Day of the Assassins

by Johnny O'Brien

  “Dani – what do we do?”

  “Split up – as we planned. You and I take the English boys. Vaso and Goran split off.”

  The lancers were already only ninety metres away and bearing down on them.

  Dani and Anna whisked Jack and Angus off the main path and into a narrow, hedged passageway. Vaso and Goran disappeared in the opposite direction.

  Behind them, the horsemen came to a sudden halt, in a maelstrom of dust, scraping leather and metal. They had been temporarily caught out by the split of the group – but it wouldn’t be long before they were back on their trail. Dani led them out through an archway in the hedge. Ahead of them was a wide, grass bank, which rose gently to a long, low building with a series of archways built into the walls. It was a strange structure and it was not clear what it was for.

  Anna egged them forward, “Come on!”

  Behind them, one of the lancers had managed to force his horse through the narrow passageway and was hot on their heels. Anna raced towards the low building – Dani, Jack and Angus following closely behind. Anna took her rifle and thrust the butt hard into the large glass window of one of the arches. It shattered instantly.

  Anna jumped through the gap and they followed her through and started to run. Inside, the faint grey moonlight washed through the arched windows. The building was so long that they could barely see from one end to the other. It was mostly empty, although there were some large tables set in rows and, bizarrely, a section of manicured trees in large boxes. The atmosphere was different in here – it was warmer than outside and more humid… there was a fragrance in the air – a citrus smell, like oranges. That’s where they were: inside a massive orangery – although most of the trees had already been moved to the gardens for the summer. But before they had a chance to gather their wits, there was another loud crash. They wheeled round. A tall figure sat astride a large black horse. One of the pursuing lancers had burst through the broken window and skidded to a halt in the central aisle of the orangery. His steel helmet glimmered and the long, feathered plume quivered in its crest. The horse bucked, and the horseman wheeled round expertly to face them. He was balancing his lance, a gossamer-thin pole in his right hand. At one end, Jack could make out a small metal spike. In a flash, the lancer dug his heels hard into the flanks of the black horse. It reared… and then charged.

  They could feel the paving beneath them rumble as the four hooves pounded forward. The horseman skilfully manoeuvred the lance so that it pointed at a slight angle down to where Dani and Anna stood, between Jack and Angus. In seconds he would be upon them. Jack and Angus dived for cover. But Dani was too slow. Jack twisted round and, as Dani fell, he saw the lance pierce his chest. Anna screamed in horror as her brother slumped to the ground. The horseman withdrew the lance from Dani’s body. He steered the horse back and it snorted as the lancer turned round for a second attack. Anna climbed, catlike, onto one of the long banquet tables. From her elevated position, she leaped out at the horseman landing plumb on his horse’s rump. The horse reared up in surprise, its front hooves kicking out wildly. First Anna, then the lancer tumbled backwards onto the stone floor. The lancer landed awkwardly on his head. He didn’t move. His lance spun from his hand and its metal tip shattered free from the wooden pole as it hit the stone floor. Jack and Angus rushed over to Anna who groaned, opened her eyes and shakily pulled herself up into a crawling position. She crept over to where Dani lay, and cradled her brother’s head in her hands. But it lolled uselessly and his eyes stared out into the darkness.

  First the professor and now Dani. Dead.

  In the dim moonlight, something caught Jack’s eye. He peered down and the metal lance head glinted up at him. It lay in a pool of Dani’s blood. It was exactly the same size and shape as the lance head he had discovered in his father’s workshop at Cairnfield. The Schönbrunn raid was not a historical myth. Jack knew now – because he had been part of it. In fact, his trip back to 1914 had caused it.

  *

  Anna turned from her brother and stared up at Jack and Angus. She had a strange, questioning look on her face. Then the shock of her brother’s brutal death hit her and she started to rock violently back and forth cradling his head, sobbing uncontrollably. Anna was in a place beyond comfort, and for a moment Jack and Angus just stared down, not knowing what to do.

  Suddenly they heard voices from outside. More guards.

