Daughters of a Dead Empire by Carolyn Tara O'Neil

Author:Carolyn Tara O'Neil
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

16

EVGENIA

“IT’S HER!”

Yurovsky leapt over the legs of the man next to him. I reared back and slammed the door shut.

“Commander, not my sister!” Kostya yelled from inside.

In my hurry I bumped into Anna and nearly knocked us both over.

“Run!” I gasped out, shoving her. “It’s Yurovsky!”

The color drained from her face. I pulled her with me as I ran for the fake whiskey wagon. Yurovsky would be out after us right away. If we freed one of his horses, we could ride it to the churchyard. The White troops there would be our guard.

I didn’t even think of leaving Anna behind. We were both prey. We both had to live.

Behind us the door opened with a bang.

“Stop! What are you doing?” the Czech shouted at the men behind us. He was walking toward the house from the fence, going in the wrong direction. We ran right past him.

“Stop!” he ordered. I glanced back to see him step in front of Yurovsky and block his way. My racing heart skipped a beat.

Yurovsky didn’t bother to answer the Czech. He smacked him in the head with a hard, dark object, and the Czech fell to his knees.

I pulled my knife out. Yurovsky raised his hand. He was holding a revolver and aimed it straight at us.

I almost swallowed my own tongue.

“Down!” I grabbed the back of Anna’s neck and forced her to the ground with me, just as Yurovsky pulled the trigger. The bullet shot over our heads and landed in the side of the wagon, a few cubits ahead. Wood shards scattered into the air, some of them flying into my face. I stood and pulled Anna onward toward the wagon.

Then Yurovsky’s man came out of the house.

“They’re both here! Get them!” Yurovsky yelled. He and his soldier started running.

We were almost at the wagon, and I realized in a panic that we’d never make it in time. Yurovsky would catch us before I could unhook the horses. We needed distance, and shelter, and weapons. And somehow, we needed to reach the White troops.

“Halt!” The Czech was up again. He pulled his rifle off his back and fired. The bullet missed Yurovsky. It also barely missed us and plowed into Batya’s tree. Birds burst out from the leaves, flapping their wings in alarm.

“Stop him,” Yurovsky ordered his man. Yurovsky started for us again.

Anna and I ran past the wagon. Ahead of us was the low fence that surrounded our property. We could have hopped it and kept running. Only there wasn’t any cover on the other side, not for hundreds of cubits.

I forced myself to think, past the white panic that filled my head. If we could get to our barn, we could hide in the loft. An ax hung inside right by the door. It wasn’t a gun, but it’d be better than nothing. The only problem was that we were running the wrong way. The barn was behind us, on the other side of the house.

My heart sped up just thinking about it.

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