The Furies Read online

  Mrs Evans shuffled to one side and Elspeth stepped past her into the cool, dark interior of the hallway, into a lingering smell of floor polish and boiled cabbage. As Elspeth reached the bottom of the stairs, Mrs Evans called up after her.

  ‘I could do some iced lemonade for you ladies, if you’d like?’

  ‘That’s very kind, but there’s no need to go to any trouble,’ Elspeth called back as she began to climb the steps. She reached the top of the landing, then walked towards her bedroom door and turned the handle.

  ‘Ah, the wanderer returns,’ Sylvia said as Elspeth entered the room. She was sitting on the edge of the bed and had changed out of her nursing uniform into a white summer blouse and red skirt.

  ‘Hullo, Ellie,’ said Vera, standing by the open window, as if she had been looking out for something, or someone. Her hair was – as usual – uncombed, but her tall figure looked unusually smart in a matching grey traveller’s jacket and skirt. ‘We wondered where you’d got to.’

  ‘Just enjoying the sunshine in Hyde Park, Vee.’

  Sylvia had already risen, and now gave Elspeth a hug of greeting. ‘And anything of interest taking place today?’ she asked.

  ‘Nothing,’ Elspeth said as she returned the hug. ‘No water carnivals, no demonstrations, nothing like last Sunday,’ she said sweetly, and Sylvia laughed in response. They pulled apart and Elspeth turned to face Vera.

  It was the first time they had met since the Abbey bombing. But there was no mistaking the pride on Vera’s face as she came forwards and placed her hands on Elspeth’s shoulders, then leant forward to kiss her on both cheeks; almost, Elspeth thought, as if she was some Amazonian warrior princess returning from battle. For a moment Elspeth felt awkwardly self-conscious at this display of melodrama, but then could not help grinning as Vera encircled her in her arms and lifted her off the floor, spinning her around in a hug.

  ‘Very well done, Ellie,’ Vera said, and Elspeth laughed at the sheer spontaneity of Vera’s embrace. Lowered to the floor again, Elspeth smoothed her ruffled skirt, then sat back on the edge of the bed and looked up at her two comrades.

  She had always been intrigued about Sylvia and Vera’s relationship because – on the face of it – they seemed such polar opposites.

  Lady Sylvia Calthorpe was the epitome of elegance and good breeding. Having initially come out as an Honourable, her wealthy family were aghast when she had announced that she’d been inspired by Florence Nightingale to devote herself to a career in nursing. Currently the sister on the female surgical ward at St Mary’s Hospital, the blonde, green-eyed beauty was a magnet for many of the younger doctors. But they vied for her charms without success, because Sylvia just didn’t seem interested in any of them, using her professional manner and wit to disarm them with ease. Most of the beautiful women that Elspeth knew relied solely on their looks to succeed in life. But Sylvia had also been blessed with intelligence and a lightness of spirit that had quickly caught Elspeth’s attention. They had quickly become firm friends and Sylvia was now Elspeth’s closest companion.

  Vera, however, was big-boned and well fleshed, and a good head taller than Sylvia. With her square face, red cheeks, and wavy dark brown hair cut boyishly short, she looked every inch the farmer’s daughter she was. ‘There’s nobody more loyal,’ Sylvia had said of Vera, before introducing her to Elspeth at a WSPU meeting. ‘And she’s very practical-minded.’

  Vera did indeed seem very down-to-earth, thought Elspeth, who had not been surprised to learn that she was the leader of an arson squad. However Elspeth had been most surprised when Sylvia told her that she was also a member of the squad, and then had invited Elspeth to join them as well.

  As if she knew Elspeth was thinking about her, Sylvia now came and sat on the bed next to her. Vera stood on a Turkish rug in the middle of the bedroom, smiling down at them both.

  ‘Well done, girls,’ she said. ‘The Pankhursts are thrilled at your achievement. I saw Emmeline in Holloway yesterday and she sends her personal greetings, while Christabel has sent a letter of congratulations from Paris. All the sisters are proud of what you did.’

  Elspeth felt Sylvia’s arm slip inside the crook of her elbow and turned to see the smile of satisfaction on her friend’s face. Then she looked back at Vera and gave a shy grin.

  ‘Well it was your and Anya’s bomb that did it, Vee, even though it nearly blew us up.’

  Vera laughed. ‘Well, next time we’ll use a longer fuse.’

