The House of War and Witness by Mike Carey Linda Carey Louise Carey Extract

8/12/2019 The House of War and Witness by Mike Carey Linda Carey Louise Carey Extract

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Copyright Mike Carey, Linda Carey and Louise Carey All rights reserved

Te right of Mike Carey, Linda Carey and Louise Carey to

be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted

by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and

Patents Act .

First published in Great Britain in by Gollancz

An imprint of the Orion Publishing Group

Orion House, Upper St Martins Lane,

London An Hachette UK Company

A CIP catalogue record for this book

is available from the British Library

ypeset at Te Spartan Press Ltd,

Lymington, Hants

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd,

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O

here was a border up ahead, though the trees were sothick here that no sign o it could be seen. Te oreststretched or many miles in all directions, and the treeswere the same ahead o them as behind. Nevertheless, theborder was there. Not hal an hour ago the ground hadrisen and the trees with it, and through the trunks theyhad all seen the flash o the river. On the other side o itwas Prussia.

Te men were too hungry and dispirited to celebrate

much at the sight, though it meant their long march wasalmost at an end. Not so much a march, Colonel Augusthad to admit: there had been no road or two days, andthe officers had been leading their horses more ofen thanriding them. It wasnt possible to maintain an orderlycolumn among so many damned low-hanging branches,not with an inantry company more than two hundred

strong. But at least theyd all kept up, and afer his threatto cut the rations o the next man who complained, thegrousing no longer reached his ears.

Teres a great house here? Really? Lieutenant Klaessaid. He looked again at the map, hand-drawn or them bythe landlord o the last inn they had stopped at, three daysago. It was crude, but better than the official map, which

showed a swathe o beautiully depicted trees with a singlecross at the edge and blank space beyond.

Te colonel newly promoted rom lieutenant colonelor the purposes o this assignment didnt bother to look


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at either document. Itll be where command says it is, hepronounced with easy confidence. Te amily hasnt usedit in years, apparently. I think were still trying to ind

someone to accept the requisition papers.And the village: Narutsin? Outlandish name.Outlandish place, no doubt. But this close to the border,

what do you expect? heres a small detachment therealready: local orces. Teir captain can fill us in on thepeculiarities o the natives i hes halway competent. Andi its really a backwater, so much the better in some ways.

Itll discourage the men rom raternising.Its not so much the men Id worry about, muttered

Klaes as a burst o girlish laughter reached them rom arback among the trees. Te women that is, the respectablewomen were all in the rear party, together with a coupleo the older sergeants or protection, the pack-mules andthe baggage. Tey were the officers wives, who were too

delicate to travel at a soldiers pace and would arrive laterin the day, ollowing the trampled path lef by the company.But a ew o the camp ollowers, mostly washer-womenand whores, had managed to tag along with the men. Teykept to the back o the column where their presence wasnot too obvious, but Klaes could not ignore them: gigglingand flirting and disrupting every attempt at good order.

One o them, the gypsy girl Drozde, had a laugh that coulddrown a church bell. He turned to glower over his shoulderat the noise.

A cry rom one o the scouts brought his attention backto the road ahead. Klaes glimpsed a straight edge throughthe trees and the grey o stone: a building. Only a ew more

minutes walk confirmed it. Te trees thinned, and through

them the soldiers could see the gables o a house.It stood on a rise too insignificant to be called a hill, the

trees straggling around it on three sides. On the ourthwere the houses grounds, maybe a dozen fields width. Part


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might once have been laid out as lawns and herb beds, butall that could be seen there now was scrubby grass and atangle o the same bushes theyd been pushing through or

the last ew days in the orest.Te house and its grounds were surrounded by a stone

wall that might once have kept out intruders but wascrumbling now in several places. Beyond it were the vil-lagers fields, jealously reclaimed rom the orest and stillmore jealously guarded rom each other with partitions oditches or stick-ences. In the distance they could just make

out the village itsel: low, grey-brown buildings topped witha haze o cooking smoke.

