The flash of gunfire lit up the darkness outside. Away in the valley came answering flashes and bullets smacked into the wooden roof.
Joe and Mac, breathing heavily, charged into the room, and slammed the door.
III
For a moment or so neither of them could say anything. They leaned against the wall, panting for breath, while slugs slapped into the solid walls of the cabin and gunfire rolled in the valley.
‘Get the rifles,’ Joe gasped. It’s Barrett!’
Mary stumbled across the room. I heard her open a cup-board. She came back with two rifles and gave them to Joe and Mac.
‘Are you in this?’ she asked, as calm as if she was sitting down to a cup of tea.
‘Yeah; if it’s Barratt, I am,’ I said.
She went back to the cupboard and produced two more rifles and a sack of ammunition.
‘What happened, Joe?’ she asked as we loaded the clips.