Seattle Run

Chapter Thirteen

Rikki had never known birds could be so deadly.

The flock swirled and dove and arched above the Montlake Bridge, the gulls diving at the humans and attempting to peck or claw at the Sharks with ruthless abandon. The birds invariably went for the face, concentrating on the eyes, as if they somehow knew the humans were vulnerable in the facial area.

For their part, the Sharks were shouting and cursing and shrieking, all the while conducting a running fight with the gulls. A few firearms boomed. Knives, axes, and swords were brought into play. The Sharks were determined to reach the trees at the south end of the bridge, while the gulls were equally determined to stop them.

Rikki was hard pressed to evade the sea gulls. He blocked bird after bird, swatting them aside as they came at his face. Once a talon scraped his right cheek.

Fabiana was using her shotgun as a club, apparently conserving her ammunition. She warded off repeated assaults, but in the struggle she inadvertently moved ever closer to the railing along the west side of Montlake Bridge.

Gar was a whirlwind, swinging his shotgun right and left, concentrating on protecting his sister at his own expense. Oblivious to his own safety, he bore several deep gashes on his arms and neck.

A large gull hurtled toward Rikki, talons outstretched. The Warrior twisted to the left, avoiding the bird’s sharp claws, and clamped his hands on the gull’s wings. He held onto the sea gull’s squirming form, then bent the wings backwards until they snapped. The bird tried to peck his fingers as he released it, and it attempted to snap at his feet as it landed on the bridge. Rikki jumped into the air and came down with both heels first, directly on top of the gull’s head.

There was a faint crunch and the bird expired.

Rikki spun as a man screamed to his rear.

The Shark called Buck was in trouble. Two gulls were clinging to his face, one of them with its talons imbedded in his eyes. He was futilely swatting at the birds while screeching at the top of his lungs.

The gulls were pecking furiously at the man’s face.

Buck staggered and fell to his knees. He dropped his revolver and Rikki’s pouch but clung to the katana scabbard, vainly attempting to bludgeon the gulls with it.

Rikki reached the Shark’s side in two strides. He tore the scabbard from Buck’s grasp, then whipped out the katana. In one glistening swipe, he drove the sword through both birds, severing the gulls in half.

Three of the four feathery sections flopped to the pavement, but the fourth, the lower half of the gull which had its claw buried in Buck’s eyes, held fast, the talons reflexively clamped onto the eyeballs. Suffering intolerably, blubbering and wailing, Buck gripped the lower half of the gull and pulled, trying to pry the claws from his face. Instead, to his ultimate horror, he tore his eyeballs from their sockets. He doubled over, sobbing pathetically.

Rikki, momentarily unassailed, stuck his scabbard under his belt, aligning it over his left hip. He took hold of the katana with both hands.

Just as five gulls attacked.

Rikki decapitated one of the gulls with his first stroke. His second chopped off a wing apiece on two other birds and they flapped to the ground using their good wing to retard their fall.

The remaining pair dove for the Warrior’s face.

Rikki crouched under a pair of slashing talons, spearing his katana upward into the gull’s body. The bird squawked as it died, and he jerked his blade free to confront the last of the five.

The gull was winging skyward.

Rikki abruptly realized his opportunity had arrived. The Sharks were immersed in their combat with the sea gulls; not one of them was so much as looking in his direction. In the confusing midst of the combat, he could easily slip off and return to Yama. He grinned and turned to the north.

Behind him, a woman screamed.

Not just any woman.

The tone was unmistakably Fabiana’s.

Rikki rotated on his heels. There she was, backed up to the railing, fighting for her life against a dense concentration of gulls, perhaps a dozen of them, some tugging at her long hair with their beaks, others slashing at her body, tearing her leather garments and the flesh underneath, and several going for her eyes.

Gar was trying to reach her, but a wall of hovering gulls separated him from his sister. He could not dare fire for fear of striking her.

Fabiana cast a pleading glance in the Warrior’s direction. “Help me! Please!”

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi never hesitated. He waded into the gulls with his katana flashing in a scintillating exhibition of matchless swordsmanship.

Six, seven, eight gulls died in half as many seconds, and then Rikki was next to Fabiana, shielding her with his body and holding the sea gulls at bay.

