by Simon Rumney
Robard knew something had to be done to warn the Boers above him on the mountain. He turned to retrace his steps, but stopped at the sight of Helen, Julii and Robert standing in a line holding new rifles and wearing cartridge belts. Stunned by such a strange sight on a battlefield, Robard asked, "What the hell are you doing?"
Some words were in English, one was Italian, and two were French, but everyone understood the question.
Helen was the one who replied. "You are much too important to lose. We have no choice but to stay by your side."
Robard felt embarrassed. Here he was intending to prove himself and he was being chaperoned by two women. If he wasn't a laughing stock among his peers before, he would be now. His words came out in a shout directed at Robert. "Get these women off of the battlefield!"
Robert's reply was dry and matter-of-fact. "I recon these here women know more about fighting than you do. I recon these here women know more about war than your boys hiding up that there hill."
Robard did not know what to do next. Helen and Julii and Robert looked determined. He was not going to shake them off easily. He was trying to think, when a group of twenty young Boers climbed down from the side of the mountain. Unbelievably, they were being led by the blacksmith Janco van Deventer.
Janco and his men stopped at the sight of Robard and his strange companions. They all looked shocked and surprised. Their silent expressions confirmed Robard's worst fears. They didn't have to speak for him to know what was on their minds. 'Why had Robard come to fight a war with two women?'
In an attempt to deflect attention away from his oddness, Robard pointed as he spoke to Janco in the serious manner of a soldier delivering a report. "The British are climbing the mountain."
Janco hardly looked away from the odd threesome of a white woman, a kaffir woman, and a one-eyed man to give his answer. "We know. Some of the men are moving up higher to cut them off. We're going for the big guns."
Janco stopped gawking at Helen, Julii and Robert. As he set off around the rugged field towards the artillery, he could not resist shouting his parting words. "You stay here with your girlfriends. You wouldn't want them seeing how big a coward you are!"
Furious, Robard ran after Janco and his group of twenty young Boers, so Helen, Julii and Robert ran after him. Moving at a reasonable pace for the terrain, Janco and the small group of Boers crossed the open field until they were in sight of the regularly blasting cannons.
The four artillery pieces had been placed on a raised plateau of rock and they were being loaded and fired by Royal Navy sailors. From their position below the plateau, Robard could see the blue uniformed seamen working expertly above. They looked so out of place on dry land in their white caps, bell-bottom trousers and their shirts with the blue and white flap at the back.
Janco nudged Robard hard with the butt of his rifle as he said, "What the hell are you doing, man? Who are these people?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Robard saw Robert move in a rapid motion towards Janco, but Helen and Julii held him back. He understood Robert was trying to retaliate for what Janco had done to him with the butt of his rifle. 'This was simply too embarrassing.' 'Now he was being looked after by a one-eyed man and two women on a battlefield.'
Janco laughed and Robard wanted to berate the three well-meaning people who were accidentally humiliating him. His one chance at proving himself was being completely disrupted in front of his archenemy Janco van Deventer. Robard felt like explaining himself to Janco, but luckily that act of pathetic weakness was surpassed by a volley of shots fired by the twenty young Boers.
The first rifle shots hit one of the sailors who happened to be loading one of the two bigger guns. The volley that followed hit two more sailors and the rest ran away.
The first part of his job done well, Janco stood up and shouted. "Charge."
The bullet that hit him was followed by a hail of British bullets. Unfortunately for Janco's little squad, the plateau was not just the place for artillery; it was also the launching point for the next British attack. A platoon of highlanders had been readying themselves for another assault on the mountain when Janco's men arrived. Angered by the death of so many of their regiment at the hands of the Boer sharp shooters on the mountain, the kilted figures took great pleasure in returning fire on Janco's boys.
Janco's group were exposed and many of his party were killed before they could move back to cover. Robard picked up Janco and carried him over his shoulder to a large rock while Helen, Julii and Robert provided rapid fire to keep the Scotsmen's heads down.
Once behind the rock, Robard opened Janco's khaki shirt to examine the wound. Janco's breathing was much labored and he was clearly in excruciating pain. He looked up at Robard and tried to speak.
Robard placed his ear next to Janco's mouth and heard him say in a whisper, "Your father kept loading."
Robard looked at Janco as he asked, "At Blood River?"
Janco nodded his head 'yes' and a wave of pain passed over him. Pulling on Robard's shirt, he spoke into his ear again. "He never told anyone. Never a word. He just held it over me all my life."
Robard could not see Janco's expression because the full weight of his upper body was hanging from the hand that grasped his shirt. Giving up his attempt to look at Janco's face, Robard asked, "Held what over your head?"
"I pissed myself. I couldn't load the muskets and I pissed myself. All the while your father just kept loading."
This made no sense to Robard. He forced Janco's hand from his shirt and turned to look at him as he asked, "What does that even mean? Why does it matter?"
Robard shook Janco to wake him. He needed to understand why he had suffered persecution for something that made no sense. When Janco said nothing, he shook him harder and shouted, "Why did you put us through hell when you are the coward?"
Everyone but Robard understood Janco was dead. The only thing Robard could see was an unanswered question hanging in the air like a weapon. He needed to make some sense of this and his behavior became even more odd than usual.
The thing that broke his obsessive shaking and shouting was Julii's slap to his face. Helen and Robert had also seen the need to bring his attention back from wherever it had gone, but Julii just happened to be the closest.
One of the young Boer men reacted to what he was seeing with reflexes developed from over twenty years of racial conditioning. His punch knocked Julii down.
Robert's retaliatory punch was so quick the young Boer did not see it coming. He lay on the ground in shock.
Another of the young Boers shouted, "What the hell, man? She's a kaffir!"
Another one of the young Boer's attacked Robert with the butt of his rifle as he shouted, "Why did you hit my brother, you kaffir lover!"
The second young Boer was about to hit Robert with the butt of his gun again when Robard stood up to stop him.
The bullet that went through Robard's chest stopped everything.
The young Boer froze with his rifle raised in the air and the bullet that hit him went through his head and he was dead before he hit the ground.
Helen moved to support Robard. As he passed into darkness, he heard Helen say, "We will find you again. Try to hang onto this memory until we find you again."
In the darkness, Robard heard the familiar pounding noise. Just as he had so many times before, he saw everything about this troubled life with deep clarity. He understood who the people who had influenced his life really were.
He knew who Janco Van Deventer was and why he was instrumental in his death. He knew Janco's hatred for him and his father made no sense because that hatred came to him from a different time and a different place.
He also knew who everyone else was because he had seen exactly the same people many times before. They were all following him through his many lives. They had been Greek, then Trojan, then Roman, then European, then American, then African, but they were all the same people.
He was also being allowed to understand wh
y he must repeat the mistakes and the pain and the heartaches. He was cursed through all eternity. In this moment of transition, he was being allowed to see what he had done to deserve these endlessly painful journeys through endless lifetimes. As the safe, comfortable pounding sound was replaced by the inevitable light, his mind was wiped clean of all these bitter memories and she was ready to start another painful lifetime in another time and another place.