by J. F. Penn
She stood up, brushing the dust from her jeans. Zoltan held out his hand to shake hers.
“You always have a place here, Morgan. And if you ever need me, I’ll come.”
She ignored his hand, leaning forward to kiss his scarred cheek. His fingertips briefly touched her back, and as she hugged him, she felt his stiffness relent and he embraced her in return. At last, she pulled away, smiling.
“I’ll see you again, Zoltan. I’m sure of it.”
Morgan walked out of the Dohany Street synagogue and into the waiting taxi, heading back to the airport and ARKANE.
As the car sped along, Morgan sat quietly for a moment, staring out at the same streets that she had passed so early this morning. Could it really have only been one day? It seemed that so much had happened.
She sighed, finally turning her ARKANE cellphone back on, ready to return to her real world. There were several text messages from Martin Klein, the genius head archivist. The first text contained her updated flight information, but the second made her heart race. There’s a strange package waiting for you. The writing is faded and the sender is noted as Leon Sierra. But how could that be, she wondered. It was her father’s name and he had died several years ago, blown apart by a suicide bomber in Beersheba. Morgan was suddenly keen to get back and find out what was in the impossible package.
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Pentecost
Prophecy
Exodus
AUTHOR’S NOTE
This novella is a work of fiction, but the inspiration for it comes from actual events and real places.
I visited Budapest in November 2012 and was deeply affected by the horrific layers of history that the city has endured. The Dohany Street Synagogue and the House of Terror were devastating, and once I saw the Holy Hand of St Istvan in the Basilica, I knew what the crux of my story would be. I wanted to give a taste of the grand city in the book but also evoke visions of a day that seemed all too possible given the political situation. Here are some of my sources if you want to investigate further.
Rise of right-wing nationalism in Hungary
We like to think that the horrors of World War II couldn’t happen again, that we are too educated to succumb to ultra-nationalism or the persecution of minorities, that those things happen in other countries, to other people. But that belief is fiction.
In December 2012, Hungary’s far-right Jobbik party called for lists of prominent Jews to be drawn up to “protect national security” http://bit.ly/14zRbCL . Anti-Semitic violence is growing in Eastern Europe http://reut.rs/SARA1x and in the wake of the European financial crisis and austerity measures, far right-wing parties are gaining popularity. European genocide happened as recently as the Bosnian War in the 1990s, so we can’t believe that such violence remains in the past or just in ‘other’ areas of the world. With this novella, I wanted to highlight the disturbing political situation, as well as the dark history of Budapest, whose people who have suffered so much.
For more, see the following resources:
‘My week with Hungary’s Far Right’ by Brian Whelan: http://bit.ly/12TivWS
You can watch part of the video documentary here: http://bit.ly/13PmB1u
Official terror for Hungary’s Roma: http://bit.ly/AAHJLT
Jewish community in Budapest
The Gold Train and settlement are true http://bit.ly/177Shl8 but of course the involvement of ARKANE and the return of the painting is fictional.
You can read more about the Dohany Street Synagogue, the mass grave and the ghetto here:
http://www.greatsynagogue.hu/
The Shoes of the Danube memorial: http://bit.ly/8hTopj
Other Budapest City Landmarks
All of the landmarks described in the city of Budapest do exist, although the events described in the book are of course fiction.
You can see some of my photos and other pictures here: http://pinterest.com/jfpenn/budapest/
The House of Terror is an incredible museum now, with the cells as described and rooms full of secret police memorabilia, as well as stories of those lost. http://www.terrorhaza.hu
There really is a labyrinth under Castle Hill that was closed to the public in 2011 under strange circumstances. I have taken liberties with the internal geography, as I couldn’t visit, but you can watch a video on their website that gives you a sense of the place: http://www.labirintus.com/en/1003/gallery
The Memento Park is full of large statues, a memorial to Communism http://www.mementopark.hu/
ABOUT J.F.PENN
Joanna Penn has a Master’s degree in Theology from the University of Oxford, Mansfield College and a Graduate Diploma in Psychology from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
She lives in London, England but spent 11 years in Australia and New Zealand. Joanna worked for 13 years as an international business consultant within the IT industry but is now a full-time author-entrepreneur. She is the author of the ARKANE series as well as other standalone books.
Joanna is a PADI Divemaster and enjoys traveling as often as possible. She is obsessed with religion and psychology and loves to read, drink pinot noir and soak up European culture through art, architecture and food.
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For writers:
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Joanna also has a popular podcast for writers on iTunes, The Creative Penn
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As always, my love and thanks to Jonathan, my first reader and wonderful husband. And a huge thank you to my readers, I hope that this book has both entertained you and made you think.
Thanks to my line editor, Jacqueline Penn, who keeps me on my toes with her insightful challenges. Thanks to author T.J.Cooke for his suggestion of the Memorial Park, which turned out to be a great setting for the final scene. Thanks to Meg Tufano for her fantastically detailed beta-reading.
Thanks as ever to my cover designer, Derek Murphy from Creativindie who did another fantastic job and to Liz Broomfield from Libroediting for proofreading the final draft.
