The Hurst Chronicles (Book 1): Hurst

by Robin Crumby

  The battle for the main gate was lost. Tommy knew that now. And yet, he consoled himself with the fact that the bulk of Hurst’s occupants were safe for the time being. Between them and their attackers were stone walls from another time. Six feet thick and built to withstand cannon balls and the very worst the French and Spanish navies of yesteryear could hurl their way. Tommy was fairly sure that the castle could hold out against a superior force for many days. The unlucky few trapped on the wrong side of the Tudor gate would have to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, that included Scottie.

  …

  Outside the castle complex, the man in black waited impatiently, pacing around. His plan was working perfectly, but not knowing what was going on inside was killing him. Why was it taking Copper so long?

  The main force had arrived in the small harbour area unopposed. They had silently approached the main gate, crossing what would once have been a moat surrounding the original Tudor fort. Today it was little more than a ditch. They had their backs pressed against the stone walls, looking up nervously in case there were any sharpshooters on the ramparts above them. They had little to fear, but they knew first-hand that it paid to be careful.

  The drawbridge was raised and beyond the formidable stone and wood defences, they were listening to the fire fight, trying to interpret the sounds they heard. The man in black smiled and pressed his cheek against the cold of the stone. He seemed to be enjoying himself and started to whistle.

  When he heard the pop and hiss of the smoke grenades, he clicked his fingers and gesticulated at one of the others in the darkness, recognizing his plan playing out. Will had not lied. The castle was indeed vulnerable and would be taken with minimal casualties. Losing a few of Copper’s men was neither here nor there. It was an acceptable price to pay for this jewel of the Solent. Hurst was to be an important strategic pillar for his new empire.

  ***

  Back on the roof of the tower, Tommy picked up the rifle that had clattered on the floor next to him when one of the others had taken a bullet to the shoulder. Keeping low, he popped his head over the parapet and scanned for targets. The smoke was still thick below, masking the movement of the armed men as they fought their way towards the gate. The cloud of smoke suddenly parted and left a solitary figure exposed for a second. Tommy took careful aim, letting his breath out slowly as Zed had taught him, before squeezing the trigger. The recoil from the rifle surprised him and he lost sight of the figure below. When the smoke next cleared, he could make out a body lying prone on the ground, not moving any more, then the smoke obscured his view again. He punched the air in delight, muted congratulations from the man clutching his injured shoulder next to him. How many more were there? They had to stop them reaching that gate. Nathan’s group were still nowhere to be seen and with the counter attack was already over, almost before it had begun. The balance of power had swung violently against them.

  ***

  Scottie could only listen helplessly to the firefight, panting for breath. Just then the door handle to the guardhouse rattled. Someone was outside. Would they try to break down the door? Or would they leave him there, trapped while they tried to open the drawbridge. He heard voices. It sounded like there was a second group outside the gate, shouting instructions.

  He could hear muffled noises. A bag being unzipped. The noises moved away towards the gate. Scuffed footsteps again. A grunt of effort. A scrape of metal on stone. Were they trying to release the chains on the drawbridge perhaps? Scottie smiled. He knew it was virtually impossible unless you knew how, the mechanism stiff and awkward. The footsteps hurried away back to the courtyard. Had they given up and gone?

  Scottie relaxed for a second in the brief silence that followed. He had barricaded the door, jamming a heavy oak desk and metal filing cabinet stacked on top of it. He had his back to the desk, his legs wedged, ready to push back if someone tried to force their way in.

  He was craning his head trying to hear any further sounds. After all the commotion, the silence was perplexing. Where were those reinforcements? Either they had been beaten back or they weren’t coming. Perhaps they were dead. There was nothing he could do on his own to stop the attack. It was only a matter of time now before whomever else was waiting outside gained access and the second phase of the battle proper would begin.

  He searched the desk looking for anything he could use. The drawers were mostly full of paperwork, ticket stubs, pencils and pens. The shelves each side of the window were stacked with guidebooks of the castle and maps of the local area, together with assorted merchandise from when the guardhouse served as the ticket office and gift shop. The second room towards the back proved more rewarding. He found biscuits and bottled water, together with a walkie-talkie with working batteries. He turned the volume dial and got a burst of static. He left it on low in case someone else in the castle was trying to contact him.

  Two explosions a couple of milliseconds apart sent dust showering down on top of him. The noise echoed round the confined space, deafening. Dazed, his senses were confused and disoriented. To his surprise he found he was moaning and put a hand over his mouth to silence himself.

  ***

  The blast from the two charges had ripped one side of the drawbridge from its hinges and its wood was broken and splintered. A draft of wind through the new opening slowly dispersed the smoke from the explosion. Through the blast hole clambered the man in black, quickly followed by the rest of his men.

