The Stolen Star

by Halyna Franko

It’s just that I sometimes think that when I come to get married it will be difficult to find a girl who could be like Mum,” Michael continued.

  “Listen bridegroom boy it’s time we took a reality check. We need to think of a way of helping these runaways,” Ben remarked pointedly.

  But the Cossacks in the fortress were already taking care of the escapees. First they gave the Turks a good pounding with their cannons and then poured forth from the fortress on their horses and carried on the fight with sword in hand. The battle was short. The Turks were baffled by the disappearance of the prisoners and even more surprised when the prisoners’ guards had run away. They had clearly lost their fighting spirit and the remains of their cavalry took to their heels. The Cossacks gathered up all the weapons that lay on the field of battle together with those that had been abandoned on the wagons and took them into the fortress courtyard.

  Michael and Ben stood in thought for a while wondering what to do next. In the end they decided that they needed to catch up with the freed prisoners who might yet be recaptured by the remaining fleeing Turks. They would probably want to make up for the pummelling they had received.

  “But the prisoners are already way ahead of us, how are we going to catch up with them?” reasoned Ben.

  “Look Ben, here are some horses that have lost their riders,” suggested Michael with an air of uncertainty, because neither he nor Ben had ever been near a horse in their lives.

  The boys caught two horses, which put up no objection and tried to get up onto them. This was not as easy as it looked and they had to try several times before they were successful. But in the end they got the hang of it. The first to jump on to his horse was Ben with a bit of help from Michael. But Michael soon managed to master his horse. And soon they were both galloping along the road. However, in the meantime a canny local peasant had spotted the horses, which appeared to belong to no-one now and are always useful on the farm. But as soon as he approached the animals they disappeared before his very eyes. He thought to himself the Turks must have frightened me so much that I’m seeing things. But then he heard the clattering of hooves, the low conversation of two horsemen and saw the dust kicked up from the road. What wonder was this!

  But Michael and Ben had already overtaken the escaped prisoners who had taken a sharp turn off the road in the direction of a village that hadn’t yet been attacked by the Turks.

  Catching up with the runaways the cousins heard them decide to go for help. It was decided the women and children were to hide while the men organised a defence force.

  The cousins followed their every move without giving away their whereabouts. As the men approached the village a number of armed men came out to meet them, some of them with swords and sabres and others with heavy clubs. They already knew that the Turks had raided the neighbouring villages and fortress and had taken appropriate measures. The women and children were all hidden and all the men formed into a fighting unit… and not a moment too soon. A rider came galloping in from the neighbouring village to inform them that a huge force of Turks was moving towards them from the direction of the fortress and the other villages. Everyone became very dejected. There was no way that they could stand up to such a large enemy cavalry unit.

  Michael and Ben hid their horses in a nearby thicket and moved closer to find out how things stood. All the men were very agitated because the Turks were nearly at their gates and there were a lot of them. However, there was at least one good piece of news: the detachment of Cossacks that had been out on patrol was rushing back to get to their aid. So the peasant farmers needed to keep the enemy at bay until the relief detachment could arrive. But how were they to do it? They were simple farmers by trade, very badly armed, on foot and only a couple of dozen in numbers. The crowd of men was humming. Everyone had a suggestion but none of them were any use. Someone suggested that they form a defensive position of two rows. But it was evident that the cavalry would smash their position in an instant. Others suggested burning the approaching fields. The dry grass would burn well and the enemy’s horses might take fright. The suggestions kept coming but time was running out and the enemy was getting closer.

  The boys were also putting together their own plans to help defend the village. There was one button on their bracelets, which gave them the power to turn into any animal or plant. But which plant or animal was there that would allow them to stand up to such a large force of fearsome cavalry.

  But then on the distant horizon another huge cloud of dust appeared. The Turks were approaching! They had to act!

  The cousins ran into the thicket, pressed the relevant buttons and out of the forest ran two of the most beautiful leopards. They looked very threatening, roared loudly and set off along the road on which the Turks were approaching. On seeing the leopards the whole column of cavalry stopped in surprise. The wild animals threw themselves straight at the first row of cavalry. But to their surprise the enemy’s horses failed to react at all at to the appearance of these dangerous predators. And the leopards themselves seemed almost embarrassed and dismayed at this turn of events. Of course they roared with all their might but all the same they had a look about them that wasn't at all threatening, a bit like a large pet pussy cat. Overcoming their initial surprise the Turks raised their sabres and charged straight for the leopards.

  “What are we going to do Michael?" cried Ben in complete panic.

  “Let’s make for this forest in front of us. Once there, we can turn into different animals,” answered Michael thinking on his feet.

  On reaching the forest, the boys cast off their leopard skins and decided to turn themselves into the biggest elephants imaginable. In an instant two huge grey tuckers came crashing out of the forest. On the way the elephants sucked a huge quantity of water into their trunks from a small stream and made straight for the Turks who were literally rooted to the spot in amazement. As they drew close to the first horseman they let fly a jet of icy cold water. Nevertheless, after a little while the Turks pulled themselves together and, sabres aloft, charged headlong at the elephants. Many of them had fought in Southern countries and knew perfectly well that, on the whole, elephants are kind and peaceful creatures.

  But at that moment the boys heard the Angel’s voice:

  “Stop playing silly games with your imaginations and quickly hide in the forest.”

  And at that moment the sky was lit up with a sheet of lighting and a downpour of tropical proportions lashed down from a very modest passing cloud. Moreover, the rain only seemed to pour on the Turks. The downpour was so powerful that the horsemen were rendered completely helpless. Moving was difficult enough but fighting was out of the question.

  At that moment the Cossacks arrived and immediately engaged the Turks in battle. The Cossacks fought extremely bravely but they were seriously outnumbered by the Turks and it wasn't easy for them. But of them all, Marko stood out the most in terms of his courageousness. The Turks swarmed around him from all sides. But fighting alongside him was his best friend Ostap and the two of them together were quite impossible to defeat. However, during one of the attacks Ostap was wounded on the right arm and he had to gallop to one side in order to get it strapped up. Ostap was hoping to get back into the melee as soon as possible. But one of the Turks managed to get in a sneaky blow to his back and Ostap fell from his horse. Marko was left on his own.

  The boys watched on in horror not knowing how to help as the Cossacks’ ranks gradually got thinner and thinner. Without even thinking the boys threw themselves into the thick of the battle. On the way they picked up a couple of sabres that had fallen to the ground. And in an instant they improvised an ingenious plan. Unseen they quickly sliced through the Turks’ saddle straps and the latter fell like sacks of potatoes.

  Soon the Cossacks had the upper hand and those Turks that were left alive turned and fled for their lives. The Cossacks quickly formed into a detach
ment and were just about to give chase when they saw a crowd of peasants running towards them screaming for help. The Cossacks stopped in their tracks and looked towards the village where the peasants were pointing. When they got a bit closer it became clear that another detachment of Turks had split off from the main force and had taken the village from the rear. They had taken all the women and children and were driving them towards the border to the South.

  Marko discovered that his fiancée Darya was amongst those who had been captured. A small detachment of Cossacks was sent to the fortress with the wounded while the rest galloped at full speed to overtake the Turks and their loved ones who had been taken captive. The cousins followed the Cossacks on their own horses. They were very proud of what they had done. No-one would have believed them if they had told them that they had been in the thick of a real battle. Although they were no warriors they had nevertheless done a great deal to help their distant ancestors and that was just amazing! But now they had to concentrate on freeing the prisoners because amongst them was Darya and many of the village's children. The lads raced after the Cossacks and could see that the Turks had reached the