From Resurrection: The Heresy of a Jesuit:<\/p>\n
“He lived for this. The Chase.
\nOf course, he grudgingly thought. Normally, I am doing the chasing.<\/p>\n
Up a sandy path, slipping and sliding as hooves dug deep, shredding the sparse turf in their fury, climbing from the valley bottom toward the ridge that loomed above.
\nAtop the crest, they raced, twisting and turning through the trees, leaping over fallen logs. Thorny brambles grasped longingly at expensive breeches and slick horseflesh.
\nFinally, the way was clear and straight, so he hazarded a glance over his shoulder.
\nDespite his efforts, the pursuers had gained ground.
\nTerpsichore was tiring.
\nHe could feel it in the slower beat of her hooves, in the cadence of her rise and fall, in the snort and whistle of her laboured breathing.
\nShe had given her all, and then some more, but it had not been enough.
\nIt was not the mare’s fault; it was his own. He was the one who had overstretched their limits, trying to reach the next town before dark.
\nThe posse of brigands had charged from a shadowy stand of trees, whooping and hollering like heathens. The fastest two had pinned him between them as they galloped together across the broad meadow. One had reached over to grab his reins, stupidly exposing himself to a punch that unhorsed him. His compatriots had been too close to avoid his tumbling body, and his muffled cries had abruptly cut off.
\nIt took skill to fight on horseback, and he was a veteran whilst his assailants were clearly amateurs. Unfortunately, even fools can land a lucky blow if they have sufficient chances. And these fools did. One managed to slice his side with a dagger. He judged that the wound itself was not fatal, but it was streaming blood and his strength was draining with it.
\nI refuse to die from a puny scratch, he thought angrily. I would never live it down!
\nThen he heard the characteristic twang of a crossbow.
\nThat would be more acceptable.
\nBut I cannot allow it – I swore an oath!
\nHis back stiffened, bracing for impact, even though he knew a direct hit was nearly impossible, at this distance and at this speed.
\nFrom the corner of his eye, he saw movement. Time slowed to a crawl as he turned and watched the quarrel fly sedately past at head height. It seemed slow enough and close enough for him to just reach out and pluck it from the air.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From Resurrection: The Heresy of a Jesuit: “He lived for this. The Chase. Of course, he grudgingly thought. Normally, I am doing the chasing. Up a sandy path, slipping and sliding as hooves dug deep, shredding the sparse turf in their fury, climbing from the valley bottom toward the ridge that loomed above. Atop the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-predestination"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jadownes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}