  He stood inside looking up at the scorch marks to the ceiling of the covered archway. He threw his arms wide to welcome those behind him to Hurst like a visiting VIP. Copper waited for the dust to settle before approaching the new arrivals, extending his arm to shake the man in black’s hand. The moment of self-congratulation quickly passed as a bullet ricocheted harmlessly behind Copper in the courtyard. Out of sight, the riflemen on the roof of the Gun Tower were exchanging fire with a sniper who had taken up position behind a chimneystack on the roof of one of the gun batteries that faced towards the Needles passage. He was picking off the men on the roof when they exposed themselves above the parapet.

  Copper’s team rounded the corner, staying close to the wall and attached their last remaining set of charges to the inner gate leading to the old Tudor castle and the Eastern wing beyond, where the bulk of Hurst’s occupants were now cowering.

  ***

  Inside the Tudor gate, Tommy and the others were barricading doorways and fortifying firing positions with anything they could get their hands on. Overturned beds and mattresses were dragged and propped up against windows over looking the courtyard. He was fairly sure that if the invaders did get through the gate, it would be a turkey shoot. They would be walking into a kill zone. Anything and anyone that came through would be cut to shreds.

  When the last of the charges exploded, the blast in the enclosed space was deafening. It rumbled throughout the Tudor complex and network of tunnels and chambers beneath. For a few seconds following the explosion, nothing happened. No one dared come through the doorway. Tommy and the others stood ready, guns trained on the gap, where light now streamed through from a high-powered torch or lantern.

  Something metallic came skidding through the doorway followed by the now familiar pop and hiss of a smoke canister as it came to rest in the middle of the courtyard. One of the defenders emerged from the shadows to try and kick the smoke grenade back where it came from. A hail of fire threw him backwards against the wall, where he slid down clutching a wound to the chest. He disappeared from view, shrouded in an impenetrable cloud of orange gas that began to fill the courtyard. The cloud rose inexorably towards Jamie and the men on the roof of the Gun Tower. They could now see nothing at all below them and scanned for any shapes or movement. They could hear footsteps and one man fired on instinct towards the source of the noise. Standing to see if he’d hit anything, there was a loud crack and the man to Jamie’s right went down. The others dropped lower behind the parapet and waited. The attackers were inside the Tudor ca
stle. There was nothing now between them and taking control of the whole complex. Only the Gun Tower now remained secure.

  Chapter forty-seven

  The firefight was over. For a few minutes, there was silence, except for the cries for help from the wounded on both sides. Tommy had taken up position inside the Gun Tower peering out the window into the courtyard from behind a makeshift curtain.

  From out of sight, he heard a slow hand clap. The man in black spoke in a slow deliberate voice, imbued with a calm authority that reminded him of a high-court judge delivering his sentence to a condemned man: “Bravo, bravo. You have fought well. History will remember your bravery. But enough is enough. There is no need for any more of you to die unnecessarily. Lay down your weapons and come out from your hiding places with your arms raised. This is not a battle you can win.”

  The man in black paused, his words echoing around the battlements.

  Tommy looked on, his face hidden, aware of faces pressed together behind him, trying to get a look at the silhouetted figure behind the disembodied voice in the darkness. He looked over his shoulder and studied their faces. They looked defeated, the fight gone from them.

  Outside, the man in black emerged from the archway, marching two prisoners ahead of him, using one as a shield, a pistol held to the side of his head. Tommy recognized the human shield immediately. It was Jackson, one of the recent arrivals. Jackson stared straight back at the window where Tommy was hiding as if he could see him as clear as day, despite the near darkness. It chilled Tommy to the bone, knowing that he would have to choose between surrender and watching his friend executed.

  The man in black’s sense of theatre was not lost on others, as he relished the moment of drama, the tension on both sides, with eyes watching his every move, wondering what he would do next, drawing out every silence until people wanted to scream or do something stupid.

  “If you surrender now, I give you my word that no one else from Hurst will die tonight.” He held his left hand high and melodramatically clapped it to his heart. “I swear on my mother’s life.”

  There was silence. Tommy stayed completely still, his mind racing.

  “Of course, if you do not surrender, I can assure you, you will all die. Of that be absolutely certain. Starting with these two right here.” He jabbed the gun in Jackson’s neck and kicked out his legs from behind so he fell forward onto his hands and knees, gasping with pain.

  “I will give you five minutes to consider my offer. Surrender and live. Or fight and die.”

  Tommy and Nathan let the curtain fall back into place and crouched down below the window, their backs pressed against the wall. There seemed no way they could win this fight. Surrender now and they could avoid further bloodshed, but could they trust this man to keep his word? They didn’t even know why they were attacking? What did they want? To seize control of Hurst? To steal their food and supplies? Or was there some other motive?

