BooksBarbecue
Back Shadow of the Hawk
Chapters (96)
  1. Cover
  2. By David Gilman
  3. SHADOW OF THE HAWK
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Contents
  7. CHARACTER LIST
  8. Map
  9. Epigraph
  10. PROLOGUE
  11. PART ONE
  12. CHAPTER ONE
  13. CHAPTER TWO
  14. CHAPTER THREE
  15. CHAPTER FOUR
  16. CHAPTER FIVE
  17. CHAPTER SIX
  18. CHAPTER SEVEN
  19. CHAPTER EIGHT
  20. CHAPTER NINE
  21. CHAPTER TEN
  22. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  23. CHAPTER TWELVE
  24. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  25. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  26. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  27. PART TWO
  28. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  29. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  30. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  31. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  37. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  38. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  39. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  40. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  41. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  42. PART THREE
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  47. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  48. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  49. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  50. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  51. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  52. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  53. CHAPTER FORTY
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  55. PART FOUR
  56. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  57. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  58. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  59. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  60. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  61. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  62. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  63. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  64. CHAPTER FIFTY
  65. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  66. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  67. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  68. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  69. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  70. PART FIVE
  71. CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
  72. CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
  73. CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
  74. CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
  75. CHAPTER SIXTY
  76. CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
  77. CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
  78. CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
  79. CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
  80. CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
  81. CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
  82. CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
  83. CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
  84. CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
  85. CHAPTER SEVENTY
  86. CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
  87. CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
  88. CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE
  89. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
  90. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
  91. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
  92. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
  93. CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
  94. Author’s Notes
  95. About the Author
  96. An Invitation from the Publisher
Document

‘No, my friend, not today. I have a greater duty for you. My son Henry has always looked to you with deep regard and affection. You were his guardian at a time I could not be his father. You taught him how to serve as a page and the discipline that entailed. If I do not return I ask you to take up that role again. You cannot be with me today in case he needs you tomorrow.’

CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN

The old fisherman’s description was correct. The road became a track and then petered out. The bastard horse had pulled up short a hundred yards from the blind bend, ears forward, muscles rippling, warning of other horses nearby. Blackstone eased him forward and saw two abandoned horses grazing. Riding closer, he looked along the base of the cliffs and the area between rock and forest. Another horse stood abandoned in the treeline, with loose reins and, like the others, still saddled. A fourth nudged it for companionship. Blackstone looked at the trampled grass and saw no more tracks.

He dismounted, slung his shield across his back and drank from his wineskin. He secured the small food sack on the saddle for his return and eased the bastard horse out of sight into a small glade in the trees. He hobbled it with enough rope to allow it to graze but not to wander and then searched for a route up the rock surface, slick with running water. Picking out an animal track that weaved its way to the summit, he bent his back into the hillside, which looked to be a thousand feet high or more. Despite the cold air, he was streaked with sweat when he reached the summit. His breathing was laboured. It felt unnatural. How many times before had he paced himself and the men on steeper hills than these?

He had kept watch on the sky, searching for the hawk that had brought Gontrán to their camp. If a man’s mind could grasp that forces of nature existed other than those he could understand, then perhaps that was why men prayed. He raised the Silver Wheel Goddess to his lips. An archer’s token of protection from a pagan goddess was as good a reason to believe in such things as any other.

There was no sign of the hawk.

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