Afer two miles the road crossed a bridge. It was yetanother landmark that did not appear on their inadequatemap, but the garrulous innkeeper at Kastornya had toldthem to look out or it. Its a bridge over nothing! Youllsee or yoursel. Its where the river ran not the big river,

the Oder, but the small un. Mala Panev, I think they callit. Only then they dammed Mala Panev as she comes outo the hills trying to make some good pasture, I reckon,but theres none to be had up there. So now theres just thisbig cut in the land. Tis big dry cut, see. And they call itthe Drench.

Tis was a concern to Colonel August, and he stopped

to take some measurements or rather to allow Klaes todo so. It was not the Drench itsel that troubled him. Tatwas, indeed, only a dip in the land, five or six eet deepand no more than twenty wide at this point. It was dry atthe bottom apart rom a thin trickle and some standingpools, and even i there had been no bridge the officerswould not have had to dismount to lead their horses down

the gentle slope.But the guns, which were a day behind them, were an-

other matter. Lieutenant Dietmar needed well maintainedroads, and given how ew there were to choose rom, would


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almost certainly be obliged to take this one. So it was osome moment to determine whether this wooden bridgewould take their weight.

Klaes drew out a tape and stick that he kept about hisperson, and solemnly did his calculations. His originalposting had been with the corps o engineers, and he hadlearned a great deal there about the mechanics o this andthat. Fortification, transport, sapping and undermining.Intellectually it had suited him well, and he still evinced aascination with such technical minutiae, but he had turned

out to have little willingness to get his hands dirty, and sohad ound his way into a regular regiment by the quickestway.

But now Klaes inspected the bridge and pronounced itsound. And his commander accepted the verdict, knowingthat i there was one thing Klaes could be relied on to dowell, it was to weigh and measure.

Once over the bridge they halted at the edge o the treeswhile August gave orders: Sergeant Janek to run and takeword to Lieutenant usimov in the rear, while the othersergeants relayed the order to halt along the rest o thecolumn. Te main body o the company would remainwhere they were, awaiting urther instructions. A smallergroup, headed by Klaes, was to accompany August into the

village to meet the burgomaster.He wont be expecting us, Klaes observed. Its clear

your message miscarried, sir, or else he would have sentsomeone to meet us along the way.

Still, he will come out to us, said August. Were march-ing over two hundred men onto his land. I the mayors notthe first to greet us, hes not the one we should be dealing

with.In act it was not the burgomaster they met first. Te

season was late autumn, the ground still boggy rom the firstrains o the season, and the company were concentrating on


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their eet as they crossed the fields. Tey had been keepingto a narrow track between two harvested plots, but thehedges which served as boundary markers here had been

allowed to grow straggly and wild. Privates Leintz andRasmus swerved to avoid a bush in their path and ran intoa man hiding behind it.

He started up rom them like a pheasant, flapping hisarms. His eyes were wide with terror.

It wasnt, he said, high-voiced. I didnt. I dont know athing about it!

He stood or another moment goggling at them. Tenhe turned and ran off across the field, his boots picking upresh clumps o mud with each step.

Local dullard, said Leintz, watching the mans lumber-ing retreat. Teres always one.

More than one, Ill bet, Rasmus said. Place like this, itsprobably their main crop.

Te company usually looked orward to their arrival in anew town. According to the archduchesss edict, soldierso the empire were to be given ood and lodging wher-ever they stopped along their route, provided ree (or ata reduced rate at least) by the grateul populace: a smallgesture to the heroes who deended them rom the Prus-

sian threat. In practice this mostly meant that the enlistedmen under Augusts command were given a flattish fieldto pitch their tents, and could supplement their rations attheir own expense rom the town market. Te arrangementworked well enough or a week or two, so long as theykept aglitz away rom the drink and restrained Pers inhis target practice. But the day o their arrival, that was

generally a high point. Te towns out here, at the edge othe empire, were small and scattered and might not see avisitor in months. o most o them the arrival o a troop osoldiers whipped into marching order by their colonel as


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they approached, uniorms as smart and swords as brightas could be managed afer months on the road was asgood as a circus.