  Even discounting the more unlikely stories of expert marksmanship from the men on the roof, they had put up a good fight. Tommy reckoned they had killed or wounded at least ten of them, but calculated that there were at least as many more again. The Hurst defenders far outnumbered their attackers, but they were poorly armed. However, they held the high ground and could pick off anyone who entered the inner courtyard. Tommy was confident they could hold out here for days, even weeks with the food and water they already had. If they could just get word to their friends, then perhaps they could survive the siege and fight their way out. It was a risky move. If only Jack was here, he would know what to do.

  Tommy glanced at the others and made up his mind. They should try and reason with this man holding Hurst to ransom and play for time. They needed to find out a little more before they decided on the correct course of action.

  With the window pushed open a few inches, he called out: “Thanks for the offer and everything.” He shook his head, hearing his own words. That just sounded weird. Nathan patted him on the shoulder in encouragement. He swallowed hard before continuing. “But before we give you our response, we need answers to some of our questions.”

  The man in black laughed. “Very well. Ask away. You have three questions. Use them wisely.”

  Tommy closed his eyes, trying to organize his thoughts. His first question tripped out before he could think it through. “Why are you attacking us?” He flinched, cursing himself, it was a dumb question.

  “Why are we attacking you?” he repeated in a mocking voice, mimicking Tommy’s nasal twang. “Isn’t it obvious? You have something we want. A mutual friend has told us all about you. Need I say more?”

  “Perhaps if you could be a bit more specific. If you were to tell us what you want, we could come to some kind of arrangement?” offered Tommy tentatively, beginning to relax a little.

  “No, no, no.” He replied wagging his finger. “You misunderstand. You are in no position to negotiate. Hurst has a debt to pay. Lay down your arms and we can avoid any more needless bloodshed. The conditions of your surrender are non-negotiable.”

  Tommy exchanged glances with Nathan, who was mouthing the word ‘debt’ and shaking her head. None of this was making much sense. What debt was he talking about? Who was this mutual friend? Had they captured Jack or Terra or did he mean one of Zed’s team? He played for time, trying to gather more pieces of the puzzle to get a clearer picture.

  “What guarantees can you give us that if we surrender we would be allowed to leave here in peace?”

  “My word is my bond.” He clapped his right hand to his heart sanctimoniously.

  “And what debt are you talking about?”

  There was a moment of silence as the man in black looked around him puzzled. “You took something that does not belong to you. You attacked us, killed my men. This cannot go unpunished. The debt must be repaid.”

  “I can assure you, you are mistaken. We have nothing that belongs to you. And we know nothing about an attack. You have our word on that.” He paused before continuing, taking his time. “Anyway what is this thing that was taken? Perhaps if you tell us we can help you figure out who really took it. Wasn’t us.”

  The man in black waved his finger. “You’ve had your three questions and your five minutes are up. I need your decision. We don’t have all night. Do I have your surrender?”

  “We will give you our response when we’re good and ready. But first, I recommend you look around you. Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but you are outnumbered. We hold the high ground. Beneath your feet, there’s a warren of chambers and corridors. A whole army is getting ready to fight. Looks like you’ve underestimated us. Whoever your mutual friend is, they did not tell you the whole truth. I’d say you and your men have walked into a little trap. And if you don’t get the hell out of our camp, I can guarantee you many of your lot will die. What debt could possibly be worth all that?”

  “If you knew what you had taken, you would know the answer to your own question.”

  “I’ve told you already, we didn’t take anything of yours,” said Tommy beginning to get frustrated by this back and forth. “If you stopped talking in riddles and told us what you were looking for, we might be able to come to an arrangement without fighting like this.”

  The man in black laughed. “And I’m growing tired of your childish games. Either you’re bluffing and playing a very dangerous game, or you really have no idea what I’m talking about.” He looked at his feet and the hostage on his knees, a gun still pressed to the side of his head. “Very well. Your group attacked us and took two prisoners, two girls, Adele and Stella. We want to get them back. There, I’ve told you more than enough. Return them to us immediately and we will spare the rest of you.”

  Tommy looked around the group and saw only blank expressions and shaking heads.

  “What girls? We have no one of that name here?”

  “In that case, you have nothing left to bargain with. If you refuse to surrender, then you will face the consequences.”

  I
n the silence that followed, Tommy and Nathan conferred quietly and passed a message up the stairs to Jamie on the rooftop. They had a surprise or two up their sleeve. Two rifle shots rang out and hit Jackson in the shoulder and the other prisoner in the leg. Both of them collapsed and lay gasping on the ground. The man in black stepped back, suddenly exposed and genuinely surprised. Blood was splattered on his cheek and he took a white handkerchief out of his top pocket, shook it open and wiped the spots away, inspecting the stains.

  “I take it that’s a no then. You’ll regret this.” He slowly walked backwards out of the gate, lingering for a second to stare up at Tommy who he could just make out in the shadow of the curtain before he departed.