  Elspeth swallowed and her grin disappeared. ‘Yes. Well. Anyway where’s Anya?’ she asked, quickly changing the subject.

  Vera’s smile faded. ‘Oh…’ She hesitated. ‘She should be here in a minute.’ She turned away from Elspeth and walked back to the open window to peer into the street below.

  ‘But I thought you both took the train back from Oxford?’

  ‘We did,’ Vera said, still looking out of the window. ‘But…’

  ‘But what?’

  Vera sighed; then pulled her head back into the room and looked at Elspeth. There was a strange expression on her face. ‘Well…’ she hesitated as she glanced at Sylvia and then back at Elspeth again. ‘Anya thinks…’ she hesitated again ‘…Anya thinks our squad is being followed.’

  For a moment Elspeth felt nothing. And then her eyes widened as a queasy sensation rose in her belly. She quickly pulled away from Sylvia and stood up from the bed, but Vera was already by her side, palms up in reassurance.

  ‘No, don’t worry, Ellie. I’m sure she’s mistaken. Sylvie and I haven’t seen anything to concern us.’

  ‘But who does Anya think might be following us?’ Elspeth demanded.

  ‘Well…’ Vera grimaced, then ran her fingers through her tousled hair, ‘…she’s mentioned several possible groups.’

  ‘Several?’ Elspeth felt bile rise into the back of her throat. ‘Like who?

  ‘Well…’ Another grimace, another beat of hesitation. ‘Special Branch, for one.’

  The words Elspeth did not want to hear: her mouth felt as dry as sandpaper as she tried to find saliva and swallow. ‘Who else?’ she said, her voice a croaky whisper.

  ‘The Austrian secret service.’

  ‘Austrian?’ Elspeth shook her head in confusion. ‘What?…Why…?’

  ‘Anya hasn’t said why. But I think it’s something to do with a relative who fell into trouble with the police over there—’

  ‘But Anya’s not Austrian…is she?’ Elspeth interrupted. ‘I thought she was originally from Poland or somewhere else in Eastern Europe. Is that not the case?’

  Vera stepped forward and placed her hands on Elspeth’s shoulders again. ‘Look, Ellie,’ she said reassuringly. ‘It really doesn’t matter where Anya’s from. All that matters is that I’m certain we’re not being followed.’ She looked across at Sylvia for support.

  ‘Vera’s absolutely right,’ Sylvia said. ‘I haven’t seen a thing.’

  ‘So you’re both certain we’re not being followed,’ Elspeth said. ‘By Special Branch, or Austrian secret police, or anybody else for that matter.’

  Both nodded their heads.

  ‘But you say that Anya thinks we are. So what exactly are you implying, Vera? That she’s imagining it? That she’s delusional?’

  Vera sighed. ‘I think so. The trouble is, Anya’s always been a little paranoid, Ellie. Which I think comes from her being an émigré, you know, seeking asylum—’

  ‘And from which country,’ Elspeth interrupted, ‘is Anya seeking asylum from?’

  Vera shrugged. ‘I don’t know. She’s always been vague about that. One of the Slavic states within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, I think.’

  ‘But you don’t know which one?’

  Vera shook her head. ‘I’ve asked her, of course, but she says she’d rather not say; that the less people know about her, the better.’

  ‘So what do you know about her?’ Elspeth said, unable to hide the irritation in her voice.

  Vera stiffened. ‘Well I o
nly met her last year, when she joined the WSPU. Where she came from didn’t seem to matter then. What was important was her commitment to the suffrage cause and of that there’s no doubt. She knows lots of useful things, Ellie, like how to make a pipe bomb—’

  ‘And where is she now?’

  Vera looked awkward. ‘When we arrived at Paddington half an hour ago, she told me she’d stay behind to watch if anybody might be following us. I imagine she’s down on the street, watching the door as we speak.’

  Elspeth strode to the window and strained to see as far up and down the street as she could and then pulled her head back into the room. ‘Well, I can’t see her,’ she said irritably. Is there anything else about Anya you haven’t told me?’

  ‘I’ve not been keeping anything back, Ellie,’ Vera protested. ‘I just didn’t think it was important to tell you every last detail about her—’

  ‘Now look here, Vera,’ Elspeth interrupted. ‘Sylvie and I planted a bomb. Innocent people could have been injured or worse. This is important. I need to know exactly who the members of our squad really are.’

