Diana Gabaldon · @Writer_DG
30th Mar 2014 from TwitLonger
#DailyLines #MOBY #WrittenINMyOWNHeartsBLOOD #Book8 #OutJUNE10th #huntingdemonsinthemarsh
Ian lifted the torch and pointed; ten feet away, there was a ripple in the water, between them and the nearest hammock. Germain frowned uncertainly at it, then turned his head to his grandfather.
“That’s an alligator? How d’ye ken that?”
“It is,” Jamie said. His own heart was pounding from the sight of the cottonmouth. Snakes unnerved him, but he wasn’t scairt of alligators. Cautious, yes. Scairt, no. “See how the ripples come back from the island there?”
“Aye.” Germain squinted across the water. “So?”
“Those ripples are coming toward us side-on. The one Ian’s pointing at? It’s coming at a right angle—right toward us.”
It was, though slowly.
“Are alligators good to eat?” Fergus asked, watching it thoughtfully. “A good deal more meat on one than on a frog, _ne c’est pas_?”
“They are, and there is, aye.” Ian shifted his weight a little, gauging the distance. “We canna kill one of those wi’ spears, though. I should have brought my bow.”
“Should we…move?” Germain asked doubtfully.
“Nay, see how big it is first,” Ian said, fingering the long knife at his belt. He was wearing a breech-clout and his bare legs were long and steady as a heron’s, standing mid-calf in the muddy water.
The four of them watched with great concentration, as the ripple came on, paused, came on a little more, slowly.
“Are they stunned by light, Ian?” Jamie asked, low-voiced. Frogs were; they had a dozen or so bull-frogs in their sack, surprised in the water and killed before they kent what hit them.
“I dinna think so,” Ian whispered back. “I’ve not hunted one before, though.”
There was a sudden gleam in the water, a scatter of ripples and the glow of two small burning orbs, a demon’s eyes.