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Back Beyond the Burn Line Save as PDF
Chapters (66)
  1. Copyright
  2. Contents
  3. Epigraph
  4. Part One
  5. 1.
  6. 2.
  7. 3.
  8. 4.
  9. 5.
  10. 6.
  11. 7.
  12. 8.
  13. 9.
  14. 10.
  15. 11.
  16. 12.
  17. 13.
  18. 14.
  19. 15.
  20. 16.
  21. 17.
  22. 18.
  23. 19.
  24. 20.
  25. 21.
  26. 22.
  27. 23.
  28. 24.
  29. 25.
  30. 26.
  31. 27.
  32. 28.
  33. 29.
  34. 30.
  35. 31.
  36. 32.
  37. Part Two
  38. 1.
  39. 2.
  40. 3.
  41. 4.
  42. 5.
  43. 6.
  44. 7.
  45. 8.
  46. 9.
  47. 10.
  48. 11.
  49. 12.
  50. 13.
  51. 14.
  52. 15.
  53. 16.
  54. 17.
  55. 18.
  56. 19.
  57. 20.
  58. 21.
  59. 22.
  60. 23.
  61. 24.
  62. 25.
  63. 26.
  64. 27.
  65. 28.
  66. By Paul McAuley:

Down in the pit, the pikemen and Noble Seatree were looking at the man with the cornet. The crowd hushed when he raised his hand, and Noble Seatree and one of the pikemen stepped forward. The constable gripped the hind legs of the cur fastened to the bear’s neck and lifted it up. It did not let go, but the elevated slant of its body revealed a patch of the bear’s back. The pikeman raised his weapon, the crowd hooted and bayed, and as the pikeman thrust down everything around Pilgrim turned over in a flood of red and black.

18.

When he jolted awake, he was lying on his back on cold hard ground, looking up at a tier of empty benches rising to a black sky, the sharp reek of ammonia scorching his nostrils. Two people, Gentle and Teal Leadwood, were kneeling on either side of him. Gentle was cradling his head; Teal Leadwood, thumbing a cork into a vial, asked him if he knew where he was and what had happened.

He blinked away snowflakes that had settled on his eyelashes and said stupidly, ‘They killed the bear.’

‘And you dropped at my feet,’ Gentle said.

Pilgrim said that he was perfectly fine now, but needed Gentle’s help when he tried to sit up. Grace Wren Saltmire and several men, Noble Seatree amongst them, were watching this little drama. Pilgrim felt a flush of embarrassment that deepened and spread when the constable said loudly and to no one in particular, ‘Looks like the silly little fool will live,’ and walked off around the edge of the pit.

Teal Leadwood was asking something, realised that Pilgrim had not heard her and repeated her question. ‘Have you ever passed out before, or been struck down by a fit?’

‘I think the excitement was too much for me,’ Pilgrim said, and thanked her for her help and attention.

Teal Leadwood looked across him at Gentle, said that if it was no more than a simple faint his friend would be fine after he had rested. ‘But perhaps have him seen by the physic before you go home. Just in case.’

‘Physic’s still fixing up the curs,’ one of the spectators said. ‘Be a while before he’s done.’