood didn’t provide an immediate answer.
So, taking advantage of Elwood’s rumination, Nathaniel swirled round to face The Preacher. He wanted to grab his shoulders and shake him until he gave him a straight answer. Any chance of their being treated leniently depended on their working out where Javier was. He wanted to impress that upon The Preacher, but he forced himself to accept that he would have to speak to The Preacher on his terms.
‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,’ he said, starting with something they had always agreed upon.
‘Exodus twenty-one, verse twenty-four,’ The Preacher said.
‘The brother casts his net wide,’ Nathaniel said, uttering a few half-remembered words from one of The Preacher’s many quotes which, he had decided, referred to Javier.
‘All men lie in wait to shed blood,’ The Preacher said, looking past his shoulder into the pass. ‘Each hunts his brother with a net, Micah seven, verse two.’
‘We shouldn’t listen,’ Elwood said, ‘to any more of this nonsense.’
‘Wait!’ Nathaniel said. ‘The Preacher’s trying to tell us something. We’re lying in wait and Pablo’sbrother is out there trying to kill the memory of his brother by raiding this—’
‘I don’t know who’s worse,’ Kurt snapped. ‘Him for spouting this nonsense, or you for thinking it’s not nonsense. For a start, Javier ain’t hunting his brother and he hasn’t got a net.’
‘He’s speaking in a different way from the way we do!’ Nathaniel said, then forced himself to calm down before he spoke again to The Preacher. ‘That hunt must end one day.’
The Preacher nodded. ‘A mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, Revelation eighteen, verse twenty-one.’
‘That’s enough,’ Kurt said, slapping a hand on Nathaniel’s shoulder, but Nathaniel threw him off.
‘And the ungodly deserved it,’ Nathaniel urged.
‘Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine, Samuel fifteen, verse five.’
This comment made Kurt stay his hand and look at The Preacher.
‘Is he trying to tell us something, after all?’ he asked.
Nathaniel ran all the comments through his mind, trying to think what he could say next to get something more meaningful from him. The Preacher had mentioned ambush, brother, ravine, boulder….
He noted that The Preacher was still staring over his shoulder. He swirled round, then sat beside the man to see what it was that he had been staring at.
And there, 500 yards away at the mouth of the pass and less than half that distance from the recedingline of men guarding the payroll was a massive boulder . It stood on an eroded outcrop of rock 200 feet above ground level, waiting for time and the elements to send it crashing down into the pass.
Nathaniel lunged for Kurt’s telescope and put it to his eye. After several sweeps he sighted the boulder. Magnified, it appeared to be in an even more precarious position
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