Page 203 - Brokenclaw - John Gardner

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upright, the bow, meant for him, falling to the earth.

Just before he shot, Bond imagined he could see Brokenclaw’s eyes bearing
in on his own, but this, he thought later, was probably his imagination, as was
the feeling of a great arc of evil surging from the man’s body.
Bond knew he was on target. He l
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James Bond OO7 - printing disabled James Bond OO7 - printing disabledoosed the arrow and saw it strike firmly James Bond OO7 - printing disabled
into Brokenclaw’s throat. There was a noise which he recognised, he had read
of it somewhere, the noise like the muffled murmur of a great torrent advancing
through woodland, a howl of despair.
He clearly saw Brokenclaw clutch at the arrow, as though trying to tear it

from his throat. Then the huge Chinese Indian gave a long, hoarse choke, his
hands dropped from the attempt to withdraw the arrow, his arms flew
outwards, flapping like some wounded bird cut down by a shot. They were
still moving in a flying motion as his body hit the ground.
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‘James! Behind you! Behind you!’ He knew the man’s voice, and even as he
turned, saw that the Indian, Even Both Ways, was poised on the rim of the oval
bowl of ground surrounding the encampment, his bowstring drawn back, the
shaft ready to fly. At the same moment, there was the sound of a shot which

echoed around the camp as Even Both Ways threw back his hands and was
tossed like a piece of garbage into the air.
Bond tottered forwards towards Brokenclaw’s body, lying very still. Then
his knees gave way and he sank into a grey mist.

‘Hey, James? James, it’s okay. You’re going to be okay.’
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The mist swam in front of his eyes and he was again submerged in a great
undulating wave of pain, but he could just make out Ed Rushia’s craggy face
above him.

‘Hell, Ed,’ he croaked. ‘I said only in the last resort. I had to do this on my
own.’
‘You did, James.’ A different voice. ‘Ed saved you when one of
Brokenclaw’s men tried to take you out. It was all over by then. Oh, James,

darling. What you did was . . .’
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He knew the voice belonged to Chi-Chi, but somehow it began to slink away
into another land as the darkness came in.

They operated five times during the next six weeks. In spite of M wanting Bond

to be moved back to the United Kingdom, the Americans insisted they should
do everything. ‘In any case, we need your boy for a good debriefing,’ John

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