Flight Read online

  Contents

  Praise for Flight

  About Vanessa Harbour

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Note

  Acknowledgements

  Copyright

  Praise for Flight:

  ‘I absolutely love this book! It’s a stunningly good adventure story with all the big heart, sharp style and fast pace of a classic children’s novel.’ Amanda Craig

  ‘A thrilling tale that captures the bravery, the danger, the sacrifice of living amongst the Nazis and trying to preserve what is good… If you like dancing horses and great storytelling, you will love Flight.’ Sophia Bennett

  ‘You know from the first page that you are in the hands of a great storyteller.’ James Nicol

  ‘An exciting addition to the war story canon.’ Charlotte Eyre, The Bookseller

  ‘A powerful, page-turning, unforgettable adventure… I loved it!’ Cathy Cassidy

  ‘The perfect ingredients of horses, an exciting and engaging plot, believable characters and that little sprinkle of magic writing which I know will make it a huge success.’ Lucy Coats

  ‘Beautifully captures the unique relationship that can be shared between people and horses, and shows how bravery and standing up for what is right can save those who have no choice. This is enchanting storytelling with character at the heart, in a historic setting, with timeless values, and very much reminiscent of the classic assuredness of Morpurgo.’ Vashti Hardy

  Vanessa Harbour is a disabled writer and academic who loves words and believes in living life to the full regardless of what it throws at her. In particular, she likes to weave her words into stories for children and young adults, providing moments of hope in a difficult world. When she was growing up she wanted to be either a doctor or writer. Now she is a Doctor of Creative Writing so has the best of both worlds. She is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Winchester. Also Vanessa is Academic & Diversity Consultant/Editor at the Golden Egg Academy.

  FLIGHT

  Vanessa Harbour

  For Charlie, Leo and Toby

  Thank you for always being there

  Chapter 1

  If Jakob sneezed he could die. He pressed a sweaty hand over his nose. Every part of him was shaking. He could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears as he peered out from his hiding place, tucked behind the straw bales up in the barn loft. Watching, waiting, praying.

  ‘They say you’re hiding a Jew boy,’ the SS officer snapped. Jakob could see his pale face, his tight, thin lips. His eyes were hidden by a cap. Everything about him seemed brutal and sharp.

  ‘What rubbish. Who told you that, Major Bauer? There’s only me and my nephew here. He’s no Jew boy, the authorities know that.’ Herr Engel, Jakob’s guardian, stared straight at the officer, not flinching, not giving any clue that everything he’d just said was a lie. He ignored the soldiers around him, stabbing their bayonets into the piles of straw and hay. But Jakob felt every thrust as if it was going straight through his heart.

  Major Bauer smirked. ‘It’s not my business to tell you who. Just rest assured they’re trustworthy.’

  ‘Really? Is anyone trustworthy anymore? Fear and hunger make people mad and selfish, Major.’ Herr Engel waved his arm around. ‘Look, the horses are starving and we’re starving too. Why would I hide another mouth to feed? There’s already me and my nephew.’ He shook his head.

  ‘Maybe it’s not another mouth – where is your nephew?’ Bauer looked round.

  His guardian rubbed his white beard. ‘He’s out, checking fences for me and collecting firewood,’ he lied again.

  Bauer strode up and down, pushing at sacks with his boot. ‘Never really seen at school or in the village, is he? Bit convenient he’s not here either.’ He stopped. ‘Or maybe that’s your plan? If he’s not a Jew, then maybe he’s old enough to join the army. Tell him he has a week to bring his papers to SS headquarters.’

  ‘Excuse me, sir, I know you’re new to the area and I don’t want to speak out of turn, but we’ve been here three years and everyone knows I need him. It’s just me and him. It’s too much work as it is − look at all these stallions.’ He swept his arm in a flourish again. ‘There’s no time for education. Anyway, you don’t need to read to shovel dung.’

