Iron Horsemen

by Brad R. Cook

  Eustache placed the book back on the shelf. “Now we should get some sleep, we have a busy day tomorrow. Especially if we’re going to get the Mystic Wind airborne.”

  Genevieve followed Bertrand, as I lingered a moment staring at the book tucked into its place on the shelf. Then Bertrand escorted us both upstairs to a couple of rooms at the end of a long hall. The rooms had no layer of dust or sheets covering the ornate furniture. I assumed Bertrand had been preparing them all night. The soft linens, downy pillow and mattress felt like heavenly clouds and I slipped easily into a deep sleep.

  We rose with the dawn and after breakfast, Eustache led us out to the garden house where the Mystic Wind waited. We all began work immediately. Genevieve set to work mending the sails and within in no time, the holes began to disappear, covered instead by the luxurious silk from her stolen dress. So much needed repair that it was mid-morning when we finally began inflating the balloon. All was going well when I doubled over with a pain so severe, I felt like I’d been stabbed through the stomach. Genevieve shot me a questioning glance and ran to my side.

  Eustache spun around. “What’s wrong?”

  Genevieve put her arm on my shoulder. “Are you alright?”

  “Someone’s coming,” I gasped. “I don’t know how I know, but….”

  “I’ll see who it is and send them away. If not, your duty is to get this craft in the air and get to London.”

  “It’s danger—” I started, but the pain silenced me.

  Eustache stepped into the garden and Genevieve ran to a window to see who it could be.

  “It’s a man in a long black coat and hat. He’s entered the garden from the other side,” she said as I struggled to stand upright.

  The nobleman called out in a stern voice. “Trespasser. I demand you leave my property this instant.”

  Genevieve gasped just as I made it to the window. There he was. Col. Hendrix! Striding fast through the garden, he tipped back his hat to reveal the bronze plates and sparking electric eye.

  “They call me War,” he said, “and I’ve come for the kids.”

  Genevieve and I saw the disgust on Eustache’s face as he faced the Colonel.

  “I’m afraid you cannot have them,” he said and turned as Bertrand stepped from the shadows, a golden-hilted rapier in his hand.

  CHAPTER 31

  THE DUEL

  I pressed against the window to get a better view. I couldn’t hear them, but didn’t need to. Their expressionless faces conveyed one message—a fight was imminent.

  “So it’s to be a duel, then,” the colonel said.

  Eustache bowed as he drew the rapier.

  “I’ll kill you where you stand, Frenchy.”

  “I doubt that, you’re more machine than man now.”

  “Lord Kannard sends his greetings.” Hendrix’s wicked smile curled the corner of his mouth. “He says he regrets that you must die, but perhaps you would prefer this way. Death will spare you from enslavement.”

  “How kind of him to think of old friends at a time like this.”

  “I’ll enjoy spilling your blue blood all over this garden.”

  “If you don’t mind, may we start? I have other matters to attend to.”

  Colonel Hendrix retracted his bronze right hand and the serrated blade locked into place.

  Eustache shook his head. “Not even a real sword, how dissatisfying.” He lunged and his downward thrust barely missed the colonel. He pressed his attack only to be parried by Hendrix who countered with several slashes that pushed Eustache back toward the main house.

  I wiped off the dirty window with my sleeve to get a clearer view. I wanted to help, but knew we should remain hidden—at least until the airskiff was ready to fly. Studying their movements, I tried to determine who would win, but Genevieve returned to the sail and tore a swatch from the dress to patch it.

  “How can you patch the sails right now?” I asked without taking my eyes off the duel.

  “Our duty is to escape. Eustache is fighting Hendrix to give us the time to finish our repairs. You heard him.”

  “I know, but its Col. Hendrix. We should go help Eustache.”

  “This is a matter of honor.” Genevieve’s fingers began stitching again. “We cannot interfere.”

  “The man who attacked my father is in the garden, and I’m hiding in a shed.”

  “You shouldn’t be hiding. You should be filling the balloon with air in case….”

  “But—” I knew she was right.

  “Alexander, you know this is bigger than one sword fight.”

