The Second Queen of Hirta

Chapter 13: Silly fellow

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What happened the following day was almost beyond California's ability to talk about, and certainly beyond mine to recount in detail here. I know I heard everything he said, but I have the feeling that God took many of the words from me before I was able to remember them, thus saving me from dreams whose horror would be beyond endurance.

What I do recall was bad enough. California spoke of tremendous noise, as of a hundred thunderstorms, and smoke so thick it could choke a man, and the smell of fire and blood, and cries of agony from those hit by the gun-stones, or in some cases cracked open and smeared across the ground under the bodies of horses as those unfortunate animals fell to their own deaths. And all of this lasted from before dawn until well after noon, when suddenly the noise stopped and the news came that California's side, in spite of the brutal killing and the terrible injuries to those who would never walk, speak or think properly again, could somehow be said to have won the battle.