Mountain Ranger Recon

  Maybe someone in the village had put him there.

  He put his head down and shuffled toward the village streets. The voices rose around him as he trudged toward the center of the village, marked by colorful stalls and bustling people.

  He understood their words. He thought in English, he spoke in English, but he knew this language. The people around him argued, bargained, joked.

  He stooped his shoulders more as he came to realize he towered over most of the people in the bazaar. A persistent feeling of being watched had him pulling the head cloth closely around his face.

  Could he ask the residents of this town his identity? Could he ask them for help? Or would they send him back to his cold, hard bed in the mountains?

  Dipping his hand into the pocket of his loose pants, he scrambled for the coins he’d felt on his trek down from the mountain. He could buy some hot, sweet tea. Sit down and think.

  He turned the corner off the main square. Someone jumped at him from between two buildings and he spun around and pulled the person against his chest, his arm locked around his throat in a move so natural it felt scripted.

  The slight figure in his grip struggled and choked, and he realized he’d overpowered a boy. He released his captive, but tensed his muscles, ready to renew his assault if the boy attacked him.

  The boy turned slowly, his dark eyes wide. “Why did you grab me like that, Mister Jack?”

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-8957-8

  MOUNTAIN RANGER RECON

  Copyright © 2011 by Carol Ericson

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  #Brothers in Arms