RUBY FALLS

June 28, 1914

Book 1 - Charles - Prologue

Charles didn’t mean to kill the woman. She stood just as he pulled the trigger and he had no idea what repercussions that one missed shot would have on his family for generations to come.

June 26, 1914

Gavrillo Princip listened as Charles went through the plan again and again until everyone knew their duties. The plot to kill Arch Duke Frans Ferdinand was how Charles paid passage for his wife and 2 daughters to escape to America. They sailed out on May 28th on the RMS Empress of Ireland. It was their only chance to start a life together without the overbearing rule of his step father Chancellor Hollweg. Charles made the deal with the group calling themselves The Black Hand in exchange for a large sum to be paid to him in rubies. A plan that his half-brother put together and a plan that would start a world war in Europe.

Charles was to shoot, give the gun to Gavrillo and leave the square. He would collect his rubies and book passage on the next ship out. Gavrillo was to take the blame for the assassination as penance for some foul deed he had done against his comrades. Being under age would cause him to be imprisoned but not executed. Charles didn’t try to understand his reasons for taking the blame, he just wanted to get to his family and start fresh in America.

The rubies were worth enough to start his own bank and let them live a comfortable life, just he, Abigale, Magdalene & Martha.

The square was crowded with people all there to see the Arch Duke arrive with his wife who it was announced to be having their first child. The carriage was open as the weather was unseasonably warm and the sun threatened to obstruct Charles view through the sights. The onlookers wore bright spring colors of light material while he wore a long coat of dark leather to hide the rifle he carried and blend with the undergrowth. They had picked a place of thick shrubs with evergreen needles and red berries the size of peas. Part of the shrubs had turned brown from the harsh winter and the coat was nearly the same color as the branches he stood in. Earlier that week the group had cleared just enough of the dead branches to make a break in the thick branches so Charles had good cover and a perfect view of the place where the carriage was to stop. He was sweating from the heat of the sun that was beating down on the square as well as a terrible case of nerves. The carriage was still several blocks away and Gavrillo stood close by ready and waiting just outside the cover of the brush ready to grab the gun from Charles. They could almost feel the vibration of excitement and anticipation and Charles hoped he could do what he intended to do. He knew if he missed he may get one more shot but then the time to hand over the gun and get out of the square would be lessened considerably. Sweat threatened to drip from his brow into his right eye, the eye he would aim with. He wiped at it with a slightly unsteady hand and tried to picture his family on the deck of the ship waving goodbye. He thought of little Maggie’s red gold locks dancing around her face as she waved and called to him. “I love you papa!” His beloved wife Abigale had tears streaming down her cheeks but she was smiling and holding Martha close blowing kisses to him. He dreamed every night of the new life they would have together in the Americas.

All at once the crowd threw up a cheer that brought him back to focus on the carriage and he watched as the crowd split letting the team of coal black horses through. The driver struggled with the reins trying to slow the stallions down as they neared their final destination. The crowd began to move in around the carriage with its gleaming silver wheels and red velvet seats. The horses began to prance as they slowed down and their flanks were white with sweat and their hooves made clucking sounds on the flagstones of the road.

The bushes where he crouched waiting for the Duke to get into range were thick and had some sort of sap on the branches that kept pulling at his coat. He tried to adjust his position and Charles could feel himself stiffen with the anticipation wishing he could shed the coat and free his arms of the weight of the leather and the sticky feel of the sap. Out of the corner of his eye Charles could see Gavrillo shifting his weight from one foot to the other and Charles hoped he didn’t lose his nerve and run off before he could take the gun.

Just then the carriage stopped directly across from the bushes and Charles raised the barrel a sudden calm coming over him. His mind registered the fine quality of the carriage as he aimed his rifle. He was just one shot away from going to his family and aiming he pulled the trigger. “Damn!” He cursed when the Duke’s wife rose and stepped in front of the target, she crumpled and the pale blue dress she wore billowed in the breeze around her as she fell. Before anyone could register what had just happened, he aimed and shot again as the Arch Duke stood and this time hit the duke with a perfect kill shot. He watched the man crumple still reaching for his wife only managing to land so they were against each other. Quickly Charles handed the gun to Gavrillo and walked away from the square shedding the sap covered coat as he went leaving it lay in a heap near the bushes. He didn’t look back but heard the rapid footfalls of Gavrillo as he ran in the opposite direction.

The crowd erupted into shouts and screams and the horses reacted to the sudden commotion by lunging forward causing the carriage man to struggle to keep control. As the frightened horses snorted and stamped their hooves, the two bodies bounced together and fell to the ground.

Charles could hear the chaos of the crowd and wondered how long before they found Gavrillo or even if they would. As he moved farther and farther away from the throng of people his mind slid back to the faces of his family waving from the ship as it began its voyage and he didn’t give another thought for the two people he had just killed.