  Vera sighed. ‘Look, I know that Anya entered Britain two years ago on asylum and for a while lived in a flat with a group of WSPU supporters, one of whom was called Grace. Anya and Grace developed a close friendship and become involved with the arson campaign – breaking shop windows, pouring petrol through letter boxes – that sort of thing. Then a year ago they were caught smashing the windows of a jewellers in Mayfair and were being held by the owner and his staff until the police arrived. Grace knew that if Anya was arrested she would be deported. So she threw herself at the owner to create a distraction that allowed Anya to escape before the police arrived. So only Grace was arrested and she was tried and convicted, then sent to prison.’

  ‘Holloway?’

  ‘Yes. She went on hunger strike and was force-fed, but there must have been a problem, because some of the feed went into her lungs and she caught pneumonia and died.’

  The death of a close friend, Elspeth thought. That could certainly unhinge a person. Might even bring on delusional thoughts that they were being followed…

  ‘Apparently for a while Anya was inconsolable,’ Vera continued. ‘I think she loved Grace very dearly. Anyway, a while after that I was asked by Christabel to form an arson squad and with Anya’s previous experience she was an obvious choice. Then I asked Sylvie to join, and she of course recommended you and—’

  Thump, thump, thump: the sound of the front door knocker. Vera stepped past Elspeth; she looked out of the window and waved at somebody below. When she pulled her head back inside, there was a smile of relief on her face.

  ‘It’s Anya.’

  ‘I’ll let her in,’ Elspeth said. She opened her bedroom door and hurried down the stairs. Arriving at the bottom, she saw Mrs Evans coming out of the scullery at the back of the house, wiping her hands on a kitchen cloth.

  ‘Oh, it’s alright, Mrs Evans. It’s the other friend I mentioned.’

  ‘You sure you ladies don’t want some refreshments?’

  ‘No, really, we’re fine, thank you, Mrs Evans,’ Elspeth replied.

  Mrs Evans smiled and went back into the scullery while Elspeth went to open the front door.

  With high cheekbones and a helmet of short, shiny black hair like the wing of a raven, Anya regarded Elspeth with large brown eyes and a serious look on her angular face. A tall, wiry figure, she was dressed in a black skirt and off-white blouse, and carried a battered black suitcase in one hand. Perched on her head was a flat, red beret. She looked up and down the street for a moment, and then stepped over the threshold.

  ‘Ellie,’ she said in a deeply resonant Slavic accent. She kissed Elspeth on both cheeks and then stood back. ‘How are you?’ Before Elspeth could reply, Anya leant forwards and whispered in her ear. ‘You did good job in Abbey.’ She pulled away, gave Elspeth a wink, and then without waiting to be invited walked quickly past her and onto the stairs. Elspeth sighed and shook her head, then closed the front door and followed Anya upstairs.

  When Elspeth re-entered her bedroom, Anya was already standing at the open window, gazing down at the street below, an awkward-looking Vera by her side. As Elspeth closed the door she glanced across at Sylvia, still sitting on the edge of her bed: she also looked uncomfortable with Anya’s behaviour. After a moment Anya drew back from the window and walked across to Elspeth, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving it a friendly squeeze. Her grip – for someone so slender – was surprisingly strong.

  ‘You did very good job, Ellie. Next time, we make bigger bomb, attack bigger target. Maybe Tower of London. Maybe Royal Albert Hall. What do you think?’

  Elspeth brushed Anya’s arm – and question – aside.

  ‘What’s this about being followed?’

  Anya’s eyes narrowed. Then she looked at Vera and back at Elspeth again.

  ‘Vera told you?’

  Elspeth nodded, her eyes not leaving Anya’s face.

  ‘Do not worry, Ellie,’ Anya replied with a reassuring smile. She reached across to caress the side of Elspeth’s face. ‘I check carefully and I see no watchers. In my country secret police follows people. In your country Special Branch follows people. We must always be on look out.’

  ‘What have you done that your secret police should want to follow you?’

  ‘I have done nothing.’ The smile faded. ‘But my cousin Bogdan…’ She sighed. ‘He was only a boy, but very brave. He died for my country. Then secret police arrest and interrogate all our family and friends. I fled to Paris before they seized me. And then I crossed to Great Britain. This country is a good friend to people in trouble.’

  ‘And what did your cousin do, to bring you so much trouble?’

  ‘He tried to free my country.’

  ‘And which is your country?’