  “You’re right, we have to get the potion back to London.”

  “I’m sure Eustache is a fine swordsman, he comes from a long line of swordsmen. We must take advantage of this opportunity.”

  The clatter of swords drew my attention back to the window. Eustache pushed the colonel toward the fountain in the center of the garden. Col. Hendrix leapt onto the marble ledge and his serrated blade ripped through Eustache’s coat.

  I gasped and gripped the windowsill. Hendrix’s attacks pushed the nobleman back toward his villa. Eustache forced him away with parries, but stumbled as he blocked the confederate.

  I couldn’t watch any longer. I checked on the balloon. Genevieve finished sewing the pieces of her dress over the largest hole in the sail. The balloon swelled to ever-greater dimensions and showed no holes or leaks. I looked over the engine and pushed down the lever ever so slightly to quicken the inflation. I just hoped Eustache would last until we could all escape.

  Peering over my shoulder into the garden, I cringed. Eustache had been cut in the shoulder.

  When the balloon was large enough to lift the boat, I anchored it with two lines and ran to the window. Colonel Hendrix forced Eustache back to the steps. Hendrix kicked the Frenchman to the stone. I feared what would happen next and ran out of the shed. I reached for my Thumper, but felt nothing.

  I hadn’t taken it to the Louvre.

  I snatched up a flower pot and hurled it. The terra cotta shattered against Hendrix who whirled around. Eustache leapt up.

  The confederate smiled. “I was waiting for you to stick your head up, kid.”

  “You’ll not harm him.” Eustache raised his sword toward the colonel. “Alexander, get out of here.”

  “Alexander,” Col. Hendrix good eye focused and a shudder rippled through me. “I’m here to make you an offer. Come with us and become a Horseman.”

  “What? Me?” I felt like I’d been hit in the gut.

  “Yes, you. You want adventure, right? Respect? Men with fancy titles to treat you like an equal? We hold the key to everything you’ve dreamed of—”

  “I’ll never join you!” I was shaking, breathing hard as if I’d just finished a five mile run.

  “That’s the spirit!” Eustache called out.

  “Are you sure?” Hendrix ignored the nobleman and walked toward me. “Wealth. More money than you could ever imagine.”

  I didn’t need money and had a big imagination. I shook my head.

  “Power.” Hendrix clenched his fist. “When you enter a room men will tremble.”

  “Do you want allies or slaves by your side?” Eustache asked me, advancing in the classic fencing pose as Hendrix thrust his arm out, holding him back with the serrated blade.

  “What about that girl of yours? Kensington’s daughter. Is she cowering in the shed?”

  I glanced back at the shed and hoped Genevieve hadn’t heard that. If she had, she’d probably come running out to join the fight.

  “Enter the Golden Circle, become a Horseman, Alexander. A king of the new world. If you do, I’ll spare Miss Kensington and give her to you. She can be yours forever.”

  Give her to me? What did he mean? My heart leapt into my throat. What was I being offered and why? The words made me angry, but doubt seized my mind like a clawed hand. There had to be a reason.

  “Why me?”

  “You’re not like these pompous royals. You’re
a common man thrust into the world of great men, men who believe they were born above your rank. But you can be their equal. You deserve to be their equal. You’re exactly what the Knights of the Golden Circle were created for. I know what you’re thinking, that I’m bad, but you don’t see I’m trying to help you.”

  “But you’ve been chasing us since we left London.”

  “I’ve been trying to reunite you and your father. I want to help you be your own man.”

  He was trying to twist my memories. I closed my eyes and thought of that night at Eton. The night he kidnapped my father. And I knew the truth. He wasn’t trying to help me, and he hadn’t helped my father.

  “These nobles use you. They expect you to serve them like a dog. Do what you’re told, follow their orders. But listen to me. Grow up and be a man. Rip off your collar and join us.”

  Eustache brought his sword down on Hendrix’s blade.

  “You lie.” I yelled. “You attacked me and my father.”

  “I never hurt your pa, even when he refused me. We were nice. Would your Queen do the same? Become a Horseman!” Hendrix took two steps toward me.

