Chapter 11

Then another troubling question arose.Where’s Bard? He’d thought the captain was near the rear, urging the men along and making sure none fell behind, even as exhaustion and the deadening cold dragged them down. Had he managed not to fall? Gordon prayed to all the saints and martyrs and ancestors that Bard had avoided the crevasse.

As far as he could tell, the unit was marching on in an orderly way, indicating someone was in charge. If not Bard, then who had the strength and courage to maintain the unit’s order and discipline? He doubted John Fordham could do it, though sometimes adversity drove a man beyond the limits he set for himself or those others imposed on him. Gordon couldn’t concentrate long enough to follow any of his questions to a logical conclusion. Some inner sense told him Bard was with them. Holding that comfort to him, he let himself drift off.