People of the Ark (Ark Chronicles 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

bows out of their cases.
    These were hard times indeed, Kedorlaomer told them . He traded and dickered for goods and broke his hardiest colts to the train. Then they loaded up and wended their way to the banks of the Pishon River. The fees had increased, outrageously so. But the Pishon was wide and pirate galleys swooped down at the oddest times. There were spies everywhere and unless a man was your relative, you could never be sure. Even then, it was often a risky proposition. It depended on how much you let him in on the profits. “Clan Kedorlaomer believes in sharing. You share in the work, the danger and then in the profits. That makes good sense. Yes?”
    Noah nodded.
    Kedorlaomer sniffed, and that seemed to stiffen his grandsons, to make their mustaches bristle.
    So Ham pretended to yawn, and he stretched his back . He stood and shook one of his legs as if he was tired of sitting so long. He folded his thick arms across his chest and planted himself spread-legged, and he stared at the ill-tempered grandson who couldn’t keep his fingers off the hilt of his dagger.
    Kedorlaomer glanced at Ham, and the old nomad told them how they had paid the river fare, and how watchdog galleys had guarded the barges full of their braying donkeys and precious cargoes. He explained how his grandsons had prowled the decks with strung bows, while their sons took to sitting cross-legged and sharpening their knives. Fortunately, they crossed the river without incident. Yet each of them had sensed upon landing on the further bank that now they were no longer in Havilah. The weary days of vigilance took their toll. Donkeys sickened, as did trail hands. Sometimes at stops men bartered fairly, sometimes they tried to slip you poisoned drinks. Oh, one could never be sure, never be safe unless you expected the worst.
    “ Is that not so, sir?” Kedorlaomer asked.
    Noah shrugged.
    “Let me assure you that it is so.” Kedorlaomer pointed to the thick-limbed servants waddling from the well with a bucket in each hand. The nomad girl still paced them. “Do you see those men, sir?”
    “ They’re hard workers,” Noah said.
    Kedorlaomer laughed and so did his grandsons . “They had better be hard workers!” Kedorlaomer shouted. “If they slacken they will be whipped.”
    The water-carriers shuffled faster, while the nomad girl drew a quirt and seemed ready to slash it against the back of their legs. She appeared to reconsider, and with a flourish jammed the leather riding crop back under her belt.
    The cloudiness left Noah ’s eyes as he watched the interplay.
    “ Oh yes,” Kedorlaomer said. “Not so very long ago these men hid themselves behind leafy fronds beside a river. They waited with long spears in hand, their bronze tips smeared with viper poison. As my caravan wound past, they howled a most dreadful war cry. A few stabbed unwary trail hands. These, however,” Kedorlaomer swept his golden-ringed hand to his grinning grandsons, “these stalwarts brought out their bows and played a deadly tune on their strings. Barbed arrows dampened the attackers’ ardor, until most took to their heels. We captured several, and now they repay in toil for those they slew.”
    “ These are sad times,” Noah said.
    “ No. These times are filled with justice,” Kedorlaomer said. He looked up at Ham. “What about you, sir? You seem uneasy. Have I upset you?”
    Ham shook his head.
    Noah, however, snapped up his head, as if seeing Ham for the first time. “Sit down,” he said.
    Ham raised his eyebrows and glanced meaningfully at Kedorlaomer ’s grandsons.
    Noah scowled and motioned Ham to sit down.
    Turning red—it would serve them right now if these bloodthirsty sons of Cain killed them—Ham dropped onto the leather blanket.
    “ You are a wise man, sir,” Kedorlaomer told Noah.
    “ I am a man of peace,” Noah said.
    “ Indeed, sir, I’m glad to hear it. You don’t know how rare that is these days.”
    “ But I’m afraid I do,”