chapter 2 - alpine escape

8/2/2019 Chapter 2 - Alpine Escape

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Written by

Andrew Roberts

These stories are based on

characters and settings by Pinnacle

Entertainment and Great WhiteGames.



Swiss Alps – 1938

Buck Savage struggled against his bonds as the room temperature plummeted. He felt his hands

going numb from the cold, and he was beginning to shiver. Half an hour passed. Sauvettre

returned to the storeroom and closed the double doors leading into the courtyard.

“Maybe you could remember something.” He said, trying to sound intimidating. “What were you

looking for?”

“I wanted to find out about Delmar.” Buck spat out incoherently, his lips numb from the cold.

“What did you see?”

“Just some medieval relics.”

“Liar! Maybe your memory needs more jogging.”

Sauvettre reopened the courtyard doors. The cold air filled the room once more as he left. Buck’s

hands remained numb, making his attempts to free his wrists painful. The ropes just didn’t loosen.

As he tried to focus on a way out, Buck noticed Virginia entering the room. She closed the doors,but the room remained cold.

“Thanks.” He spluttered. Virginia began to untie him, when more footsteps were heard. “It’s

Sauvettre!” Buck hissed, “He’s coming back! Get out of sight; I should be able to free my hands

now.”

Virginia nodded in acknowledgement and crouched behind a wood pile. Sauvettre entered the

room again, but noticed that the doors were closed.

“Where is your friend?” he asked Buck, grabbing him by his collars. “Who found you?”

Virginia whistled from behind the wood pile. Sauvettre drew his P38 and aimed it. “Stand up and

come out here!” he demanded, “And no tricks!”



Buck had managed to get his hand loose as Sauvettre ordered Virginia out of her hiding place.

Seeing a chance, he delivered a right hook to the Frenchman, knocking him out cold.

“That should keep him out of the way for a while.” He remarked, picking up the discarded P38,

“Let’s get the others and find a way out of here.”

The pair ran from the room back to the great hall, where the other guests were gathered. Buck

was almost relieved to be in a room with a roaring fire in the hearth. Danny was waiting for them.

“Buck? Virginia? What’s going on?” he asked.

“That Frenchman has some questionable interview techniques.” Buck explained. “Where’s Doc?”

“He’s looking around. What’s the problem?”

“The problem is that we’re getting out of here before the police arrive. There’s something big

happening in Bern. We need to get back there as soon as possible.”

The group quickly ran through the castle’s hallways until they came to one of the vacant

storerooms. Doc Gold was waiting for them.

“What is going on here Savage?” he asked.

“There’s no time to explain. We have to get to Bern as soon as possible. I know that there’s a

blizzard, but it will stop them from alerting the police.” Buck answer ed.

“Don’t worry; I’ve got a plan.” Doc said reassuringly, “We’ll be going sledging. Miss Dare warnedme about the letter you found.”

He opened a wardrobe containing several bulky anoraks and directed them to a crudely built

sledge hidden away near the window leading down the mountain slope.

“You built that in an hour?” Danny asked.

“Of course I did.” Doc replied, “It’s not like it shoots lightning, is it?”

As the others climbed onto the makeshift sled, a bullet ricocheted off the nearby wall. Two of the

servants were firing at the group with pistols. As Buck fired a shot back with the stolen P38, Doc

cut the sled’s mooring with a hatchet, sending them speeding uncontrollably down the slope.



Sauvettre ran to the room, nursing the bruise on his head as he saw the group make their escape.

He turned to the other men.

“Get after them!” he ordered, “We’ll use skis.”

As the sled raced down the slow hills, a group of six men from the castle pursued Buck’s team on

skis. Although Buck couldn’t perceive their distance through the poor visibility, he good guess that

they were closing in fast, and that they were carrying rifles.

“I thought the Winter Olympics were in St. Moritz two years ago!” he called to the others.

“What the bloody hell are you on about, Savage?” Doc replied passively, his mind focused on

steering the sled.

“We’ve got company!” Buck explained. The skiers opened fire on them with the rifles. Bullets flew

past the heads of the group, embedding in the sledge or the nearby trees. Buck aimed the P38

and fired two shots at them. One of the men overbalanced and tumbled down the slope as a bullet

entered his chest. Two other skiers manoeuvred widely towards the right side of the sled.