Not here, though. In act, the town seemed almostdeserted, nothing but a ew chickens pecking around onthe muddy track o the main road to show that peoplelived here at all. No pretty young girl waved or smiled; noold wie threw them the look o interest that might mean aree meal. Te detachment, which had marched in brisklyenough, began to slow. Some murmuring arose rom the

ranks. August rowned. It looked as though they had beenstationed in a plague town.

But when they reached the town square though thiswas too illustrious a name or the flattened patch o earthwhich terminated Narutsins main street the burgomasterwas waiting with a cluster o men, just as the colonel hadpredicted. A squat little church, the towns only stone

building, lay to their lef. From its doorway Klaes heardthe sound o low voices, and saw a crowd shifing aboutin the shadows. Tis accounted or the whereabouts o thetownsolk, but why on earth they were all in church on aWednesday was a mystery to Klaes. He was at a loss toknow how to respond to this turn o events. Perhaps theseyokels were unaware o whose orces they were receiving,

and had hidden out o ear? I so, reassurances were inorder. But August seemed determined to ignore this witlessgame o hide-and-go-seek, so the lieutenant did too.

Te little group o men gathered in ront o them filledthe road, rom the cattle trough to the gate o the biggesthouse. All o them seemed to be old, and all dressed inwaistcoats or jackets, which probably passed or ormal

wear here. At their head the burgomaster stood stily,shoulders back in the manner o a sergeant at attention.His red-grey hair bristled and his collar was astened highbeneath his chin. He might have been bursting with pride


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at his own importance, receiving the ambassadors o thearchduchesss army outside his home, but his ace wasguarded.

He and August bowed ormally to each other while Klaesadvanced a little awkwardly, holding out the letter o com-mission. Te mayor took it and scanned it he appeared to

know how to read, Klaes noted with aint surprise. Afer amoment he looked up and inclined his head to both men.

It is all in order, he said. I am Meister Berthold Weicho-rek. You and your men are welcome here, Colonel.

He turned rom them beore they could answer and heldout the commission to the old men behind him.

Tis says he raised his voice, possibly or the benefito the listeners in the church the archduchess suspectssome o her enemies might want to try how saely she sitsher throne. Tese men are here to deend us should anyo them think to strike here. So were to give them lodging

and ood while theyre with us, and make them welcome.Tere was a collective shuffling rom behind him. Te

greybeards in his retinue did not seem particularly pleasedat the news. Te older ones rarely were, in Klaess experi-ence: they tended to think more o the cost than o anydiversion the companys presence might occasion. Teybegan to wander off, each one nodding to the mayor as

he lef. One o them disappeared into the church, and thewhispering rom within intensified.

August cleared his throat pointedly. We wont requirelodging, he said. I have requisitioned the mansion housethree miles up the road or our officers, and the men willcamp in the grounds. I understand that the owners areabsent, and there is only a small orce stationed there at

the moment? Tere should be room or all o us.Weichorek turned back to them with a look o puzzle-

ment. Another orce, Colonel? My apologies, but what doyou mean?


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Klaes stepped in ast: nothing tried the colonels patiencelike block-headedness. Te soldiers who are here already,he explained. Te ones who arrived here last summer.

he mayors ace clouded. Oh, the militia men, hesaid. Yes. For a moment he said nothing more, but onlygestured as though his position could be made clear bya mummers show. But they lef months ago. Tey weremoved on somewhere else where they were more needed,I understood. He wilted a little under Augusts glare. Iam sorry, sirs, he stammered. Tis is a small town, and

unimportant.Augusts expression did not change. As loyal subjects

o the archduchess, he said, you deserve her protectionas much as any city. And now we are here to give it. Lieu-tenant, the great house will not be prepared or us: takeyour men there now and see to it. You can tell the rest othe company to begin making camp in the grounds. Te

irritation in his voice was or Klaes too.Weichorek seemed to realise that he had given offence

in some way and was clearly anxious to repair the damage.You are welcome here, Colonel, he said again. My wieand I would be honoured i you would share our table atsupper tonight.