The next moment, as swiftly as they had attacked, the gulls departed.

As if they were reacting to an invisible command, they soared high on the currents en masse, reformed into a cohesive flock, and flew to the east.

Rikki surveyed the bridge. It was littered with the dead and the dying, with scores of birds and well over a dozen Sharks. Moans and cries of despair wafted skyward. Pools of blood and feathers were everywhere.

“Thank you,” Fabiana said softly.

Rikki turned, smiling. Her hair was disheveled, with a few feathers entangled in the strands. She was cut on her face and neck, and sweat caked her skin, sweat intermixed with blood. For all that, she was extraordinarily lovely, and Rikki had to force himself to think of his beloved Lexine, the woman he cherished, who was awaiting him at the Home.

“You saved my life,” Fab stated.

“I could do no less,” Rikki declared.

For a moment they stared into one another’s eyes, sharing an unspoken bond of deep affection. Only for a moment. Before reality intruded on their silent emotional exchange.

“Drop the sword, little man!”

Rikki pivoted to the south.

Gar was holding his shotgun leveled at the Warrior’s stomach, not five feet away, his finger on the trigger. “I said drop it!”

Fabiana took a step toward her brother. “Gar! Don’t!”

“Butt out, sis!” Gar barked. “This doesn’t concern you.”

“The hell is doesn’t!” Fab retorted angrily. “He saved my life!”

“I saw it,” Gar said. “But it doesn’t change things.”

“It changes everything!” Fab snapped. “Can’t you see that?”

“I can see what’s happened to you,” Gar replied. “I can see you’re head over heels for this clown. So you don’t have a say in this, sis. This guy is going to Tiger, whether you like it or not.” He paused. “I’m sorry, but I’m doing this for the both of us.”

Seven of the Sharks approached, their weapons at hand.

“What’s it going to be, little man?” Gar demanded. “You can drop your sword or you can die. It’s up to you.”

Fab looked at the Warrior with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Rikki shrugged and lowered the katana to the pavement. He removed the scabbard and placed it next to the sword, then stood.

“Now step away from the sword,” Gar directed.

Rikki moved several paces to the left.

Gar glanced at his sister. “You like this guy so much, I’ll let you carry his sword. But I’m warning you. If he gets his hands on it, no matter how much you like him, sister or no sister, I’ll blow him away. Understood?”

Fabiana nodded.

“Okay. Pick it up,” Gar said.

Fabiana bent down, set her shotgun on the ground, then slid the katana into the scabbard and straightened with the scabbard in her right hand and the shotgun in her left.

Gar spied a tall Shark nearby. “Simms! Find out how many we lost, how many are injured. We’ve got to get the hell out of here! Move your ass!”

Simms hastened off.

Fab hefted the scabbard, staring at the hilt of the sword. “Why?” she asked.

“Why what?” Gar replied innocently, scanning the bodies on the bridge.

“Why did you let me have the sword?” Fab inquired.

“Why not?” Gar rejoined.

“That’s not a reason,” Fab noted.

Gar shrugged. “What’s the difference who has it? We might be attacked again, and I wanted you to have it in case lover boy gets in trouble,” he said quietly, so only Fab and Rikki could hear.

“But you just said you’d shoot him if he lays his hands on it,” Fab stated.

Gar glanced at his sister. “You do what you’ve got to do,” he told her gravely, his tone implying an ulterior meaning. “I’ll do what I have to do.”

Fab gazed at Rikki, then at her brother. “You know what I’ll do if need be.”

Gar sighed. “I was afraid you’d say that.”

“You wouldn’t stop me?” Fab asked.

“You’re my sister,” Gar declared bluntly.

Rikki wasn’t certain he understood every nuance, but he believed he had acquired one, and possible two, newfound friends. “I thank both of you,” he said.

“For what?” Gar queried irritably.

“For being true to the Spirit within you,” Rikki said.

Gar looked at Rikki in amazement. “I don’t know what you’re babbling about.”

“I thank you anyway,” Rikki reiterated.

“Don’t thank us!” Gar snapped. “You haven’t met Tiger yet. And you may not be so grateful after you’ve met him.”

“Why not?” Rikki inquired.

Gar stared into the Warrior’s eyes. “Because you might be dead.”