  Angus looked at Jack, desperation on his face. “What do we do now?”

  Jack fumbled in his pocket, “Time phone! Maybe we still have a signal… maybe we can get out of this mess, once and for all.”

  He held the device in his hand and flipped it open, but the yellow bar had turned grey. The signal had vanished.

  “No good,” Jack groaned.

  At the far end of the orangery, the guards were starting to scramble through the shattered window. Soon they would be upon them.

  “What’s this?” Jack had noticed something else in the time phone’s read-out. “Another message! Must have been sent just before the signal was lost.”

  Sure enough the read-out was blinking.

  Message 2…

  Jack tapped a button.

  Have lost contact with P-shape. Rescue may

  have failed. Can only help when we have a

  signal. If P-shape alive – he will help you.

  In frustration, Jack snapped the time phone shut.

  Next to them, Anna kissed Dani lightly on one cheek and rested his head on the stone floor. She looked back down the orangery where they could now see the shadows of the guards approaching. Then she got to her feet. She had stopped sobbing. She was suddenly cold and emotionless. There was steel in her voice. “Now I want one thing… only one thing: justice.”

  *

  It took them two hours to creep from the grounds of Schönbrunn and make their way cross-country to the pre-arranged meeting place. They worked their way through thick woodland, where shards of moonlight ghosted through the canopy above. Eventually, they arrived at some farmland, where a rustic timber barn nestled between the edge of the wood and the fields beyond. The crude structure was raised from the ground on four wooden stilts and in the grey light Jack saw that a large stone rested on each stilt, supporting the barn – the smooth surface of the stones deterred rats and mice from the barn’s contents. Gingerly, Anna approached the wooden ladder that led to the elevated doorway. She climbed up and levered open the door. Soon all three of them were safely inside. It was clear that this was to have been the rendezvous point with Vaso and Goran. But worryingly there was no sign of them. They had no idea what had happened to Pendelshape either, following his escape from the burning Tiger. They were alone and they would not be able to stay long.

  Through cracks in the crude wooden walls, the moonlight washed eerily into the barn. Anna curled up in a corner and for a while remained motionless – brooding. Finally, seeking comfort from distraction, she pulled some bread and cheese from her bag and shared it out. They sat and tried to eat, but Jack’s mouth was dry and the bread and cheese rolled up in his mouth in a papery ball. When Anna finally spoke to them, her voice was strangely calm, “So – you will help us – as we planned, yes?”

  It was clear what she meant. They had not staged the rescue from Schönbrunn for fun. Dani’s death was not to be in vain. They were still expected to travel to Sarajevo to help in the assassination attempt and help Anna find justice.

  “Doboj, eh? I tell you what, they’ve got some daft names around here…”

  Jack could not summon the energy to respond to Angus. The night in the third-class railway carriage had exhausted him.

  Anna scanned the thronging crowds from the steps of Doboj’s main railway station. “There!” she whispered.

  Further up the street stood a pony and hay cart. A dark-skinned boy – he couldn’t have been more than ten years old – was perched high on a wooden seat at the front of the cart.

  “Our transport…”

  “It just get
s better and better,” Angus groaned.

  Soon they were slumped on the hay in the back of the cart and the contraption rumbled off.

  *

  Jack reflected on their escape from Schönbrunn the day before and their six hundred and fifty kilometre journey from Vienna to Doboj – one hundred and sixty kilometres north of Sarajevo. It had been long and exhausting. On Thursday afternoon Anna had managed to get them aboard a train from Vienna to Belgrade and then on to Doboj. The Bosnian Serb underground network was proving to be remarkably pervasive and efficient. Jack had lost count of the times Anna had started a sentence with the words, “I have a friend who…”, or “I know someone who…”. The valuable train tickets had been procured from just such a source – a young train porter who was part of the network, and also, as Jack was starting to notice, one of Anna’s many male admirers.

