The Word of God by Christopher Cummings Read Free Book Online Page A

top of the rock. By then all had scratched themselves and torn their clothes. Luckily the injured man remained unconscious. He moaned a couple of times and twitched occasionally but was otherwise limp.
    Gwen and Joy helped to drag the man onto the rock.
    Joy knelt to look the Devil Worshipper over. “Is he badly hurt?” she asked.
    Peter nodded. “Think so,” he replied.
    Gwen leaned down to feel the man’s pulse and to check his breathing. As she did she frowned and stared at him. “I think I’ve seen him somewhere.”
    â€œYou have,” Stephen replied. “His name is Jacob Rudd. He was in Year 12 when we were in Year 9.”
    Joy looked up amazed. “Do you know him?” she cried.
    Stephen nodded but did not reply. Peter realized he had also seen the man years before. He said: “Yes. Never mind who he is. He needs a doctor fast. Let’s see if we can make a stretcher.”
    Gwen bit her lip. “I wish the police would hurry up,” she commented.
    Peter nodded. It was something he had been worrying about. He had expected a police helicopter to arrive well before this. It was now nearly four hours since they had left the bottom of the mountain. “Yes, they should be here by now.”
    Joy voiced his fears. “I hope nothing went wrong at the bottom.”
    â€œWhat could have gone wrong?” Stephen sneered. “All they had to do was go to the nearest farm and ring the cops!”
    â€œDon’t know,” Peter replied. “Never mind. Look for saplings we can use for a stretcher.”
    Graham shook his head. “Waste of time,” he said. “All we will find are these green saplings. Anyway it will take eight people to carry it down the slope.”
    â€œWe can try,” Gwen said.
    Graham gave another shake of the head. “Don’t forget we have to help these prisoners too,” he went on. “They look pretty shaky to me. I can’t see them being much use carrying a stretcher for hours down a mountainside.”
    Stephen nudged the injured Devil Worshipper with his boot. “Theyprobably won’t be all that keen to lug this bastard anyway,” he offered. “He was going to slit their throats remember.”
    Gwen looked upset. “It doesn’t matter. We have to try,” she snapped.
    Graham stood up. “No. We can’t do it. We can get these people to safety. I think we should leave this bloke here and get the others down the mountain first.”
    Megan, still acting as sentry atop the nearby rock, looked horrified. “But he might die!” she cried.
    Graham shrugged. “He was going to kill them. Seems only fair.”
    Peter bit his lip. What to do? It was a terrible dilemma.
    Megan made the next suggestion. “What if a couple of us stayed here with the injured man while the rest help these others down the mountain? A rescue helicopter can then pick us all up.”
    â€œAre you volunteering to stay?” Peter asked.
    â€œYes.”
    Gwen nodded: “I will stay too.”
    Graham shook his head and said in tones that brooked no argument: “No you won’t! Don’t forget that there were five of these murderous mongrels and they may still be lurking around here even now. You are not staying. Nobody is. We are all going down together, and that means now, while it is still light.”
    Peter had forgotten the other Devil Worshippers. Now the terrible threat by their leader came back to him: ‘You have interrupted a sacrifice to Satan. You must pay for that. You will now die horribly.’
    Peter had no doubt that the man had meant what he said. The bones below the rock were testimony to that! He said: “Graham is right. We are going to move. I will carry this bloke piggy back. Joy, collect those bags. You others help these people to their feet.”
    Once again Graham objected. “I am strongest. I will carry him. You take out that pistol Pete and go