Frustration at my own lack of speed drives me on, but I cannot keep pace with the men. By the time I set foot on the great stone bridge Freddie has reached the first of the two towers which house the lifting mechanism that raises it for taller ships. He hesitates, and in that instant his would-be abductors move into place so that they surround him. He backs up against the railings of the bridge, desperately looking this way and that, searching for a means of escape. Louis catches up and shouts at the men to leave him alone, tackling the nearest one. I stop and steady myself. I am no use to my brother running like a flimsy girl. I must use what strength I have more effectively. I take a deep breath and bring all my thoughts, all the power of my mind to one point, so that I see only the tall, bony figure who is now striding toward Freddie. With a prayer to Hekate for strength I send a swift spell of movement that snatches up a small stone on the road and hurls it through the air. My first attempt falls wide, but my second finds its mark, and the man shrieks, clutching at his head, and is sent reeling backward. Louis has struck a fierce blow to the first man’s jaw, and he lies on the road clutching his face, spitting out teeth. My poor brother is transfixed against the railings of the bridge, seemingly incapable of either fleeing or defending himself. The third man lunges at him, at precisely the moment Louis reaches him. There is a brutal fight. I hear Freddie cry out, and catch the glint of sunlight on a blade. Louis screams, and the three are tangled together in a desperate struggle. What happens next occurs with the speed of a lightning flash, and yet the movements of all those involved are somehow leaden, heavy, slowed to an unnatural rate, so that I see every tiny detail, which will remain forever seared into my mind. The assailant raises his knife toward Freddie. Louis attempts to grab his wrist. Whether or not this affects the action of the henchman I cannot tell, but the result is catastrophic. The shard of steel slices across Freddie’s throat, opening the flesh. All three men are put off balance by the violence of the movement and tip, as one, over the top of the railings. To the shocked cries of onlookers, they tumble from the bridge, down, down, down, narrowly missing a laden coal barge, so that they enter the metallic-gray water of the Thames locked in a deadly embrace.

Chapter 20: 1917

20.

1917