  Since Schönbrunn, and the final message from Jack’s dad, the time phone had gone back into hibernation and the telltale yellow bar had remained stubbornly unlit – making any pursuit by VIGIL very difficult. It also meant that there had been no communication with Pendelshape. There was still the risk, however, of being picked up by the regular Austro-Hungarian authorities – but so far they had avoided this fate.

  Jack had begun to understand more about Anna as they rumbled south. Her desolation over the loss of her brother became buried under a brooding and renewed hatred of her Austro-Hungarian masters. Jack had persuaded her to tell them how she had orchestrated the daring rescue from Schönbrunn.

  She had explained, “We are planning raid in Vienna for long time. It is heart of Austrian Empire. We have plans already. After I meet you, and realise you are sent by the English teacher, Dr Pendelshape, I know we must protect you… get you to Zadok to help us in Sarajevo. After capture at Vienna Station, we activate the Vienna cell. We know where they take you – so we organise raid.”

  “You took a big risk to save us,” Jack had said.

  “We must. You sent by English teacher. You will help us.” Anna’s eyes had softened, just for a moment.

  Anna had not explained, however, what form this ‘help’ was supposed to take, and exactly how he and Angus, in particular, could possibly bolster the cause of the Southern Slavs. Clearly Pendelshape had mightily impressed them on his visit and any connection with the ‘English teacher’ meant access to great, if as yet unrevealed, powers. Of course, Jack had not explained to Anna the strange history of Pendelshape, and how they really came to be there. They had also pleaded ignorance about the battle at Schönbrunn. In the moonlight, it had been confusing, and only Jack and Angus knew what had really happened. But even using the extraordinary powers of VIGIL, Inchquin and the Rector would surely have their work cut out to minimise its historical impact.

  Anyway, Anna was only interested in one thing. There was no question in her mind as to the righteousness of their mission in Sarajevo. Nothing would persuade her to deviate from her chosen path. Now she was doing it for her brother… as well as her family and her nation. To have this certainty, Jack thought, must be good. It would make everything so… simple.

  Jack recalled the conversation that he and Angus had had with Anna on a sleepless moment on the long journey from Vienna.

  “Anna, why do you hate them so much? Why do you want to kill the Archduke?” he had asked. There’d been a pause. A shadow had passed across her face and her eyes had moistened.

  “You need to understand who I am… where I am from.” She had spoken softly – in monotone. It was almost as if she had been trying to distance herself from the words that came out of her mouth. “My family is poor. Some years ago my father had argument with neighbour. One day there was knock at the door… my father was murdered…” Anna wiped a tear from her eye, “in front of me… and Dani.” Jack was speechless, but he heard the bitterness in her voice. “To the authorities, it was just another peasant dispute. They do nothing. This ‘great power’. And for this we could never forgive. Then they take Dani. And now I want justice.”

  *

  They lay down in the hay and the gentle rocking of the cart finally put them all to sleep. Jack woke up as one of the cart wheels hit a pothole. He didn’t know how long they had been going… but it must have been some time, because the dust and smell of the coffee shops of Doboj had long since gone and now they were surrounded by verdant woodland. The road had changed to a rutted and bumpy track.

  Jack now pulled himself up from the hay and the grubby-faced boy at the front turned and flashed him a toothy grin. They were in hill country and occasionally through a gap in the trees Jack spotted the ragged outline of the mountains. He breathed in the fresh air. Anna and Angus still slept soundly in the cart and, Jack noticed, that one of Angus’s arms had fallen across Anna’s waist as they lay side by side. Jack rolled his eyes.

  “So how long now, Anna?” Jack said the words deliberately just loud enough, almost shouting, to wake his two companions. Both Anna and Angus jerked up their heads, disorientated and confused. Then Angus’s face turned red and he snatched his arm away from Anna. Anna giggled. It was the first time Jack had seen her smile since Schönbrunn. She pulled herself up onto her knees scanning the track and surrounding country. Content with their progress she leaned over to the boy, ruffled his hair and said something they didn’t understand.

  “We are nearly there…”

  Sure enough, they rounded another bend, and the woodland abruptly thinned out leading into a small valley surrounded by gently rolling hills.