Klaes, heading off to muster his men, permitted himsel

an inward smile. It was only sensible or the officers to stayon good terms with local dignitaries, o course. But boiledeggs and small beer at a provincials table! Colonel Augustwould certainly not relish that prospect.

he great houses owners had named it Pokoj Peace.Klaes assumed that this reflected their romantic expecta-

tions rather than the actual experience o living in theseuncivilised borderlands. Te name was worked in imposing

letters amidst the ornamentation o the wrought-iron gates.Klaes could easily have led his men through one o the gaps


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in the surrounding wall, but, deserted or not, the housewas private property, so he had Edek and Rasmus heaveapart the great gates on their rusted hinges, so they could

advance down the carriage path like visitors. Even romhere they could see the houses dilapidation: the moss onthe pale stone walls, the cracked windows and the missingroo tiles. Tis was not the only abandoned mansion herea-bouts, o course: all along the border the nobility had fledtheir country retreats at the first threat o an invasion theprevious year. But Pokoj had the look o a place that had

been empty or much longer than that.he carriageway was uneven, its gravel spotted with

weeds. On each side were spiny bushes, some o them theheight o a man. Above them, some way off to their lef,rose a ruined building o some kind, its stone a darker greythan the house, with an arch and a ragged tower.

Te house itsel had clearly been designed on the model

o the great ducal palaces, though less than hal their size,with a pilastered rontage and two wings flanking a court-yard. It looked out o place here against the backgroundo orest, as i its builder had imagined himsel livingsomewhere more cultivated, closer to the heart o things.

Te ront door was massive, iron-chased and stuck astin its rame. Te burgomaster had ound them the key, but

even once Klaes had managed to ree the lock it took threeo them, straining their shoulders at the damp wood, to getthe thing open. Inside was darkness and a powerul whiffo mildew. Lighting their lanterns they ound a cavern-ous hallway big enough to house a stable. Te floor wasmarble and the walls studded with mould-flecked statues.Corridors led off to each side, and ahead o them a great

staircase curved up into the dark.Exploring, Klaes ound the interior as ramshackle as he

had eared. Te roo had allen in on the north side andthe rooms on the upper level had spongy floors and stank


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o ungus. Downstairs, the ceilings dripped and bulgedominously. Te south wing was a little better, and hereKlaes set the men to work, driving tribes o mice out o

the cupboards and shaking the dust and beetles rom thecurtains. Everywhere the wallpaper was peeling and thecarpets alive with roaches. Te owners had taken most othe urniture with them, but in the billiard room a heavyoak table stood alone, acing a marble ireplace with apicture above it too blackened or its subject to show.

It took some time or Klaes to find suitable rooms or the

officers. By the time he had identified the our or five bestupstairs, with the ewest holes in the walls and floors, themajority o the company had finished setting up their tentsand were sitting around outside, leaning on their packs anddicing or playing cards. Klaes was gloomily overseeing hismen as they swept floors and laid out pallets he did nottrust the remaining beds when he heard his commanding

officers voice over the buzz o conversation rom outside.Klaes! Where is the man?Klaes hurried to obey the summons. August had clearly

recovered his temper: he greeted his lieutenant with somecordiality, strode past him into the house and, not seemingto notice the dank smell or the scroulous walls, pronouncedthat it would do very well.

I have another job or you, he told Klaes. Te mayorhas invited me to sup with him this evening. I had to de-cline, o course; my presence is required here to overseethe encampment. But we need to maintain good relationswith these people. Ive told him that my place at his tablewill be supplied by my lieutenant, a young man o greatacuity who will be able to tell him all that is needed about

our stay here. Youre to be there at seven.Klaes prided himsel on his discipline: he did not show

his dismay by so much as a twitch. He suspected thatAugust saw it anyway.


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Very well, Colonel, he said. Ill go and change my

clothes.

No need to wear dress uniorm, anything like that.

August gave a small snort o laughter. But you might goon horseback; that should impress them.

Klaes bowed and made to withdraw.

And while youre there, August said beore he could go,

find out what theyre hiding.

