Cobb considered the odds, the potential losses, and the fact that they were on Decebal’s home turf, which meant he would know the best hiding places and most defensible positions. But Cobb also remembered Jasmine’s story about the Argonauts. It was probably Decebal’s job to make sure the treasure stayed where it was, even if it meant that he, his riders, and the would-be thieves all perished. On the other hand, Borovsky and the riders had agreed to a temporary truce before the Black Robes had attacked. Furthermore, they had just saved Borovsky’s life.
‘Let’s do as he says,’ Cobb announced.
The flock of villagers turned slightly, as one, toward a densely wooded spot atop a small rise. Cobb glanced back and was sickened by the sight. To Dobrev, the train had been a thing of love and beauty. To the Black Robes, it was a husk to inhabit with some vile purpose.
And that purpose was yet to be revealed.
Cobb’s thoughts were interrupted by buzzing engines and gunfire from the rear of the group. The ATVs on the front line roared to newly invigorated life, and their big-treaded tires tore up the ground like a buffalo stampede. A thick fog of dust obscured the waves of Black Robes who charged after them, their AK-47s raised.
Cobb held on tight to the man in front of him as he turned sharply to watch. The weighed-down horses were losing ground to the motorized enemy, and Cobb realized that they might need to rethink their strategy. He didn’t relish the idea of a Custer-like stand, even with the trees affording some protection, but he liked the thought of McNutt and their rear guard being mowed down in ‘tactical retreat’ even less.
He could see that Borovsky was weighing that option as well.
From his half-turned vantage point, Cobb had a clear view of what happened next. Like an experienced trick rider, McNutt spun around, locked himself on top of the horse with just his legs, and brought up a Saiga 20K shotgun.
Cobb felt a flush of realization. When he wasn’t acting the fool, this man was a lethal professional. The Russian-made Saiga was only twenty-four inches long and could carry more rounds than any other semi-automatic shotgun — twelve, to be exact. Twelve hot, hurtling rounds that would spread amongst their pursuers like flying piranha. And, carefully employed, it could provide a bonus: the ATVs of fallen riders would then veer off into the rest of the pack.
McNutt went to work, covering their rear, leaving behind something that looked like a scene from a video game. Riders jerked, blood sprayed, ATVs careened, and wheels flipped skyward. In the wake of the chaos lay the victims of McNutt’s assault — all dead, or dying.
The remaining ATV leaders tried to get their rifles targeted, but their own jostling machines threw off their aim. Cobb heard the final two booms of McNutt’s gun just before his own rider shouted something in Romanian that contained the urgency of ‘Hold on!’
Cobb’s next breath was sucked in as the riders jerked to the left and headed right for the trees. Cobb looked ahead, over the rider’s shoulder, to see the shadows of the forest drawing closer. His instincts told him that something wasn’t right. He didn’t like not knowing what it was. Then they were up in the air, surging forward in a mighty leap as the horses vaulted over fallen trunks, bushes, and vines just as AK-47 bullets began biting chunks out of bark and branches all around them.
Cobb held tightly onto the rider as they landed, then hazarded a look back. Despite the danger they were still in, it was an incredible sight. One after another, the horses leaped inside the forest, avoiding tree limbs in a dazzling display of skill and strength. Then Cobb saw something move behind them. Many somethings, in fact: all massing to form a solid line of defense.
The horsemen halted so abruptly that the American and Russian passengers were nearly spun off to one side or the other. The riders pivoted to face the enemy as the last villagers revealed themselves near the culvert.
* * *
The people sprang forth like time-lapse flowers with thorns. Anna Rusinko, in the center, followed their lead. There were dozens of them, stretched for about fifty meters along the base of the tree line. In their callused hands, they held a net that was used to trap trout and salmon in the streams that fed the Mures River.
Anna and Cobb happened to grin at about the same time: wolves’ grins of violent certainty. They both felt the growing intensity as the remaining Black Robe ATVs sped forth into the trap.
The villagers heaved as one, Anna among them. Half of them hunkered down on each end of the net, their combined weight anchoring the thick-woven lattice against the trees through which the riders would soon funnel. As the modern ATVs collided with the ancient net, those riders who were not cut down from their seats were ensnared in the mesh. Weapons fell to the ground as the first wave of drivers gasped for air or desperately clawed for freedom. Those that followed steered hard to avoid their comrades, but there was nowhere to go. ATVs collided and careened out of control, toppling riders and upending vehicles. Heads and bodies smashed into the rocks and exposed tree roots amidst the helpless gunning of engines. The sound was followed by the drone of spinning tires and the blood-gurgling groans of the fallen.
In an instant, the villagers pounced upon their defenseless prey. The elder women shielded the young boys and girls from the onslaught perpetrated by their mothers and grandfathers; there was no need to burden them with the gruesome reality of what was about to happen. These were people of hearty stock, and they would defend their families by any means necessary. With axes, shovels, rakes, and even sturdy logs, they set about bludgeoning the stunned Black Robes, ensuring their own survival. Once all of the invaders had been silenced, a murmur of excitement spread throughout the villagers. That murmur quickly grew into a cheer.
Anna was among them. Smiling, she looked up to see a grinning Viktor Borovsky coming toward her. He had dismounted and was offering his hand.
She smiled and clasped his hand with both of hers.
In his eyes was gratitude and pride.
In hers was astonishment for what had happened.
52
The group remounted and rode up a breathtaking hill. They went through an awe-inspiring forest to a small village that even the most expert explorer might have missed. It wasn’t exactly camouflaged, but the way the structures were set among the boulders and even the barren trees, it would have been mistaken for terrain unless you were right upon it.
Jasmine marveled at the Russian-helmet-shaped thatched huts carefully positioned around a community well and circular stone fireplace. The entire village seemed to be grown within a natural coliseum of protective trees. It was clearly unchanged since the time it was built.
At first, the riders and the triumphant villagers went to their own huts to tether, feed, water, wash, and brush their horses. Then they all began to congregate around the central fireplace — each bringing pots, knives, sacks, and other implements. Together they began to make a communal meal.
Jasmine sidled up to Borovsky. ‘How long have they lived like this?’
‘About a hundred years,’ he said.
Cobb approached. Jasmine told him what the colonel had said.
‘I’m guessing it’s exactly ninety-five years,’ he said.
The colonel nodded in agreement after Jasmine translated.
‘Did you know about the Black Robes?’ Cobb asked.
‘Of their existence? Of course,’ Borovsky said. ‘Of their presence here today? No.’
McNutt nodded and glanced at Cobb. ‘What do we do about the guys we left on the train? They’re gonna come looking for us.’
‘I know,’ Cobb said solemnly. He ended that statement with a meaningful look at Garcia, who had just finished unloading his equipment. Garcia took that as his cue to start setting up a communications link using the gear from his shoulder bag. He sat on the ground near an open space in the trees and set the laptop on a tree stump.
‘Why are you here, Colonel?’ Cobb asked the old cop.
The Russian pressed his lips together hard. His eyes teared up as they took in the village and its people.
