Everything moved rapidly after the tea was drunk. Almost too rapidly for the exhausted Sabriel and Touchstone. Judging from the noises outside, soldiers were rushing about in all dires, while they ate their belated lunch. Then, before they could even begin to digest, Horyse was back, telling them to get moving.
It was somewhat like being a bit player in the school play, Sabriel thought, as she stumbled out of the unication trend onto the parade ground. There was an awful lot happening around her, but she didn』t really feel part of it. She felt Touchstone lightly brush her arm, and smiled at him reassuringly—it had to be even worse for him.
Within mihey were hustled across the parade ground, towards a waiting line of trucks, aaff car and twe steelplated traptions. Lozenge-shaped, with gun turrets oher side, and caterpillar tracks.
Tanks, Sabriel realized. A relatively ret iion. Like the trucks, they were r, engines belg blue-grey smoke. No problem now, Sabriel thought, but the engines would stop when the wind blew in from the Old Kingdom. Or when Kerrigor came . . .
Horyse led them to the staff car, opehe back door aured for them to get in.
「Are you ing with us?」 Sabriel asked, hesitantly, as she settled ba the heavily padded leather seats, fighting a wave of tiredhat threatened immediate sleep.
「Yes,」 replied Horyse, slowly. He seemed surprised at his own answer, and suddenly far away.
「Yes, I am.」
「You have the Sight,」 said Touchstone, looking up from where he was adjusting his scabbard before sitting down. 「What did you see?」
「The usual thing,」 replied Horyse. He got in the fro, and o the driver—a thin-faced veteran of the Scouts, whose Charter mark was almost invisible on his weather-beaten forehead.
「What do you mean?」 asked Sabriel, but her question was lost as the driver pressed the starter switch, and the car coughed and spluttered into life, a tenor apao the bass cacophony of the trucks and tanks.
Touchstone jumped at the sudden noise and vibration, then smiled sheepishly at Sabriel, who』d lightly rested her fingers on his arm, as if calming a child.
「What did he mean 『the usual thing』?」 asked Sabriel.
Touchstone looked at her, sadness and exhaustion vying for first pla his gaze. He took her hand in his own and traced a line across her palm—a definite, ending sort of line.
「Oh,」 muttered Sabriel. She sniffed and looked at the back of Horyse』s head, eyes blurring, seeing only the line of his cropped silver hair extending just past his helmet rim.
「He has a daughter the same age as me, back at . . . somewhere south,」 she whispered, shivering, clutg Touchstone』s hand till his fingers were as white as her own. 「Why, oh why, does everything . . . everyone . . .」
The car started forward with a lurch, preceded by two motorcycle outriders and followed by each of the rucks in turn, carefully spaced out every hundred yards. The tanks, with tracks screeg and king, took a side road up to the railway siding where they would be loaded up a on to Wyverley Halt. It was uhey would arrive before nightfall. The road voy would be at Docky Point before six iernoon.
Sabriel was silent for the first ten miles, her head bowed, hand still clutg tightly on Touchstone』s. He sat silently too, but watg, looking out as they left the military zone, looking at the prosperous farms of Aierre, the sealed roads, the brick houses, the private cars and horse-d