Sir? said Klaes, taken aback.

Teres something going on here. Te people are too

sullen and the mayor too eager to please. You saw howthey all hid in the church when we arrived: they have some

secret they think they can keep rom us, and thats bad or

morale.

He did not say whose morale, Klaes thought. Te colonel

could well be right he recalled the sideways glances be-

tween the old men and the unaccountable desertion o the

town but the thought o involving himsel in the villagers

petty intrigues filled him with such deep disgust that he

risked a protest.

Itll be some provincial matter, no doubt. Someone

taking in someone elses sheep, that went the wrong way

on the mountains. Tis close to the border, sir

Tis close to the border, August repeated heavily. Andmaybe ignoringthe border, where it suits them. reating

the dispositions o Her Imperial Highness as though they

were dainties at a meal, to pick and choose rom. You think

that a small matter, Lieutenant?

Klaes was mortified. Not at all, sir! he said, drawing

himsel to attention.

Its really a matter o discipline, August said. It maybe some entirely trivial matter; most likely it is. But they

think to conceal it rom the officers o the empire, and that

cannot be permitted. So you will find out their little secret,


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discreetly and by whatever means you choose, and reportit to me. Ill decide then what action is required.

Klaes saluted. Yes, Colonel.

Tey must be made to understand that they cannot lieto us, August repeated. See to it, Lieutenant.


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he gypsy girl Drozde (who in truth was neither agypsy nor still a girl, but a travelling entertainer whohad allen in with the troop or want o something better)was enjoying hersel or the first time in days. Her manamong the soldiers, Quartermaster Sergeant Molebacher,was no doubt nettled by her absence rom his side. Hehad been kept behind in the rear party, and she had takenthe opportunity, while he was busy arranging supplies inthe back o one o the carts, to slip away and seek out the

company o pleasanter companions. Libush and Alis hadboth worked in the brothels o Legnica beore taking upwith the company, and their stories could surprise evenDrozde. Her eet ached, and she suspected that Molebacherwould have something to say to her when she saw himnext, but still she was laughing.

And he stuck like that! Tey couldnt get him out, ront

or back. We had to cut him out at the finish. It took, Iswear, the whole night

Youre lying.No, I promise you. Te sun was rising. I youd only seen

how at he was Libushs voice aded into silence as the three women

came through the last stand o trees and saw the house

properly or the first time. It was huge, bigger than anybuilding Drozde had seen up close beore. It had beeneven larger once, she could see: there was a broken-downstructure over to one side, like the ruins o a church. What


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sort o rich amily keeps their own church and lets it alldown? she wondered. But most likely it had been damagedin one o the wars. Tere had clearly been a good deal o

fighting around here. She could tell by all the ghosts.She noticed them as soon as she passed through the

houses gates. Tey were everywhere more than shed ever

seen in one place. She told hersel it made no difference:shed long ago learned how to ignore them, and it wasntas i they bothered her or at least no more than fliesin summer bothered her. Still, she couldnt deny it was

off-putting to see so many o them so densely clustered.She turned away deliberately rom the two grey figures

she had just noticed hovering behind the spiny busheslining the carriageway, and tried to put them out o hermind. She had enough to think about right now. hehouse was more than a little dilapidated: even rom hereshe could see the sagging sections o roo, the gaping holes

where windows had been. Tat meant damp and mould,not a good environment or her puppets. She could keepthem in her tent, o course, but it would be cold and windy,and i the rain came back theyd be better off indoors. Andanyway there was Molebacher to consider. I he wantedher in his bed every night, that was where shed have to be.

Te thought o Molebacher made her quicken her pace.

