Saving Solace читать онлайн

le of dirt.""Tom, we don't have time to waste on any of your wild ideas. We've got to get these goods to market."But he was already bounding across the field, his attention fixed on the crows that cawed and feuded as if contending for something. By the time Tom was thirty yards away, he had a pretty good idea what that something was, although he kept hoping he was wrong. But the closer he got, the more his certainty grew. It was a body.Not just any body, he saw when he drew up to it, scattering crows as he windmilled his arms and shouted.It was the body of Graylord Joyner, sheriff of Solace.A blue-black line of coagulated blood stood out against the sheriff's throat, and the ground around him was stained the same dark color where that blood had spilled out upon the earth. The air here reeked of blood, drowning out the fertile, loamy smell of the field. Tom held his breath against the stench and stooped for a closer look.The sheriff's shirt had been torn open and into the flesh of his chest was carved a word: Morgoth. Tom shook his head in incomprehension."Tom, what is it?" Sophie called from the wagon.He said nothing, thinking what to do. Already the crows were gathering again, flocking closer. He couldn't leave Joyner's body to their predations."Tom?" Sophie called again.He grabbed the body under the arms and heaved. The gash in the sheriff's throat burbled grotesquely as Tom dragged the body toward the wagon. Tom fought down the urge to gag. The sheriff had been a huge man, and although vigorous, Tom was a man of relatively slight stature. Dragging Joyner across the uneven terrain proved hard work and soon had Tom breathing heavily and sweating. Sophie came and stood beside him. "Oh," she said, staring at the body."Sop