Chapter 6 : Harry Smith, Claudios Mens, and the Final Battle

as 6 months passed... I have been riding this carriage forever, as I look at the map, where the local Boer militia are settled, as I look ahead I see a town in the distance, as I look at the map, I have finally reached the local Boer militia, as I change from my military attire, to civilian attire, I enter the town as another dutch settler, as I know how to speak dutch but I am not fluent at it. I settle down in a paid flat until the time is right. as I deduced more and more conversations, I see a pattern in the language, with it's germanic roots, and loan words to the english language. I start to get fluent at it, as I ask where is the local Milita .

"hallo goede heer, waar is de lokale militie? ik wil me aanmelden (translation: hello good sir, where is the local militia? I want to enlist)"

"het is achter het kantoor van de burgemeester, ze werken elke dag. Ik hoorde dat de leider van de militie Claudios Mens gaat. wees daarbinnen (translation: it's behind the mayor's office, they work every day. I heard the leader of the militia Claudios Mens is going. be in there)"

"bedankt (translation: Thank you)"

as I head behind the mayors office, I see a tall old man with a white beard sitting there on the table with the sign "Militie toepassingen" which means militia enlistment. as I head there I say to the old man.

"hallo ik ben hier om te solliciteren voor de militie Ik ben ook een grote fan van de heer Claudios Mens. (translation: hello I am here to apply for the militia I am also a big fan of Mr Claudios Mens)"

"nou ik ben gevleid, Claudios Mens, leuk je te ontmoeten (translation: well Im flattered, Claudios Mens, nice to meet you)"

"Annemie Nakolate, leuk je te ontmoeten (translation: Annemie Nakolate, Nice to meet you)"

for the next 6 months, I became closer and closer to Claudios Mens as I rise up the ranks to become a lieutenant, as one day, I was in the local pub, he called me up to his office, and had a conversation with me.

"goede dag Annemie (translation: good day Annemie)"

"goede dag Meneer Claudios (translation: good day Mister Claudios)"

"of moet ik zeggen Meneer Harry ( translation: or should I say Mr Harry)"

as he said this line, I freaked out as my face turned pale

"eh, mister Smith Ive been expecting you, I saw you roll down the hill when my squad killed all your men"

"bloody hell mate, didn't expect you to figure out who I am"

"but nice dutch, I didn't expect you to actually know dutch"

"it has been easy when you know the germanic roots, and the loan words it has to the english language. The only thing I am confused with is why haven't you called in the guards to come execute me? I am a real threat to you after all."

"no need, I just came to talk to you. I want to strike a deal with you."

"and that deal is?" I ask

"you leave me alone, you get to leave without a fight. isn't it a wonderful deal? both sides wont suffer from anything, and you can have a peaceful life."

"sorry mate, I didn't come here on behalf of the British Government, I came on behalf on the lad you shot in the head"

"that kid?, you seriously came to take vengeance for that kid right there? I doubted you Harry Smith, to think you are working for the British government is highly stupid of me. you are here just to take vengeance on some random sad kid who is underaged, and pushed you down a hill?"

"well then Claudious, I have no time to spare. I must do it fast"

I pulled out a revolver out of my pocket and fired it. as Claudious dodges the bullet he says

"if you are going to fight, lets take this outside, as he grabs me and jumps out of window with me, as we are falling, I managed to get out of his grip before he can smash me. as I pull out my saber to engage in combat, as he pulls his saber out for combat, as we both fought with our sabres... I'm actually surprised of why he isn't pulling out his revolver with his other hand. he could've signalled the guards with at least a pistol shot. has he continues to hurl attacks after attacks I could continue with my plan, I randomly run around as we fought, then, I jumped back as he lunges towards me, he trips into my wire, which gives me time to stab him with my saber, but as I attempt to stab him, he quickly twists his body around and tries to cut my head, as I duck and try to lunge towards him avoiding my wire, but he blocks the blade in time and jumps back. as Claudious says.

"well, well, well you didn't think I would figure out your trap to trip me and get me with a cheap stab wouldn't you, lets continue fighting"

we continue fighting, he does more fancy footwork until I see a good opportunity to lunge at him while he was open.

tug! tug! tug!

my foot got tangled in the wires, that was my own trap, as Claudious walks toward my direction, saying

"well then, the smart and big brained Harry Smith... now stuck in his own wire trap, well then, you didn't think I would see the trap, as fishing string wire looked invisible when there is darkness and shade, but it is very visible when there is a medium amount of light shining down at this square right here." as he said

"i seriously doubted you Harry Smith, since I thought you were smarter, I didn't even use my revolver and I could win against you in a fight where you had strategy, oh no no no, you thought I couldn't see the sticks you stuck on the floor yesterday? I saw the entire thing with my own eyes from my office. now enough talking, time to execute you."

he pulled his revolver out of his holster, he stands a distance from me, as he cocks the hammer, I smirked, and continued the plan, as he was about to fire, I cut all the wires below me that are keeping my feet stuck in place and rolled to the left side where I hit a small tree, as I use my saber to continue attacking him he pulls out his saber again, and blocks my move, as I jumped back.

"well then Harry Smith, you smarter than what I can think"

"of course, I wouldn't go into a battle without a plan, since that is the only thing I am good at"

as the sun continues to set, as guards came rushing in, asking what is going on, as he says

"Deze man is een verrader, arresteer hem (translation: this man is a traitor, arrest him)

as guards swarm in arresting me, I got thrown in to a prison cell, where I would be executed later on. sleeping in the prison cell, Claudious comes in to visit me.