  “That’s it.”

  They followed Anna’s eyes to one side of the valley where there was a raised plateau. Then they saw it.

  “The church?” Angus asked.

  “Monastery,” Anna confirmed.

  As the old wheels of the cart creaked onwards, the monastery came into full view. Jack had visited a couple of famous ruined abbeys near home – Dryburgh, Melrose. Their ruins suggested something much grander than the building in front of them now. The whole structure was enclosed by a large, circular outer wall. Built into the front, was a large bell tower with a pyramidal roof and an arched gateway leading into a main courtyard, with overgrown gardens and a small orchard beyond. On either side of the tower, were simple two-storey structures built into the curved outer walls. The white stone had turned grey in many places, and some parts of the outer wall had collapsed completely. There was a large hole in the sloped roof of one of the buildings, exposing the beams within. The place may have once deserved the label ‘monastery’ but now it was a ruin and probably deserted. Nevertheless, surrounded by the hills and woods, and with the tower glinting in the late morning sun, it possessed a peaceful beauty.

  Just as the cart approached the arched entrance gate, Jack had a powerful sense of déjà vu.

  “You know, I think I recognise it… this place.” Suddenly the memory was there, “Got it!” He jabbed Angus in excitement, “It’s the picture! The picture of the old church – you know, stuck to the map of Bosnia in Dad’s workshop… at Cairnfield – remember?”

  Angus screwed up his face, “Not sure…” Then he also remembered, “You know what, you’re right. Definitely. Definitely this place.”

  But neither of them could explain it. “Does that mean that Pendelshape… or Dad… maybe, maybe they’ve been here before?”

  They stepped down from the cart but the swaying sensation continued to stay with them. Anna handed the boy some coins and ruffled his hair a final time.

  Suddenly, through the entrance a tall thin man with long dark hair and a beard appeared. Anna squealed in excitement and rushed forward to hug him.

  “Zadok!”

  The man beamed and held Anna in his arms, “We received your message. We are ready…” Zadok held her away from him to look into her eyes, “But Anna… I was so sorry to hear of your loss.”

  Anna fought back her grief and chose not to respond to the remark. She gestured to Jack and Angus.

  Zadok stepped forward and smiled, “Ahh, you are the ones we
have been waiting for. Sent by the English teacher. We are honoured.” Zadok then did something that completely astonished Jack and Angus. He knelt on one knee before them and kissed each of their hands in turn.

  Jack was embarrassed, “It’s OK, er, really, you can get up.”

  Zadok rose to his feet. “I am Zadok. Zadok the priest.” He paused theatrically. “We were promised help. Help has come. This is a happy day. Come. You must eat after your long journey.”

  *

  They sat at one end of the old refectory and, through the broken windows, Jack inspected the small, white stone chapel in the centre of the overgrown monastery grounds. Beyond, lay the remains of the cloister that curved round the inner wall on the far side. It was very quiet. Zadok was alone and explained that he had only come up the night before “to prepare everything”, as he put it. He and Anna had cooked a simple stew with vegetables and bread and now the empty plates rested in front of them.

  “Zadok is from my village,” Anna explained. “But you’re not really a priest are you Zadok?” she smiled.

  “No?” Jack asked.

  “No. When the English teacher came he seemed to think it was funny I was called Zadok. Not a Serbian name. He called me ‘Zadok the Priest’. It’s from the bible.”

  Jack looked puzzled. “When did you meet Pendel… I mean, the English teacher? What did he do?”

  “Dani, Anna and I first met the English teacher – in Belgrade.” Zadok’s eyes twinkled in excitement, “We were not sure at first. Why an Englishman would want to help the Bosnian Serbs in our cause… We thought he might be a spy… but he knew so much. He knew everyone, he knew everything… it was incredible. On his first visit he warned us that the Austrian police had identified one of the Black Hand and were going to arrest him. He proved to be right and we were able to save him… It was almost as if the English teacher could predict…”

  “The future?” Jack finished Zadok’s sentence.