SHERLOCK HOLMES
THE VEILED DETECTIVE
DAVID STUART DAVES
TITAN BOOKS
AVAILABLE NOW FROM TITAN BOOKS
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
THE ECTOPLASMIC MAN
Daniel Stashower
ISBN: 9781848564923
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
DR JEKYLL AND MR HOLMES
Loren D. Estleman
ISBN: 9781848567474
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
THE MAN FROM HELL
Barrie Roberts
ISBN: 9781848565081
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
THE SCROLL OF THE DEAD
David Stuart Davies
ISBN: 9781848564930
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
SEANCE FOR A VAMPIRE
Fred Saberhagen
ISBN: 9781848566774
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
THE SEVENTH BULLET
Daniel D. Victor
ISBN: 9781848566767
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
THE STALWART COMPANIONS
H. Paul Jeffers
ISBN: 9781848565098
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
THE VEILED DETECTIVE
David Stuart Davies
ISBN: 9781848564909
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
Manly Wade Wellman & Wade Wellman
ISBN: 9781848564916
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
THE WHITECHAPEL HORRORS
Edward B. Hanna
ISBN: 9781848567498
COMING SOON FROM TITAN BOOKS
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
THE ANGEL OF THE OPERA
Sam Siciliano
ISBN: 9781848568617
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
THE GIANT RAT OF SUMATRA
Richard L. Boyer
ISBN: 9781848568600
’I never get your limits, Watson. There are
unexplored possibilities about you.’
Sherlock Holmes in
AFGHANISTAN, THE EVENING OF 27 JUNE 1880
The full moon hovered like a spectral observer over the British camp. The faint cries of the dying and wounded were carried by the warm night breeze out into the arid wastes beyond. John Walker staggered out of the hospital tent, his face begrimed with dried blood and sweat. For a moment he threw his head back and stared at the wide expanse of starless sky as if seeking an answer, an explanation. He had just lost another of his comrades. There were now at least six wounded men whom he had failed to save. He was losing count. And, by God, what was the point of counting in such small numbers anyway? Hundreds of British soldiers had died that day, slaughtered by the Afghan warriors. They had been outnumbered, outflanked and routed by the forces of Ayub Khan in that fatal battle at Maiwand. These cunning tribesmen had truly rubbed the Union Jack into the desert dust. Nearly a third of the company had fallen. It was only the reluctance of the Afghans to carry out further carnage that had prevented the British troops from being completely annihilated. Ayub Khan had his victory. He had made his point. Let the survivors report the news of his invincibility.
For the British, a ragged retreat was the only option. They withdrew into the desert, to lick their wounds and then to limp back to Candahar. They had had to leave their dead littering the bloody scrubland, soon to be prey to the vultures and vermin.
Walker was too tired, too sick to his stomach to feel anger, pain or frustration. All he knew was that when he trained to be a doctor, it had been for the purpose of saving lives. It was not to watch young men’s pale, bloody