His party was not ar behind: they might be here beorethe days end, and there were things she needed to arrangebeore then. Te first group o soldiers had already reachedthe house and were standing at an approximation o atten-tion in the courtyard, receiving their orders rom Lieu-tenant usimov. Drozde bid goodbye to Alis and Libushwith a promise to find them again in the evening and lef

the gravel drive, trampling weeds and pulling her skirts inagainst the thistles to overtake the men in the rear o thecolumn. Tere were some curious glances at her, but themen were used to Drozdes quirks by now; besides, afer


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staircase in the corner o the kitchen led down to a store-room, which was cool and relatively ree rom damp. Atall cupboard against one o its walls would make an ideal

place to hang her larger puppets: it even had hooks at thetop, and there was plenty o space beside it or her trunk.Molebacher was at and hated unnecessary exercise. Hewould be in no hurry to spend time down there, and wouldbe happy to depute any etching and carrying up and downthe stairs to her.

Humming to hersel, Drozde went back up to inspect

the nearby rooms, where Molebachers patronage wouldrequire her to spend much o her time. In his absence, sherisked a whipping or wandering about here without leave,but she was not unduly worried. All the sounds o activitywere rom the rooms above, and even i one o Strumpelsmen discovered her, she reckoned she could sweet-talkthe old sergeant. Klaes was a trickier proposition, but al-

though he was stiff and humourless the lieutenant had apainstakingly scrupulous air about him: she doubted hewould order a woman to be beaten.

Te next-door scullery was open to the outside wherea back door had allen in. here were puddles on theloor and orange mould on the walls. Beyond it was alarge cupboard that had served as a game-hanging room;

Drozde shut the door hastily, wincing at the smell. Terooms to the other side were more promising: a smallerkitchen with a bread oven, and a urniture store containing

benches, more tables and a high-backed wooden chair witharms. She looked around with satisaction. Tese wouldbe Molebachers quarters: air-sized, close to his domainand already urnished. Te chair, with its generous seat,

might have been made or him. And sharing his pallet inhere would be more comortable than lying on the stonefloor o one o the kitchens or in a tent, or that matter.

It was time to leave: shed done all she could here or the


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time being. Te passage outside seemed less orbiddingnow; perhaps her eyes had grown used to the darkness, butshe ound her way back without needing to eel the walls

as she went. She paused as she reached the side corridorthat had demanded her attention on the way in. It wassilent now. Wasnt it? She listened and thought she caughtan echo o that strange buzzing.

A ghost was like a fly in the room, Drozde told hersel.You couldnt reason with it and you couldnt get rid o it.Best just to ignore it and hope it went away on its own. But

on the other hand No, she decided. I its in the house, Ill run into it sooner

or later. Might as well see what Ill be living with.Tis passage had a smoother floor and taller doors than

the other. As she made her way down it she could still heara aint trace o the disturbance rom beore, less a soundthan a vibration in her head. It led her to a door about

halway down, rising sharply as she laid her hand on thehandle.

Te room inside seemed almost untouched by the decayo the rest o the house. It must once have been used ordancing: the floor was o closely laid wooden tiles, scuffedbut undamaged, and in the middle o the ar wall wasa platorm, its ornate and spindly railings still touched

with gold, where musicians would have played. Te silktapestry wallpaper was discoloured and tattered, now, andthe marble fireplace choked with dust. It was empty, butsomething about the quality o the air suggested to Drozdethat it had been ull only moments beore. Te shadows atthe edges o the room seemed to squirm in the dim light.She closed the door careully and walked away. She did

not run. She was not a child any more, to start at shadows.But she could eel her heart beating uncomortably ast asshe gained the entrance hall and slipped out through thehal-open door.


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Te sky was darkening with the threat o rain, and shewas alone outside the house. From within she heard heavyboots on the marble floor and the voice o Colonel August

shouting orders. She hastily moved away rom the doorway.Te men must be hurrying to finish making camp now,with usimov overseeing them. She should really headover there: Alis and Libush would be wondering what hadbecome o her.

he wind had picked up with the onset o evening.Drozde pulled her shawl more tightly around hersel and

ran across the courtyard, suddenly aware o how tiredshe was. As she plunged into the weeds and thorns o thegrounds, she heard something approaching rom the roadbeyond: a low rumble which resolved into mens voices, theclopping o hooves and the trundling o carts. Te supplyparty had arrived.

Documents

The House of War and Witness by Mike Carey Linda Carey Louise Carey Extract