by Max Hennessy
Christ! He jerked his head round. It was a Japanese! Where the hell had that come from? Just when he’d thought he’d made it, too!
He put the Hart into a tight turn as the Japanese came in and it missed its pass. Holding the turn, his head pulled round until his neck ached. He watched it come in again. There was no use fleeing because if he did the Japanese would have him at once. His only hope was the Hart’s manoeuvrability.
He had not managed to regain any height and they were close to the slope of the hills. The Japanese machine shot past again, its guns going, and fear caught Dicken by the throat and stopped him breathing. Covered with sweat, sticky and clammy under his clothes, he suddenly realised that he was also being shot at by a machine gun placed in a tower on the side of the hill, and he turned in alarm.
The Japanese aircraft came round again, screaming past him, just missing the tower as it pulled up. Holding the Hart in its turn through all the tracer that was coming at him, unable to think of anything else to do, Dicken was looking desperately for some avenue of escape, some twisting valley he might dive down where the Japanese with his greater speed wouldn’t dare follow.
Now he was between the Japanese aircraft and the machine gun on the hill. The tracer was passing just above him when he suddenly saw the chance he’d been wanting and edged closer to the slope. He heard the bullets from the tower hitting the Hart, then the Japanese aeroplane came screaming in once more. As the Hart turned under him, the Japanese pilot tried to follow but he lost height in his bank and touched the slope with his wingtip. The machine wobbled, lifted and finally hit the machine gun post. It cut the tower in half, and the wooden frame flew into the air so that the cluster of men on it collapsed into space. The machine crashed just beyond, cartwheeling end over end to smash through a group of little houses with a terrific flash, the engine rolling out in a whirlwind of flames and fragments that flew into the sky.
Pulling the stick back, Dicken found his stomach contracting in a wave of nausea. The advantage of flying alone, he thought wearily, was that you could be sick with fear without anyone seeing.
Just ahead of him was a steep hill and for a moment he thought he was going to hit it. But the Hart just managed to stagger over it and, turning, aware that his leg was growing stiff, he swung back over the bridge. It had vanished and he could see a huge column of smoke lifting from where it had stood. The line of soldiers had scattered and as he turned away he saw the refugees, warned of danger by the firing, swarming over the slopes and beginning to slither into the gorge, to wade the chest-high river and scramble up the other side.
He was feeling suddenly old and tired and his whole body was hurting. The Hart was just staggering along now, the engine missing badly, and he could see the ground through a huge hole in the floor beneath him. Rapidly losing flying speed, he followed the road south, trying to keep the aeroplane above stalling speed. Then he saw the hills flattening out and a string of lorries approaching.
As the engine stopped suddenly, the propeller jerked upright and stayed there and he knew he hadn’t more than a minute or two left. He could see a patch of flat land just ahead of him and decided to put the machine down there. As he banked, trying to make his final approach, he saw men running from the lorries, but the Hart was finished and he couldn’t bring her round, and as he saw the grass change from a green blur to separate blades, he lifted the nose. Unexpectedly she ground-looped and stood on her wingtip so that he banged his face on the front of the cockpit, then the machine was still, rocking slightly, lopsided, shattered, one wing crumpled and broken.
For a moment he was too dazed to move, then he realised he could hear a faint hissing sound and saw smoke in front of him. Forcing himself back to consciousness, he slammed at his safety belt and began to heave himself from the cockpit. He fell to his knees on the grass vomiting violently, and, as he stood up to run, his legs gave way underneath him.
He came to in the back of a lorry. His leg was swathed in bandages and he couldn’t see out of one eye. As he tried to move, he realised his clothes had been cut away and there were more bandages round his waist.
‘Christ,’ he murmured. ‘What have they done to me?’
Even as the thought crossed his mind, he felt the lorry stop and heard the squeak of brakes. Then he heard the tailgate open and people scrambling in. It was growing dark but he could just see Foote’s face above him, with Babington’s, and, surprisingly, Hatto’s.
‘The boys have just landed,’ Foote said. ‘Johnny Johnson dropped his bomb smack on the head of the Japanese column. Ratowicz hit the side of the gorge and brought it down on top of them.’
‘What about Lee?’
Foote grinned. ‘His troops bolted and when the refugees realised what was in the lorries they pounced on them. They came away carrying food and clothes, even gramophones and radios. I guess he’s lost the lot.’
‘“Vengeance is mine,”’ Dicken murmured. ‘“I will repay, saith the Lord.”’ If Father O’Buhilly couldn’t be there to say it, he would say it for him.
Then he realised someone was holding his hand and, turning his head, he saw Marie-Gabrielle alongside him, dressed in a khaki field uniform. He thought she was the calmest, most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
‘Am I badly hurt?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ she admitted. ‘You are.’
‘Am I going to die?’
‘No.’ She spoke with such intensity that he believed her.
Hatto leaned forward. ‘We’ll fly you out in a few days,’ he promised. ‘You’ll be in India in no time. This time there’s no argument. You’ve got to go. Lee’s hopping mad and ready to shoot you, so you’d better.’
