A short extract from the fourth novel, Gloop, in the Mining of Lif series
Chapter 5
The Siege of Brothelingham
‘I could probably hit it from here, sir.’
‘Hit what, corporal?’
‘Their barn, sir.’
‘You may refer to it by its proper name, corporal.’
‘Just don’t like to say the word out loud, sir.’
‘I realise it may look like a barn corporal, but nothing dire will happen by using the word Mosk.’
‘No, sir.’
‘So. You were saying. About hitting the Mosk?’
‘Yes, sir. Reckon I could.’
‘Oh, really? As we have no canon I can hardly see the point of taking pot shots, other than alerting them of our presence. And I am not about to indulge you merely so you can demonstrate your marksmanship, corporal.’
‘Sorry, sir. I meant with this.’
‘A signal flare?’
‘Yes sir. I’ve made a sight for the tube. Like my rifle, sir.’
‘So I see,’ said the captain, his curiosity rising.
‘So…er, if I rest it on my shoulder like this,’ the corporal demonstrated,
‘Ah, I think I follow. Mmm.’
‘If we wait ‘til they’re all inside, praying…’
‘Yes, corporal, I get the picture. A weapon of mass destruction, you might say.’
‘Only a proper church has a Mass, sir,’ the corporal said indignantly, not picking up on the pun.
‘You are correct. And quite a large one if one considers all the stone.’
‘Beg pardon, sir?’
The captain sighed.
‘It doesn’t matter, corporal. However, I do not think fire-bombing a religious building full of worshippers would be the right thing to do. Even in war there are some lines I will not cross.’
‘’Scuse me sir, but our priest back ‘ome said it weren’t a sin to kill anyone who practices infidelity.’
The captain’s eyed narrowed. ‘The term you are looking for, corporal is Infidel. It refers to one who follows King Infidel Castrol. Also, if it was morally right to kill the other kind a fair portion of Judysear would be wiped out in the first attack and that would include most of the priests.’
Copyright© Douglas Pearce
Bauldrick?
Know the character, but the relevance?
Your corporal sounds like Bauldrick. In fact, it’s quite brilliant. Well, that’s the image that came to my mind.
Ah…Sorry, John, I should have clicked.
My head is in another space at the moment. I think my mate The Ark is taking strain with the religious crap and he’s giving me a headache. 🙂
Thanks for the compliment.
Good chance my next book will see the light of day before Christmas, which is something to look forward to.
Excellent, well done! Is Col editing it?
His name hasn’t come up. Not my call, so I don’t get involved.
A couple of sections were returned for review which I duly complied and they were happy.
They have tentatively agreed to use my son’s artwork for the cover which is a surprise as it was only a sort of rough sketch thing.
But they seem to like it.
I have seen an initial draught of the cover design and it looks really nice all tarted up! I haven’t told AD yet. If they go for it, it’ll be a feather in his cap
Indeed… Nice Christmas present, dad!