"well then Harry Smith, now you gotten yourself arrested, and you would be executed the day after tomorrow, this will be the last time that we would meet each other before execution. now, before the day you get executed, I want you to say your last words"

I said " heh heh heh... you don't really understand didn't you?" as I kick the cell door open with a bang!

"you really think the guards that have come to arrest me are on your side?"

"what do you mean?" he asks

"well it means, Ive made myself a plan before coming here"

I grabbed the saber and revolver on the table, and lunge towards him, as he blocks my moves I say

"well then you can come down now Thomas! and Gary!"

"Bloody hell mate, you got use disguises when we came here to help you with supplies?"

"yes Gary, yes. one man cannot do the plan alone, as one man certainly cannot accomplish anything"

"what did you think I was doing in the pub, Claudious?"

"eh, I usually see you dead drunk in the pub"

"well that was just pure acting, and haven't you considered that I had multiple plans?"

"what?" he asked

"well then there are simply multiple ways to leave your office, there are 2 windows to your office and a door, since I fired the gun, as a signal for them to be ready, they will have a 1 minute timer, If you simply tried to push me back into the door and wrestle me, I would have ran to another room where, Gary and Thomas were and let them shoot you to death, but now the plan isn't as simple, since you pushed me out the window and you jumped down as well, if you simply pushed me down the window, If I wasn't there, in 1 minute they would have peeked to your office, to see what the situation is, if you were still there, they would have shot you dead in your own room, but if you weren't there, they would look down at the windows to see where you were, since you pushed me down the left window, they had at least 5 minutes to come down stairs and act like they were just passing by, which I know you are not going to fight fair and square, which you will call the guards, which is Gary and Thomas, will come arrest me, which they will detain me in the cell which will be unlocked, which leads up to the situation now which will nobody will hear you getting killed, if you pushed me down the right window, they would have done the same thing but just one more minute late. now, time for your execution."

as I grabbed my revolver with the captain and Gary detaining him, and fired. Claudious Mens is dead. The lad avenged. as I fired the gun shot, we ran up stairs in my uniform, as we hurried out from the prison building before anyone finds the body, as we were about to reach our caravan, the alert bell got signalled, and a person shouted

"Leider van de Militie Claudious Mens is dood! voordat hij stierf, schreef hij een briefje met de naam Annemie Nakolate (translation: Leader of the Militia Claudious Mens is dead! before he died, he wrote a note, saying the name Annemie Nakolate)"

All the Boer spot me and said

"daar is de man! Annemie Nakolate! (translation: Theres the guy! Annemie Nakolate!)"

all the members of the Boer militia rode horses with their riffles came after us, I turned to Gary.

"Gary! do you have a Henry Martini in here?"

"No! I have even better!"

as Gary hands me a rifle with a strange handle at it's sides and I ask

"Gary! what the fuck is this? it isn't better!"

"Harry it's a bloody bolt action rifle, made in Belgium! I'll show you how to use it. Thomas, continue driving the caravan!"

as Gary take another rifle, pulls the trigger.

Bang! it hit one bloke and he fell down from the horse, then he pushes the lever up, and pulls it back, which surprises me since, the cartridge flies out, then he pushes back the lever to its original state and pushes the lever down, and continues firing.

"Gary! what the hell is that technology? what is it called?"

"it's a bloody Mauser Model 1889 Harry! now come on and shoot some blokes!"

as I keep shooting blokes out of their horses until.

"Harry! DUCK!"

as a bullet is flying towards me, Gary jumps from his seat and takes the bullet to his arm.

"SHIT! THAT FUCKING HURTS!!!"

when we reached the camp, we took Gary to the medics, as all the soldiers line up to a firing position, as the medic patches Gary up, we continue with the caravan, as we continue, as we entered Cape colony borders, we got to the nearest camp where I once again met that bloke Arthur Conan Doyle where he gives me one of his newest book "a sign of the four" as he bids me good day.

2 years later...

as I walk down the streets of London, I met the captain buying a can of tea leaves, as I approach him.

"Gday Thomas, it's been a while innit mate"

"Gday lad. ye it's been a while since ye and me returned from south Africa"

"anyways Thomas, just came by to say hi, ill go back home now, Mary is waiting for me at home"

I walked down the road to Lauriston Gardens, where my flat is, as I was walking to our home, my landlady greeted me, and bid me good day, as I head up stairs, Mary, my wife, greets me as we set down and drink our cuppas. as we looked at the window, I see Gary coming up the door. as I greet him, Grace comes up with a child in her hands.

"hello Harry, how has it been?" she asked

"it's been fine, I am still working as a Illustrator, and I am working for Dr Joseph Bell for his medical lectures"

as I let them up, I see my nephew asleep in Grace's arms, as I think back of what a peaceful life we have right now. there is no chaos in the towns, no starvation, and no poverty in our place. as my doorbell rang I went down stairs to see who came in. It was young child carrying bag of bread and wine, with a note from the captain as a gift for meeting him today. as I got back up, I chatted with Gary and Grace for a while, when they left. I thought about the future, as I started an organization known as the People of the Science of Deduction, which is a organization not regconised by the British Government, and started a military school where they teach to better observe the soldier's surroundings. as I went to sleep, I remembered Claudious, the lad, and how Gary and the captain helped me during my journeys and how my skills can be useful to the next generation.