Snuff
to a stop. Vimes managed to get upright again, just in time, and both men slid to the ground.
âVery well done, commander! You were born in the saddle, obviously! Good news! Can you smell that?â
Vimes sniffed, giving himself a noseful of flies and a very heavy stink of cattle dung. âHangs in the air, donât it?â said Feeney. âThatâs the smell of a two-oxen boat, right enough! They muck out as they go, you know.â
Vimes looked at the turgid water. âIâm not surprised.â Perhaps, he thought, this might be the time to have a little discussion with the kid. He cleared his throat and looked blankly at the mud as he got his thoughts in order; a little trickle of water dribbled over the bar, and the horses shifted uneasily.
âFeeney, I donât know what weâll be getting into when we catch up with the boat, understand? I donât know if we can turn it round, or get the goblins out and then get them home overland, or if weâll even have to ride it down all the way to the coast, but Iâm in charge, do you understand? Iâm in charge because I am very used to people not wanting to see me in front of them, or even alive.â
âYessir,â Feeney began, âbut I thinkââ
Vimes plowed on. âI donât know what weâre going to find, but I suspect that people who try to take over boats, even a floating dung machine like the Fanny , probably get treated by the crew as pirates immediately, and so Iâm going to give the orders and I want you to do exactly what I tell you, okay?â
For a while it looked as though Feeney was going to object, and then he simply nodded, patted his mount and waited, while another tiny wave splashed beside the horses. The sudden silence of someone normally so talkative disconcerted Vimes, and he said, âAre you waiting for something, Feeney?â
Feeney nodded and said, âI didnât wish to interrupt you, commander, and as you say, you are in charge, but I was waiting until you said something I wanted to hear.â
âOh yes? Such as?â
âWell, sir, to begin with Iâd like to hear you say that itâs time to mount up and get out of here really fast because the water is rising and soon the alligators will wake up.â
Vimes looked around. One of the logs, which he had so carelessly dismissed, was extending legs. He landed on the back of his horse with the reins in his hand in little more than a second.
âIâll take that order as a given, then, shall I?â shouted Feeney as he sped after Vimes.
Vimes did not attempt to slow down until he judged them high enough up the bank not to be of interest to anything that lived in water, and then waited for Feeney to catch up.
âAll right, Chief Constable Upshot, Iâm still in charge, but I agree to respect your local knowledge. Will that satisfy you? Where is the water coming from?â
It certainly was rising: when they had started out you would have needed a ruler to be certain that it was flowing at all, but now little waves were dancing after one another and a light rain was starting to fall.
âItâs that storm coming up behind us,â said Feeney, âbut donât worry, sir, all that means is that the Fanny will tie up if it gets too strong. Then we can just climb on board.â
The rain was falling faster now and Vimes said, âWhat happens if it decides to carry on? Itâs not too far off sundown, surely?â
âThat wonât be a problem, commander, donât you worry!â shouted Feeney with infuriating cheeriness. âWeâll stay on the trails. No water ever gets up that far. Besides, wherever she is, the Fanny will have running lights on, red ones, oil lamps as a matter of fact. So donât worry,â Feeney finished. âIf sheâs still on the river weâll find her, sir, one way or the other, and may I ask, sir, what your intentions are then?â
Vimes wasnât certain, but no officer ever likes to say that, so instead he parried with a question himself. âMr. Feeney, you make this river sound like a picnic! Look over there!â He pointed across the river to a spot where the water spun and gurgled and was almost visibly rising as they stared at it.
âOh,â said Feeney, âyou always get debris coming down Old Treachery. The only time to worry is if you get a damn slam. * They only happen very rarely
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