Dicken’s fingers tightened on Marie-Gabrielle’s. ‘I’ll need someone to look after me,’ he pointed out.
‘I’m coming too,’ Marie-Gabrielle said.
‘Will they let you?’
‘They insist.’
‘The war’ll be finished before you’re around much again,’ Hatto said. ‘We’ve just heard. In Europe the show’s over.’
‘I hope the audience was satisfied,’ Dicken mumbled.
‘The actors weren’t too bad.’
‘Pity the lions ate the trainer.’
Hatto laughed. ‘Calls for a gloat dance,’ he said. ‘The three of us.’
‘Later,’ Dicken murmured. ‘When I feel more like it.’
‘Kelly Maguire’ Titles
(in order of first publication)
These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels
1. The Lion at Sea 1977
2. The Dangerous Years 1978
3. Back to Battle 1979
‘Goff Family’ Titles
(in order of first publication)
These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels
1. Soldier of the Queen 1980
2. Blunted Lance 1981
3. The Iron Stallions 1982
RAF Trilogy
(in order of first publication)
These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels
1. The Bright Blue Sky 1982
2. The Challenging Heights 1983
3. Once More the Hawks 1984
Synopses of Hennessy Titles
Published by House of Stratus
Back to Battle
The third title in the exciting naval trilogy featuring the courageous Kelly Maguire. Commander Kelly Maguire, leader of men in the British Navy, finds himself plunged into blistering attacks at the battle of Dunkirk. From bitter fighting in the Mediterranean, to the landings at Normandy, this action-packed saga takes Maguire through trial to triumph. Against a background of personal tragedy, this is a compelling story of love and adventure.
The Blunted Lance
The second novel in the Goff family trilogy. The Goffs, a family devoted to Th
e Regiment - the Nineteenth Lancers - find themselves charting a history of the world from the Sudan to South Africa, Flanders to Palestine. Charging and retreating on the wide plains of a failing British Empire, Coby Goff rises to the rank of Field Marshal and Dabney is honoured as a hero. But they witness the decline of the beloved cavalry, defeated in the face of pounding artillery, the tank and machine gun.
The Bright Blue Sky
The first in Hennessy’s breathtaking RAF trilogy. The reckless days of early aviation are brought to life in a tale of daring, dashing young pilots waging war, and of the raging struggle between the hearts of two brave men for the heart of a beautiful woman. This is the first story in the trilogy involving Corporal Quinney, an air ace in the RAF; a hero blazing through the skies to dogfight high above the Italian front, confronting deadly foes and challenging a treacherous rival in love and war.
The Challenging Heights
The second in Hennessy’s breathtaking RAF trilogy. Dicken Quinney, a brilliant, heroic character, comes to life in this turbulent action novel. Quinney finds himself flying in the Baltic in a fight against the Bolsheviks. But tragedy mixes with adventure as Quinney loses his lover, Zoe.
The Dangerous Years
The second title in the exciting naval trilogy featuring the courageous Kelly Maguire. There is talk of peace across Europe as the First World War draws to its bloody conclusion and the German naval fleet limps into Scapa Flow for a humiliating surrender. But for Lieutenant Kelly Maguire, new conflicts arise in Russia, the Mediterranean and the Far East. Maguire faces brutal choices and violent action. Rising through the ranks of the Royal Navy he is sent on a mission to the killing-ground of China. For Maguire, dangerous years are ahead.
The Iron Stallions
The third novel in the Goff family trilogy. The Goff family have lived and died for the Nineteenth Lancers for generations but when Josh Goff runs away from school to enlist in the ranks of the cavalry under a false name, he winds up on the beaches of France. It is D-Day and heavy artillery pummels the landscape around him. As he fights, Goff learns that the cavalry is still expected to save the day, or die bravely in the attempt.
The Lion at Sea
The first title in the exciting naval trilogy featuring the courageous Kelly Maguire. Midshipman Kelly Maguire has always had a love affair with the sea. And when war clouds gather over Europe, Maguire is put to the test along with the marine might of the Royal Navy. From the Hellish battles of Gallipoli to the barbarous action at Antwerp, Maguire begins to learn the lessons a sailor must face. Glory and danger abound in this sizzling saga of adventure, blood and guts.
Once More the Hawks
Last in the RAF trilogy, this story charts the exploits of world-class fighter pilot Dicken Quinney. It is the summer of 1939 and when war breaks out, Quinney finds himself flying through the skies of France, shot down over a cemetery and forced to make a breath-taking escape across Nazi Europe, into the hands of his nemesis, General Lee Tse Liu.
Soldier of the Queen
The first novel in the Goff family trilogy. Charting the heroism of a young and talented cavalry officer, Colby Goff, this story takes the reader from Balaclava to the Zulu War. Colby progresses from a raw, wilful soldier to a laudable officer, fighting from continent to continent, engaging in the Franco-Prussian and American civil war and proving himself to be a man of passion and of steel.
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