  Jakob gulped. That was the biggest lie yet. Herr Engel was a stickler for education. Every day, ever since he’d found him, he forced him to do lessons. The former Spanish Riding School Rider had very high standards.

  His guardian sighed. ‘Nobody’s queried it before, so why now?’ He spat before continuing, ‘He’s only fourteen. But yes, I’ll tell him.’ He hesitated, putting his head to one side. ‘I could get his papers now if you want?’

  Jakob held his breath. He had no papers, well, none that wouldn’t get him shot.

  Bauer looked slightly flustered. ‘No, I want to see the boy myself.’ He wasn’t used to people calling his bluff, obviously.

  Jakob breathed out slowly, wrapping his arms round his folded legs, holding himself tight.

  ‘Of course. I’ll tell him when I see him.’

  ‘Taking me for an idiot is a big mistake,’ said Bauer.

  Herr Engel shrugged.

  This seemed to irritate Bauer even more. He raised his gloved hand and slapped the groom hard across the face. ‘Show me respect, you old fool!’

  Herr Engel stumbled slightly, putting his hand to his cheek.

  Jakob wished he could jump down and beat the officer to oblivion there and then. He had the strength, he thought. Every muscle in his body tensed as he watched his guardian recover.

  A sneeze began to tickle him again. He knew he mustn’t move. Any sound would kill the pair of them. He held his nose and leant away from his peephole. A cramp ripped through his leg. He rubbed his calf hard, trying to massage the ache away. While he was distracted by the pain, the suppressed sneeze got its own back.

  ‘Attishoo!’

  Jakob froze. Had anyone heard? He peered out to see Allegra, his favourite stallion, pawing at the ground. He neighed loudly.

  ‘I heard something.’ Bauer angrily brandished a Walther pistol, scanning the stalls in the barn. ‘Make that horse shut up or I will.’

  A soldier walked in, raising his arm in salute. ‘There’s nothing here, sir.’

  ‘There must be. Search again,’ Bauer snapped, waving his pistol at Allegra. ‘I heard someone sneeze. Search the stalls in here.’

  Jakob knew this was trouble. The Lipizzaner stallion would let no one in but him or Herr Engel. Allegra was already snorting, flaring his nostrils in protest.

  ‘But…’ The soldier hesitated a moment too long and Bauer turned to point his pistol at him.

  ‘No buts!’

  Clearly shocked, the soldier walked back out into the yard, barking orders. Several soldiers came running in and began to throw straw and hay aside and rip open sacks of feed. As they searched, they threw any horses’ tack they found on the floor and stamped on it. Jakob could see the despair on Herr Engel’s face. All because of him.

  Allegra was panicking. Jakob felt it deep in his stomach. A dull gnawing ache. Peering down, h
e saw the stallion pacing in his stall, his coat dark with sweat. Now and then he stopped to paw the ground, tossing his head back and calling. Half snort, half whinny. No other horse made that noise. He was calling to Jakob.

  ‘Calm down, boy,’ Jakob said to himself. Forgetting everything, he focused on Allegra. ‘Breathe with me.’ He took in several long breaths, blowing them out slowly.

  Allegra stood still, his head held high, neck arched, ears twitching.

  ‘That’s it, that’s right! Breathe with me.’

  Bauer glanced from Allegra to the hayloft. He thumped the stall door. The stallion jumped back, squealing.

  ‘Don’t forget up there.’ He waved the pistol upwards.

  A wave of despair enveloped Jakob.

  He watched a plump, sweating soldier begin to climb the ladder.

  Despair turned to panic. It started to overwhelm Jakob; he could out-run the soldier but not Bauer’s gun. He had no way out and he knew it. Sweat trickled down his back. The cramp in his leg was agonising. Wiping his nose with his shirtsleeve, he said another silent prayer.

  Amazingly, it was answered. With a roar, a motorbike screamed into the courtyard. The soldier stopped halfway up the ladder, turning to see.

  The stallions pranced in their makeshift stalls, whinnying, seeking reassurance.

