Killing the Hangman: a novella by Ellie Midwood

Author:Ellie Midwood [Midwood, Ellie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-04-21T07:00:00+00:00

Suburbs between Panenské Brežany and Hradčany

Anna’s laughter, so carefree and wonderfully melodic, made Jan’s breath catch in his throat, choking him up with the romantic joy of having her so near. With her lithe, graceful frame perched on the frame of his bicycle – her bicycle, actually, which she had generously offered him since he needed it more than she did – she held onto his hands as he was pedaling unmercifully fast down the cobbled street. Past the church and its scornful stone gargoyles following their progress with their bulging eyes, past the university closed down for an indefinite time due to the new policy of Germanization, past the post office and the statue of some king – Jan still didn’t know Prague too well, to the very outskirts of the city and onto the wide road leading up to the very lair of the Blond Beast.

“Be careful; there’s a very sharp curve further down the road, in Holešovice Street!”

He only laughed in response to Anna’s warning, too sure of himself; too diligent in his desire to impress her; too in love with those fine gilded threads of her hair flying into his face with every new gust of wind, caressing his cheeks like the softest cloud of radiant dust dripping with sunlight…

“Jan!”

He tried to stop as soon as he realized that the turn – almost a hairpin – was indeed far too sharp for him to skillfully glide into it at the speed that he was going and on an icy road at that. Jan swerved around a man, who cursed him out and narrowly escaped the seemingly inevitable collision with the tram, the shrill sound of its bell adding to the man’s cursing. Catching his breath on the sidewalk, he held Anna tight in his embrace, his bright eyes fixed on her with a nearly awed expression, tragically apologetic and wonderfully blue.

“Are you all right?”

“I am, but you did give me some fright!” She play-swatted him on his arm as her raspberry lips curved into a smile despite her resolute desire to keep a stern face. “I told you there was a sharp turn there!”

“I thought you were exaggerating,” he admitted, embarrassed and adorably flushed.

“No.” Anna moved the stray lock away from his forehead. “My uncle owns a car and he has to move at walking speed while taking this bend when he drives to the countryside. Too busy here – a bus stop, tram lines, people running across the street all the time. If you ride too fast, you can easily kill someone by accident. Or kill yourself, if you crash into a tram. The turn is deadly.”

“Deadly, you say,” Jan muttered, looking around with a strangely agitated look about him.

“Why, yes. But now you know better and hopefully won’t do any such crazy stunts anymore.”

“This is the place,” Jan whispered excitedly, his eyes gleaming. “It’s perfect.”

The following morning, using a bus stop as an excuse to loiter on the street, Jan and Jozef smoked in

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