“Two more! They’re trying to flank us!” Danny yelled. Buck turned and fired another two shots,

hitting both of them. As he was dealing with them, the fourth skier had managed to negotiate his

way past a fallen tree and wind up in the sled’s path. The sled ploughed into him, but he grabbed

scrambled up and grabbed Doc by the collars. Doc attempted to maintain control of the sled, while

Virginia was able to punch the would-be hijacker in the face. He tumbled down the slope, causing

the last two skiers to swerve hard in order to avoid hitting him, only to plough into each other.

Buck grinned as they hit each other. “It’ll take more than ski troops to try and stop us.” He

remarked.

The sled continued to race down the slope. At the same time, the blizzard was beginning to die

down and visibility was improving. “That wasn’t so bad was it?” Buck asked cockily.



“Oh Shit!” Doc cried out as he began to see further ahead: They were approaching a cliff. “We’re

going too fast!” Doc yelled urgently. As the others attempted to duck, the sled flew off the cliff and

crashed through the roof of a barn.

Buck choked on the dust as he tried to stabilise himself. As he came to his senses, he discovered

they had, thankfully, landed in a barn full of old hay.

“Oh…shit.” Doc said again as he tried to stand up.

“Not exactly the Queen’s English, is it?” Buck commented as he helped him to his feet, “Nice

landing, by the way.”

Doc said nothing, simply giving Buck a hard scowl as they checked outside. Although it was much

clearer, it was still bitterly cold. The pair noticed a small farmhouse a short walk away from the

wrecked barn. Buck helped Virginia and Danny get to their feet and directed them to the

farmhouse. Buck checked the door, and found it open.

“The place must have been abandoned.” He said to the rest of the group.

The farmhouse was dark as the group entered. Buck lit a hanging oil lamp and examined the front

room. The place looked like it had been deserted for some time. Cobwebs plastered the walls and

aged plaster fell from the ceiling as Doc closed the door. Buck sat down at an old wooden table

and tried to check the magazine in the P38.

“Three rounds left.” He muttered to himself. A light came on in the corner of the room. Buck turned

to see a man in winter clothing aiming a Nagant M1895 revolver at him.

“You’re a hit squad, aren’t you?” The man asked with a Russian accent.

Buck was confused by the man’s question.



“I know your secret.” The man said, “You’re working for Delmar.”

“I don’t work for Delmar.” Buck replied, “I just collect artefacts. I have given artefacts to him before,

but that’s gonna stop; He’s dead, and his security manager isn’t one to screw with.”

The Russian lowered his revolver and pondered Buck’s statement. “Wait a minute, aren’t you Buck

Savage?” he asked.

Buck nodded. “That’s right.” He answered, “We just escaped from Delmar’s castle with some

important information. We have to get to Bern.”

“My name is Lazar Volkov.” The Russian said. “I had stolen an important artefact from Delmar; an

artefact that my people once held dear.”

He produced an ornate horn from his pouch. Buck and Virginia examined it with awe.

“You’re one of the Don Cossacks.” Virginia stated, “But we’re not here to talk about this. We need

to get back to Bern as soon as possible; we have linked Delmar to an order which nobody has

seen for more than six hundred years, and they are planning something very big. It may involve ahand in the storm clouds gathering over Europe.”

Volkov was now listening closely to the group’s claims. As they contemplated, the door to the

house swung open. Buck and Volkov rapidly span to aim their guns as Sauvettre entered the room

accompanied by eleven armed thugs.

“I’d drop those guns if I were you.” He demanded as he walked in. The two men complied, kicking

their guns towards Sauvettre and raising their hands.

“So you’re all involved in Delmar’s murder.” Sauvettre proclaimed, “And Mr Volkov was with you

too.”

“No. He has nothing to do with us.” Danny said in protest. Volkov gave him a murderous look.

“Is that so?” Sauvettre asked, “In that case, you aren’t needed any more, but you still know too

much. Since the police couldn’t find you at the castle, I might just take you outside and shoot you

all in the backs. As for Volkov here; I’m sure there are certain people who want to see him.”

Buck stood back against the wall with the others. He knew that Danny was already scanning the

room, contemplating a suitable escape plan. Was there something that could distract them? If only

there was a way to distract the men…

To be continued…

chapter 2 - alpine escape

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