A bullet did that

      “Are you sick, farangi? Why do you look away? Does the sight of blood distress you?” I looked up to find the bodyguard leaning on his spear; Portly was off on a frolic of his own, seemingly. “Nay, surely not; you have seen your own blood run from a wound.” He pointed to the star-shaped scar on my hand. “A bullet did that.”
      “A clean wound is one thing soldier,” says I, and nodded towards the Ladies’ De-ballocking Circle. “That is another.”


Flashman on the March, pp.186-7, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2005.


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Run through!

      What is it like to be run through? I'll tell you. For an instant, nothing. Then hideous, tearing agony for another instant — and then nothing again as you see the blade withdrawn and the blood welling on your shirt, for the pain is lost in shock and disbelief as your eyes meet your assailant's. It's a long moment, that, in which you realise you ain't dead, and that he's about to launch another thrust to finish you — and it's remarkable how swiftly you can move then, with a hole clean through you from front to back, about midway between your navel and your hip, and sprouting gore like a pump.


Flashman and the Tiger, p.153, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2000.


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Retailing rumours

      “The barbarians! Fly for your lives! They are in the city — the streets run with blood! Everyone is dead, the Temple of Heaven is overthrown, the shops are closed!”

Flashman and the Dragon, p.244, Fontana Paperback edition, 1986.



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Riding to the rescue

…the last man you want riding to the rescue is G.A.C., for there’ll be blood on the carpet for certain…

Flashman and the Redskins, p.303, Pan Books edition, 1983.

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Damned beyond doubt

I don’t hold with oaths, much, and I’m not by nature, a truthful man, but on the three occasions that I’ve sworn blood brotherhood it has seemed a more solemn thing than swearing on the Bible. Arnold was right; I’m damned beyond a doubt.

Flashman at the Charge, p.244, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

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Blood-stained snow and dead mules

Last of all I insisted on a lead box of biscuits – and Willie cried out with laughter.
   ‘They are ship’s biscuits – what should we need those for?’
   ‘Insurance, my lad.’ says I. ‘Take ’em along, and it’s odds you’ll never need them. Leave ’em behind, and as sure as shooting you’ll finish up living off blood-stained snow and dead mules.’ It’s God’s truth, too.

Flashman at the Charge, p.37, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

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Beat the drum

…and when the press starts to beat the drum and the public are clamouring for the foreigner’s blood to be spilled – by someone other than themselves – they have a habit of looking around for their old champions.

Flashman at the Charge, p.12, Pan edition, 5th printing, 1979.

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Whining and dining

All told it was as pleasant a meal as one could have in the presence of a terrifying ogre, with the blood still sticky before his feet, and the foul stench of the death-house all around.

Flash For Freedom!, p.78, Pan edition, 8th printing, 1980.

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Get 'em excited

She shot me an adoring look over her shoulder, and I glanced down at her quivering bosoms and thought to myself, you’ll be in rare trim for another kind of game later. Get’em excited – a fight is best, with the claret flowing, but any kind of sport will do, if there’s a hint of savagery in it – and they’ll couple like monkeys.

Flash For Freedom!, p.33, Pan edition, 8th printing, 1980.

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Unpleasant sight

…I saw the most unpleasant sight I know, which is my own blood…

Royal Flash, p.124, Pan edition, 8th printing, 1978.

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