The Beekeeper's Bullet by Lance Hawvermale

Author:Lance Hawvermale [Hawvermale, Lance]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: World War I, airplane, strong heroine, pilot, adventure, danger
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2019-07-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Gustov lost a pilot that morning.

Eleven Fokker triplanes had taken to the sky shortly after dawn, charged with delivering support to an armored column that was falling back to a more strategic position about ten kilometers from No Man’s Land. The troops had taken a pounding from a pair of French 75-millimeter field guns and needed to regroup and tend to the wounded. Gustov’s squadron covered the soldiers from the air, but they ran afoul of a swarm of Spads an hour into their mission.

One of the newer men, Kasper, a clarinet player from Hanover, had gotten his elevator shredded when a pair of the Frog bastards had fallen on him from behind. His crate rolled over at two thousand meters, its wheels pointed straight up, and Kasper fell from the cockpit. Gustov, arriving seconds too late, watched the poor man drop, arms and legs batting madly. Gustov’s own molten rage startled him, and he screamed the entire time he was emptying his guns into Kasper’s killers.

Ten planes landed behind Father’s barn. The mechanics and valets rushed out, already knowing that their family had lost one of its own. They would eulogize him tonight with liquor and somber tunes played on the parlor’s grand piano.

Now, just after the noon hour, Gustov left them to their subdued talk in the marble-lined dining hall and the meal that dear Dagmar had prepared. He had no appetite. His valet, Eldwin, waited for him outside the door.

The young man stiffened to full attention and kept his eyes straight ahead. “Sir.”

“The papers?”

Eldwin handed him a bundle of communiques. Gustov leafed through them. He’d ordered Eldwin to send word of the Englander to all nearby posts. Yet for all the advances in wireless radio, the German war machine still received most of its messages in the diplomatic pouches of men on motorbikes. Thus it would take days for word of the stolen Rumpler to be disseminated to every city on the Englander’s map. Gustov had no intention of waiting that long.

“Have the mechanics refueled my bird?”

“They have, sir. All is shipshape.”

“Good. Thank you.” He handed the papers back to the younger man and asked himself why he hadn’t mentioned Miss Jantz in his otherwise highly detailed report to High Command. He had no answer for that.

“What next, sir?”

“You confirmed that Avenue Foch is located in Metz?”

“Yes, sir. Several of the men have spent their leave in Metz and are familiar with the town. I confirmed their statements an hour ago with our people in the city itself.”

“Your efficiency never ceases to amaze me. You honor your family name.”

“Thank you, sir. Sincerely.”

Gustov, suddenly emotional, gripped the younger man’s shoulder. “Take the rest of the day off. Get something to eat. Join the others tonight to bid our brother Kasper goodbye.”

“I will, sir. Good hunting.”

From there, Gustov went to his room, where Eldwin had laid out a fresh set of flying garb, having taken this morning’s outfit to the washerwoman for cleaning. He stripped off his field

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.