“We’ll deal with him here.”
“You will not. Are you coming?”
“No.”
“Then touch us at your peril. Comrade Zov, I’m going to turn around. You turn also, to face the road entrance. Keep against me, away from them, and we’ll make the road slowly, and on down. Alex, cover us. You’ll have to back out, steering by my voice.”
He turned and had his back to the enemy. Zov turned likewise, and Wolfe put his hands on Zov’s shoulders. I sidestepped and was directly behind Wolfe, back to back, with the Colt still focused on the group. As Wolfe and Zov moved forward, and I backward, Wolfe gave me his voice to guide by.
“ ‘Preamble. We, the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.’ ”
We had left the open space and started down the road. Since Zov couldn’t possibly see me, I had a strong impulse to grin at Danilo and to wave to him as he had waved to us when he left the fort. I had to bite my lip to control it. He might misunderstand and ruin everything.
Wolfe was guiding me. “I skip to the ten original amendments, the Bill of Rights. ‘Article One. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Article Two. A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Article Three. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be prescribed by law. Article Four. The right—’ ”
“Hold it,” I cut in. “I’m not going to back clear to Titograd.”
“I’ll finish Article Four. It’s Article Four that has us in this mess. ‘The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.’ ”