  Eustache forced himself between us. “Stay true to yourself, Alexander.”

  Col. Hendrix laughed at the nobleman. “Become a Horsemen or be enslaved by a bunch of barons and lords. It’s your choice, Alexander Amitage. Embrace your destiny as a Knight of the Golden Circle.”

  My blood was boiling. I lashed out to cut through Hendrix’s words. “I am no dog! No Queen, or baron, or lord sent me. I came on my own. I am an American, and unlike you, I believe all men are created equal. I won’t enslave anyone and I’ll do everything I can to stop you!”

  “Including die?” In one movement, the colonel swung his arm out at me, the serrated blade poised to slice through me.

  “Not as long as I draw breath.” Eustache parried the colonel’s blade.

  For a split second, I wanted to retreat to a safe corner just like I had back at Eton, but I didn’t back down. I wasn’t that boy anymore.

  Eustache never removed his gaze from his opponent, but said to me, “Finish what others have started, Alexander. Get Genevieve out of here, and know that it has been my greatest honor to aid you.”

  Without a word, I ran for the shed, hearing the colonel cackling like a madman behind me. Genevieve sat in the airboat waiting for me. She smiled and I realized she’d heard my words. I wondered what she thought, had I sounded stoic or frightened. I yanked the rusty lever to open the roof. Dust and leaves showered down upon us

  I heard the clash of steel and Eustache say, “Tell my old friend Kannard, he shouldn’t have sent a bronzed demon to face a knight.”

  Hendrix slashed his blade. “Would you die already?”

  I hopped in the airskiff. “We cut free, go after Eustache, and then sail over to the Sparrowhawk. Agreed?”

  “I was just waiting for you,” she said.

  We untied the anchor lines and the airskiff lifted off. Rodin flew in and landed beside Genevieve, she snatched him up and embraced him, but then turned to me.

  “If Rodin is here, then people from the Sparrowhawk are, too. What do we do?”

  Through the window, I saw my father and Mr. Singh run out of the villa and stop. I pointed and Genevieve saw them, too. We rose out of the shed to the stunned, uplifted faces of everyone in the garden. I unfurled the sails and steered the vessel toward the house.

  Genevieve pointed over the side. “Look, Golden Circle henchman.”

  As my father and Mr. Singh stood on the steps of the villa, Eustache and Col. Hendrix fought by the fountain, the henchmen filed in around them. Mr. Singh pulled out his Katar with the barrels on either side and shot two henchmen. Eustache used the confusion to thrust his sword into the colonel, but he struck bronze and his sword snapped in two.

  I pushed the lever and descended toward my father. “Get in.”

  He grabbed hold of the side and hoisted himself into the airship.

  I leaned over the railing as one of the henchmen pulled a revolver and shot Eustache in the shoulder, sending him toppling backward. Col. Hendrix stood over him and thrust his blade into his chest.

  “No!” Genevieve and I screamed.

  Mr. Singh retrieved three chakrams from his belt and threw them at the colonel. The first sharpened metal ring struck Hendrix on the right side of his head, knocking him back, and sending his hat tumbling to the ground. The second struck the henchmen with the revolver in the head and remained there as the man collapsed in a lifeless heap. The third sliced into Hendrix’s left arm causing him to roar with pain.

  Mr. Singh grabbed hold of the airskiff’s railing. My father and Genevieve grabbed his arms and pulled. I fought back tears and yanked the lever back, powering up the propeller and sending hot air rushing into the balloon with a great whoosh. The airskiff soared into the sky leaving the carnage below us.

  Col. Hendrix switched his right arm to the rifle barrel and raised it to take aim at our balloon, but through his pain, his aim was off and he missed by a wide margin.

  Tears streamed down my face before drying from the wind rushing by. It wasn’t fair, why did he have to die? I tried to shove the pain deep inside, but so much anger couldn’t be contained. I cursed under my breath, swearing a thousand oaths of revenge as we soared ever higher. I took one last look back toward Eustache’s ancestral home and thought about the book in his library, the one with my own ancestor’s name in it. Then I watched as Gendarmes arrived and rushed toward the back garden. With any luck they’d arrest the colonel and his henchmen, but I doubted it.

