Episode 3: Calum's Gamble

By Leigh Barker

Another Bitesize read - the third 1 hour episode of Clan, following the adventures of the sword for hire, Calum Maclean.

Trapped between the advancing Camerons and the English, Calum takes a daring gamble to save the lives of his friends and the men who trust him with their lives.
If the gamble pays off they live, if not they will die.

The stakes couldn't he higher.

And unknown to Calum, Colonel York is right behind him with a company of dragoons.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Leigh Barker
• Release date: Mar 27, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310628092

Leigh Barker

Leigh was born in Dudley in the middle of England. He has been a merchant seaman, a (useless) electronics salesman, a programmer, and a business analyst. And now he is a full-time writer, but that doesn't make him a bad person.He is presently writing 4 series:Clan, following the adventures of Calum Maclean as he tries to avoid the Bonnie Prince but still protect his beloved Highlands.The Hellfire Legacy Series follows US Marine Master Sergeant Ethan Gill and his team as they take on the jobs too hot for other special forces. They go where they're sent; South America, Middle East, Korea, but their most dangerous missions are on US soil.Volume #1: A Whisper of ArmageddonVolume #2: The Hellfire LegacyVolume #3: The Orpheus DirectiveEden, a three-volume series -Trinity is at war with Lucid, the son of Lucifer, and he will do whatever it takes to win. The Archangel Gabriel has an army but he needs more. He needs heroes, but they are few and far between. Which is why he gets Dylan and co. Not too much luck in Heaven then.Volume #1: Eden's Last HeroVolume #2: WinterwoodVolume #3: Requiem for Eden.Soldiers is set in 1914 and follows John Regret and his 12-man squad on their suicidal mission to find and destroy the German howitzer nicknamed Big Bertha. Find it before it drops it's thousand-pound shells on the allied army retreating across France. A seemingly hopeless mission that just cannot fail.Other occasional series include:Anarchy, the 'completely true' stories of men doing what men do when there's nobody to keep them in check. Create mayhem and behave like monkeys on speed.Coffee Break Reads - each issue has 5 stories short enough to read while taking a break from life. A mix of adventure, love, disaster, and fun. All with one thing in common; for a moment they transport the reader to another world.Episode 1 of each Season is free and can be picked up with other free books at:https://leighwbarker.com/my-library/Just copy the link above and paste it into your browser and you're there...

Book preview

Clan

(Season 1)

(Episode 3)

Calum's Gamble

Copyright 2014 Leigh Barker

Published by Leigh Barker at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

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ISBN: 9781310628092

Calum’s Gamble

Calum Maclean looked out across the rolling hills dimly silhouetted against the night sky and squinted against the drizzle blowing in from the distant North Sea. There was a good fire burning in the clearing behind him, but he avoided looking at it and losing his night vision completely.

Just because they hadn’t seen any sign of the English column they’d run from didn’t mean there wouldn’t be patrols. The army didn’t just give up when rebels escaped; otherwise he and his remaining men would just have to hide in the bushes for a while and wait for them to go home. He shook his head at the nonsense thought and walked back around the clearing to where Big John was sitting on a wet rock and staring into the flames.

Calum sat next to him and looked out into the darkness. He made no comment and let his friend sit in silence with his pain. He knew he would be thinking of his wife and how she’d been taken from him. He could have said something soothing and pointless. Maybe he should have, but there were no words to ease even a moment’s grief, so he stayed silent. And thought about his brother.

He and James had not been close, brothers yes, but James was the oldest and had taken that responsibility very seriously, while Calum had been wild even as a child. In his own way he loved his older brother and now wished he’d told him, even once, but that wish was just guilt and he could do nothing about it, so he let it go. James would have known. And if he hadn’t, then all the wishing from the well couldn’t change it.

Calum had been born for greatness or to die young, everyone had said so, but when he told James he was going to fight in Flanders, he had wished him well and said it was the right thing to do, for him. And when he’d added that he was to fight for money not for glory or for love of country, James had nodded and said he had a talent, and just because his talent was for war, it didn’t make it any less than that of a man who could paint a beautiful landscape.

He closed his eyes against the night rain and remembered how his brother’s words had filled him with pride. It was the first time anyone had said something good about him in al the years he’d been in this world. He smiled at the irony. The first good thing anyone had said was that he had a talent for war. He looked to his left at his friend’s face lined in grief in the firelight. John Mackintosh, blacksmith, widower now, and father. But above all this, he was a swordsman without equal. He’d seen the talent in the young Calum, taken him under his wing and taught him everything he knew. Until in five years the student surpassed the master, as it should be. Teach a student everything you know and he will know everything you know, and everything he knows. It is the way of the warrior. Calum knew it and would one day pass on his accumulated knowledge to his student. If he lived long enough, which was doubtful.

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