  For a moment a distant look appeared on Anya’s face, as if she was picturing her homeland in her mind’s eye. Then she lifted her chin and smiled, placing her hand on Elspeth’s shoulder once more.

  ‘I have said too much already, Ellie. But I have looked carefully and there is nobody watching us—’

  ‘You’re sure,’ Sylvia interrupted from the bed, ‘that nobody is following us?’

  ‘Yes, I am sure.’

  ‘Well, thank goodness for that,’ Sylvia said as she stood and went across to Elspeth and Anya, putting an arm around a shoulder of each. ‘Now let that be an end to the subject. We’ve much more important matters to discuss – like what the next target should be.’

  But Elspeth was exhausted from the strain of the discussion. There was a throbbing in the side of her head and Sylvia’s arm did not comfort her, so she slipped out from underneath it. Sylvia appeared surprised, but then her expression changed to one of concern.

  ‘Ellie darling, are you all right?’

  But Elspeth didn’t answer. Her previous misgivings about the bombing campaign had been amplified by the discussion with Anya. This didn’t feel right…

  ‘You’re not having doubts, Ellie, are you?’ Vera said, and Elspeth saw the look of concern on her face.

  ‘I just think we should take things slower,’ Elspeth replied. ‘That inspector almost caught us—’

  ‘Oh, Ellie darling,’ Sylvia said, an almost patronisingly confident smile on her face. ‘We got clean away with it.’

  ‘We were lucky, Sylvie,’ Elspeth replied, ‘and our luck may run out. Emmeline’s in Holloway and Christabel’s fled to France otherwise she’d be in Holloway, too. We all need to be careful.’

  ‘But we can’t stop now, Ellie,’ Sylvia said. ‘If we plant further bombs, the government will simply have to take notice of us.’

  ‘I’m not sure about this strategy, Sylvie—’

  ‘Look, there’s going to be a WSPU meeting at Holland Park skating rink in two weeks,’ Vera interuppted. ‘The rumour is that Emmeline will time her release from Holloway to attend the meeting. She’s been on hunger strike for a while now, so they�
��ll have to let her out soon. We all need to be there to show her our support.’

  ‘I’m on duty that evening —’

  ‘Oh, Ellie,’ Sylvia interjected. ‘You’ve done more than your share for those lazy house surgeons. Don’t you worry. I’ll charm one of them into covering for you—’

  A floorboard in the corridor outside the room creaked, and Sylvia fell silent as all four women swivelled their heads towards the door. After a moment’s silence they heard a hesitant tapping. Sylvia looked at Elspeth with wide, inquiring eyes, but Elspeth shrugged and then walked to the door and opened it to find Mrs Evans standing there.

  ‘I know you said not to bother, Dr Stewart,’ she said, holding a tray of glasses and a jug of lemonade before her, ‘but it really is no trouble and I thought you ladies might be in need of something refreshing on such a hot afternoon.’

  Elspeth forced a smile to her face. ‘That’s very sweet of you, Mrs Evans, but you really needn’t have troubled—’

  ‘Oh it’s no trouble, darling, and I know how hard you doctors and nurses work. Sister Calthorpe was on duty this morning, she was saying, so it’s the least I can do.’

  Elspeth knew it would appear churlish to rebuff the offer and Sylvia must have thought the same, for she stepped past Elspeth to take the tray from Mrs Evans with a smile of thanks and an invitation to join them. Elspeth took the jug – damp with condensation – and while Sylvia introduced Mrs Evans to Vera and Anya, she poured lemonade into the glasses. As the four women drank and Mrs Evans chatted to the other three, Elspeth thought about the forthcoming WSPU meeting. It wasn’t as if they were going to plant another bomb, and at least it meant she had agreed to do something positive for the squad. Maybe it was a good idea to go?

  4. Sarajevo, Sunday 28th June 1914. Evening

  After the royal couple were pronounced dead, a Jesuit priest was called to administer the last rites. Gabriel had intended to stay at the Konak and assist the chief with the Archduke’s autopsy. But news of the assassination spread quickly: street fights broke out as Hapsburg-friendly Bosnians began attacking Serbian shops and businesses, and Gabriel was summoned back to the garrison hospital to help Arnstein and Flieger with several stabbings. He was kept busy in the operating theatre for the rest of the day, and it was only much later that evening, having finished his last operation, that Gabriel finally found time to go to the doctor’s mess for a late supper.