  “What happened, Alexander, and what were you doing there?” my father scolded. “We got a strange message last night and Mr. Singh and I have spent all day trying to find you.”

  “A brave man saved my life and was killed for it. That’s what happened.” I banked the airskiff to the right.

  “Wait. The Sparrowhawk is that way.” My father pointed toward the city.

  “We’re not going back to the Sparrowhawk.”

  “Then where are we going?”

  “We’re going to England,” I said.

  “Damn it Alexander! Put this vessel down and answer me at once.”

  “No.” The word felt good on my tongue, and the shock etched on my father’s face almost made me smile.

  “Lord de Morley gave his life so we can save Genevieve’s father.” I looked at Genevieve and she scooted closer to me, Rodin perched imperiously on her shoulder. “We’re not about to let his sacrifice be in vain.” I’d never defied my father before, and I tried to keep my hands from shaking from the emotion of defying him now.

  “And just how are you going to save Baron Kensington’s life?”

  Genevieve spoke up. “Only the Knights of the Golden Circle know what poison was used on my father and they’re obviously not going to tell us or provide us with an antidote. Grand Master Sinclair notified Lord de Morley, a Templar from an ancient family, and he made a special batch of the Four Thieves Potion. If my father takes it in time, the Templars believe it will cure him.”

  “So,” I locked eyes with my father, “we’re going to England to save the Baron, and you’re just going to have to come along.”

  Genevieve placed her hand on my arm. “You were amazing back there, Alexander. How many men could be offered such power and turn it down?”

  Mr. Singh, who had been quietly taking in everything that was happening around him, turned to me. “What power?”

  “Yes, Alexander, what is she talking about?” my father demanded.

  I shook my head, unable to put it into words. Genevieve answered for me. “Colonel Hendrix offered Alexander the chance to become a Horseman, but he refused.”

  Silence. I glanced back and saw the two men’s stunned expressions.

  “How long will it take to get to London?” my father asked finally.

  “As fast as the Mystic Wind will carry us.”

  CHAPTER 32

  RACE BACK TO LONDON
r />   I trimmed the sails to catch more wind. We soared above the patchy farmland of the French countryside. It was exciting to fly the Mystic Wind, to feel the air whipping in my face, and become one with the currents.

  Mr. Singh helped me read the wind, but my thoughts never lingered far from the vision of Eustache. I would not let him down.

  My mind drifted to the Sparrowhawk and her crew. “Do you think…?”

  Mr. Singh nodded. “They will be fine.”

  Genevieve sat against the bow, and I watched the waves of her hair whipped about by the wind. She used her hand to push it down but her focus was on the sliver box in her hand, she hadn’t let it out of her sight and I understood why, it held her father’s salvation. After a while, she stuffed her hair down into her collar with one hand, never once letting go of the box.

  Beside her, Rodin clung to the bow, with his wings billowing in the wind, a fitting masthead for the airboat.

  My father sat hunched down in the middle of the airskiff, his arms tightly held against his chest trying to stay out of the strongest winds. I wondered what he thought of me. Was he proud, or just calculating what punishment would be levied back at Eton?

  I pushed the thought away. Soon, we’d save the baron and life would return to normal. The Templars would deal with Lord Kannard and Col. Hendrix. I would return to Eton. But that meant returning to the responsibilities I’d fled. I didn’t know what consequences awaited me; I only knew they’d be severe.

  I checked the propeller to avoid my father’s gaze. It hadn’t been used in years and looked stressed to the breaking point. With my attention focused behind him, I saw several glistening shapes on the horizon. “Indihar, we have a problem.”

  The Sikh turned. “I see them.”

  “What is it?” my father asked.

  “I don’t know, but I count seven of them.” I reached into my bag and retrieved a leather pouch. I removed two lenses wrapped in linen and a thick, leather hide with several holes on the ends and a toggle and loop in the middle. Setting the lenses in the holes at the ends of the leather hide, I wrapped them up and secured it in the center. I raised the telescope and studied the glints of light behind them.