Читать книгу EMPERing - Olga Odintsova - Страница 2

The sound of scraping metal tore through the air around the train track. Carriages hurtled off the rails on the embankment, most of them amassing into a heap of iron, splintered wood, and scraps of upholstery. Wails could be heard all around, people screaming. Those who had already escaped the rubble tried to free others.

The blood. The wounded. The dead.

Darkness. Grinding metal. Light. Someone’s arm.

The young man’s heart was beating wildly in his chest. His head was foggy, he could not get to grips with what had occurred, but intuitively he reached for his folder with the documents next to him. Something on his forehead was burning. Blood. Hell. A blue carriage. A blue carriage!

Fragments of blue metal. White satin splattered with blood, smeared with dirt and grass.

Screams everywhere. Where is the Emperor? Is he alive?

Clutching at his head, the young fellow peered into the pile of twisted metal where the Sovereign may conceivably be trapped. Collective concern for the Emperor’s whereabouts seemed to grow with even more urgency than for that of the people’s own wellbeing, even after a catastrophe such as this one. The sentries, who were supposed to stand every hundred metres along the railway line, quickly scurried to the site of the crash.

Emperor Alexander was aided out of the rubble and the people got a glimpse of their ruler alive and well. There was a loud sigh of shared relief. The Emperor is alive. The royal family too.

The young man was also overcome with relief, though not enough to drive out the terror. Nearby he saw a bandaged arm. He crawled over to her and hauled aside a sheet of metal… It was the Empress’ lady-in-waiting. She wasn’t breathing. Her face, which had been so beautiful and aristocratic, was now disfigured with large shards of glass. The young man’s hands trembled. He gathered the strength to get up and go in search of the doctor.

The young man heard a groan a few metres away where the rescuers had not yet got to. He turned to discover it was the doctor. He lay on the ground in a distorted position, moaning heavily with each breath bringing more pain. Limping, the young man hurried over and tried to talk to him, to help him. “Granddaughter…” the elderly man repeated. “My granddaughter…”