Excerpt: The Past Within

He dumped the bucket out the forward port and limped back to replace it. He pulled a slab of bread from his coat pocket and dropped it in the dirty waste bucket with a sneer. The Indian hadn’t moved, but his eyes were open. They watched, wolf like as Bernard banged the cell bars. “Rise and shine you savage. Time to eat. The Cap’n insists that you mustn’t starve.”
The Indian stood and closed the gap between them so fast that it took Bernard by surprise. The savage rose to full height, looking down at Bernard with steady black eyes only inches from his own. Bernard stepped back involuntarily, cursing as he did so. He was too late. He’d let down his guard and let himself be intimidated by this dirty animal.
He’d never been so close to one before, but took comfort in the knowledge that the cage separated them. The bars would protect him and the Indian had been disarmed, surely. The Indian’s eyes flashed with humor and a sudden hateful smile lit up his dark-skinned face. The teeth were big and white and reminded Bernard of a wolf laughing at him. He fell back, landing with a hard thump on a pile of dirty canvas.
The Indian let out a single triumphant snicker. He put his hand through the bars and put a vice grip on Bernard’s ankle. He pulled, a continuous yank so sudden and so powerful that Bernard didn’t have time to react other than to let out an anguished cry and an ineffective kick. The Indian still smiled. He hardly broke a sweat and he pulled Bernard in like fishing line.