The Sword and the Flame - Rearguard Part II

Like a will-o-the-wisp, as quickly as the Pathans to the south appeared and fired into the Irish lancers, they faded back into the brush. As the 5th Irish Lancer drew his knife to put a screaming horse out of its misery, he spotted the Lt. Colonel Hennessy and his Sikhs continuing their quick-march down the road. "What's this all about?" he exclaimed. "The scrap is back here... where are you going then?"

Then he heard his sergeant call from the rooftop to saddle up. He saw that one of his fellow handlers had been hit and was unable to ride, so he carried him to his horse and draped him over the saddle. Grabbing the reins he mounted up. He turned and saw Lancer troopers come pounding down the stairs and into the square, each running to his horse. Some had to double-up due to the dead and wounded horses.

He saw movement to the north as the the first section of the orange and yellow turbaned Ludhiana troopers maneuvered and fired into the scrub where they had lost their scout. He heard cries from the rocky area and then saw a blossom of smoke appear from the terrain's edge in reply. Some Ludhiana troops fell wounded. Their officer was on the ground and not moving. The second section ran down from the hill, formed line and pointed their rifles at his Lancers! No, not quite... they were aiming just to the rear of his unit. He turned to see why and felt his stomach grow cold. 

A horde of Pathans had been hiding on the reverse slope of the hill to the west! In the confusion they had streamed over the top and had approached to the rear of his Lancers. Their rifles were already aimed directly at him. He flinched as the smoke appeared and he heard their bullets crack by his head. He saw the head of the trooper next to him snap forward suddenly and then loll to the side as his body slid from the saddle. More shouts of confusion came from his fellow troopers.

Looking up from his fallen comrade he peered down the road. In the distance he saw that Hennessy had paused to appraise what was happening. The Lt. Colonel's hands went to his chest as he slowly dropped from his saddle. A wail went up from the nearby Sikhs. Some rushed to the Hennessy's side. Others dropped to one knee and pointed their rifles at the Pathans who had just appeared to the east.

The Pathans had come to fight. The Colonial troops were cut off. As the Lancer trooper held his reins and glanced about at the dead horses, his wounded friends and the screaming Pathans he wondered, "What would happen next?"