  Bauer walked out to the yard and spoke to the man on the motorbike. Jakob heard him shout, ‘In the lorry now! We’re needed elsewhere.’

  The soldier scuttled back down the ladder.

  Bauer strutted into the barn and sneered at Herr Engel. ‘I’ll return and I will find him. You can’t fool me, old man.’ Pistol in hand, he punched Engel hard in the stomach. His guardian bent double, grabbing at his abdomen, struggling

  for breath.

  The stallions, Raluca and Allegra, kicked at their stall doors. Bauer jumped and raised his hand to Allegra. The horse lunged for Bauer’s arm, baring his teeth.

  ‘Don’t, Allegra!’ Jakob whispered.

  The major stared at the stallion with a look of pure hatred. ‘Don’t you dare! Stupid nags, you’ll soon be food for some hungry refugees. All your prettiness won’t protect you then.’ He drew his gun up and aimed straight at Allegra.

  The grey stallion stared at him, his eyes wild.

  Jakob watched, mesmerised, as without a moment’s hesitation, Bauer pulled the trigger. The shot rang out around the stable yard. Blood sprayed across the stall.

  ‘No!’ Herr Engel’s shout covered Jakob’s scream.

  His beloved horse crumpled to the floor and Jakob’s heart splintered into a thousand pieces inside his chest.

  Raluca neighed loudly and reared in his stall, pawing at the door.

  For the briefest of moments, Herr Engel’s grief-stricken eyes flicked towards Jakob. He sat back on his haunches, his eyes filled with tears. ‘What will the Führer say when he finds out you killed one of the Spanish Riding School stallions in cold blood?’

  Bauer swivelled, pointing the gun at Engel’s face, the barrel under his nose. He snorted. ‘Is that what they are? He won’t give a damn. Anyway, if you say anything it’ll be you next!’

  Giving a final Nazi salute, he turned and strode out into the yard. His barked orders echoed around the barn, drowned out only by the slamming of doors and revving of engines.

  As the trucks rumbled away, Jakob flew down the ladder, not bothering with the rungs. He fell to the floor, cradling Allegra’s head. He buried his face in the stallion’s mane, breathing in deeply. The horse’s earthy scent was tainted with the metallic smell of blood.

  ‘Oh Allegra, what am I going to do without you? Always there, right from the beginning. Oh Allegra…’ he sobbed.

  Herr Engel limped into the stall and rested a hand on his back. ‘I know, but you still need to take care of the others.’ His voice was rough with emotion.

  They stared after the disappearing convoy. Neither cared that the sky was blue or that the sun shone; the blue had the brittleness of winter and the sun for them held no warmth.

  Jakob felt empty. Herr Engel was right though. Raluca was pacing and calling from his stall, a desperate and piercing whinny, an empty cry for his friend.

  ‘What are we going to do? How are we going to bury him?’

  Herr Engel looked at Jakob, his eyes full of sadness. ‘There’s nothing we can do. He’s too big for you and me to move on our own.’

  ‘What? Just leave him?’

  ‘We’ve no choice until I can decide what to do.’

  Herr Engel disappeared, only to return carrying a bunch of sacks. He handed some over. ‘Rip them open. Put the sacking over him first and then we’ll use straw to cover him. We can’t hide the smell but hopefully the other stallions won’t realise. You know how much horses hate death.’ His guardian shook his head. ‘It’s all so wrong.’

  Jakob focused on tearing the sacking. Lost in their emotions, they covered the majestic stallion silently. When they’d finished no one would have guessed that underneath the pile of straw was a dead horse.

  They stood, almost in reverence, until Herr Engel shattered the silence. ‘Bauer enjoyed killing Allegra too much for my liking. Given the chance, he won’t stop there.’ He looked at Jakob. ‘Move Raluca to one of the other stalls across the yard then muck out the others. I’m going out.’

  ‘Where are you going?’ Jakob wasn’t sure he wanted to be left on his own or if he could manage the stallion. He could see Raluca staring wildly in his stall, his eyes rolling.

  ‘It’s time. I’m going to see Erich. He knows people and can get a message to the Director without that Nazi scumbag having any idea what we’re about to do.’

  Jakob ripped a bit of straw into tiny pieces. ‘What are we about to do?’

  ‘We need to go to Sankt Martin. The Director mentioned it in the past. It’s safer there.’

  ‘Sankt Martin? Isn’t that the other side of the mountains?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘But we haven’t got a lorry big enough to take all the horses.’

  His guardian laughed, a hollow empty sound. ‘I’m not planning on taking any roads.’

  Chapter 2

  In the yard Herr Engel grabbed a pitchfork and threw it to Jakob. ‘Clear the stall around Allegra. Get rid of the straw with the blood on and his muck.’

  Had he no heart?

  ‘I thought you’d want to be the one to do it.’ His guardian hobbled away, pulling on his old jacket as he went. He hadn’t got too far when he shouted back, ‘Make sure you move Raluca first, and do the rest of the stalls in there by the time I’m back.’

  Jakob sighed. He walked towards Raluca’s stall. The stallion paced up and down. Every now and then the horse would stop, toss his head high and neigh loudly, calling to Allegra. Jakob’s heart felt heavy. The stallion stood, ears pricked, listening for an answer that would never come. His whole body quivered, rippling with muscle.

  Raluca was a strong and compact stallion, the colour of a full moon and only slightly dappled these days. Soon he would be milky white. He’d been almost black when they’d moved a group of stallions down here to the farm back in 1942, three years ago. It felt like a lifetime ago. The Director had wanted to get Jakob out of Vienna, along with some of the stallions, including Raluca and Allegra. There’d been too many near misses with the SS and the Gestapo. It was away from everyone including the stud at Piber. The Director saw it as a chance to get some yearlings and young stallions out of Piber before the Führer sent all the mares and breeding stock away. The Director told Herr Engel – who’d achieved the rank of Rider in the Spanish Riding School by then – to ‘take a detour on his way to the farm and magic them all away and then to keep their heads down’. A perfect plan. They’d done exactly that, until Bauer had moved into the area, messing everything up.

  The stallion whinnied again, dragging Jakob back to now.

  ‘You poor lad, he’ll never answer, you know?’ He moved into the stall. The horse startled when his footsteps crunched on the
straw. Jakob heard him take in a deep breath, absorbing the familiar scent. ‘Raluca, it’s me. You’re safe.’ He clicked his tongue, reassuring him.

  The stallion began to relax as he moved towards a motionless Jakob, lowering his head and nickering sadly. The horse gently blew air onto Jakob’s outstretched hand.

  Gasping, Jakob saw there were small splatters of Allegra’s blood all over Raluca’s head. ‘Wait here.’ Quietly and quickly he got a bucket of warm water and a cloth. ‘Oh Raluca!’ Very gently he wiped all traces of Allegra off the stallion and dropped the cloth back in the bucket with a splosh. The stallion pushed his head against him.

  Jakob rested his head against the horse’s forehead and with his spare hand he scratched the stallion’s neck. Underneath his mane the hair felt short and soft. ‘What are we going to do?’

  The tears started. He’d always laughed when people said they were broken-hearted but now he understood. His own heart was shattered.

  The horse pushed his head against him, over and over again. Sharing his pain.

  Jakob sighed. ‘Come on, lad, we’ll move you away from here – when you stop pushing me, that is.’ He couldn’t help but smile.

  The stallion nickered and nudged at him one more time.

  ‘You’ll need to be brave now. We’ll have to walk past Allegra.’

  Very slowly he moved forward, leading the stallion, putting his body between the horse and Allegra. Jakob watched Raluca’s nostrils flare. He knew the stallion could smell the dead horse. He needed to keep him walking, but Raluca was having none of it. He pushed against Jakob with his head, over and over again.