Saturday, October 05, 2013

a snippet a day..




In a very short time  the harness animals were hooked back to their vehicles, gun carriages included and the gold train got underway.
.............and the earth seemed to open up before them.  They were suddenly leaning down a spiraling vortex of light, a chromatic  tunnel...they had to walk quickly in order to avoid falling down...for some reason they were unable to go  the other way.  The horses had just returned and THEY were walking faster and faster...the wagons were rolling , pushing the teams ,on what used to be level ground.
"You men put the brakes on those wagons." shouted Captain Halsey." keep the drag heavy or the wagons will run over the horses."  
He might be a prisoner but things needed taken care of and it was still his command.  He was responsible and he continued to  give orders.
Everyone was up to a brisk walk now...they were moving regardless of whether they wanted to or not...it was walk swiftly or fall down ,slide and risk being trampled by animals or run over by a wagon. A few men had tried and that's what happened. No one had died but it had been a near run thing.  It had been rather difficult for them to regain their feet.  The horses seemed to be enjoying it.
The speed was slowly but steadily increasing, it looked like they were passing across a rainbow bridge...and they were reaching the downhill part of the rainbow.  Everyone was jogging now.  The horses were walking fast.
"Everyone either get on a wagon or grab a horse harness...we're not slowing down any." shouted Captain Halsey, suiting action to words.  As it happened  the Texas Raider commander wound up holding to the harness of the horse he was riding.  The Texan was too large to ride a normal horse anyway.
"I've never seen anything like this...have you." Captain Halsey asked the Raider.
"No sir, I can't say that I have" replied the big Texan saving his breath.
The speed gradually increased until they were going faster than a man could run. The horses were straining a little to keep up...the men hanging from their sides were taking giant leaps...no one had any breath for talking other than some prayers.
The speed continued to increase.  Captain Halsey estimated that they were traveling twenty five miles per hour now...about as fast as a  good man could sprint.  He hoped the speed didn't increase too much more.  If a horse stumbled it was going to get ugly. The big Texan hanging onto his saddle and running beside him was doing an amazing job.
His hopes were realized...they leveled out at what appeared to be a brisk run for the horses but not their maximum effort.  This lasted  for a brief time and with a bright flash of light they burst forth upon a new world.

No comments: