Julius and the Black Hand

By Barry Hunt

Time-shifter Julius returns from a trip to the past to find that he and his companions are trapped in a parallel world where Germany had won the First World War. Whilst they were away, someone changed history and now everything is different and dangerous!

The only way to return to their own world is to change the past back again by making sure the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand goes ahead on June 28th 1914. To succeed they must join forces with the Black Hand, the secret terrorist organisation in Serbia that planned the operation. But the Black Hand is in trouble itself - there is a power-struggle for its leadership and not everyone wants the assassination to go ahead.

Carefully researched, this exciting adventure traces the actual events that led up to the start of the First World War and shows how it almost never happened. The story should interest all those who want to find out what really took place as well as those interested in time-travel.

Julius and the Black Hand is the third in the Julius series of books.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barry Hunt
• Release date: Nov 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311796424

Barry Hunt

Born in Bristol, Barry was educated at the Cathedral School and then read English at St Peter’s College, Oxford. After graduating, he worked in the Civil Service before teaching at a Bristol Secondary School. Thinking he would like a change of career, he later qualified in Law at the University of West of England, but decided to remain in education. He expanded his teaching to include Law as well as English and Drama. Barry is a keen amateur artist and has illustrated a number of texts for others as well as providing paintings for websites. He has also worked on set design for local drama groups and written several plays, including one musical. A few years ago he took early retirement to concentrate on writing. Following a trilogy of books for young adults, he started to write action thrillers and ‘Countermeasures’ is the fifth story featuring DCI Charlie Watts and the MI6 agent, Daniel Rankin. Barry still lives in Bristol where he enjoys spending time with friends, visiting the theatre, gardening and water-colour painting.

Book preview

Julius and the

Black Hand

– BARRY HUNT –

Julius and the Black Hand

Copyright © 2013 Barry Hunt

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by photocopying or any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from both the copyright owner and the publisher of the book.

This is a work of fiction based upon an actual event. Names, characters, places, brands, media and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

The right of Barry Hunt to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and any subsequent amendments thereto.

To find out more about the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand and the people featured in this book or to buy a printed copy, visit www.juliusandtheblackhand.co.uk

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Historical Characters

Many historical characters are featured in this story. The reader may therefore find it useful to refer to the following glossary on occasions. The characters are arranged in alphabetical order by last name. All spellings have been anglicised as they appear in the text.

Leon Bilinski - Austrian Minister of Finance and Civil Governor of Bosnia.

Nedeljko Cabrinovic - One of the assassins from Belgrade.

Milan Ciganovic - Also known as ‘The Quartermaster’, an operative of the Black Hand in Belgrade who supplies them with weapons.

Vaso Cubrilovic - One of the assassins from Sarajevo.

Fehim Effendi Curcic - The Mayor of Sarajevo.

Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijevic - Also known as ‘Apis’, the Commander-in-Chief of the Black Hand.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand - The heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Married to Duchess Sophie of Hohenberg.

Dr Gerde - Commissioner of Police in Sarajevo.

Trifko Grabez - One of the assassins from Belgrade.

Count Franz von Harrach - Close friend of Archduke Ferdinand. He provided the Archduke’s car for the motorcade in Sarajevo.

Danilo Ilic - Member of the Black Hand based in Bosnia and organiser of the assassination.

Emperor Franz Joseph - Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Jovan Jovanovic - Serbian Minister to Vienna. Friend of Nicolai Pasic.

Leopold Lojka - Driver of the Archduke’s car. Count von Harrach’s personal chauffeur.

Rade Malobabic - Serbian Military Intelligence's chief undercover operative against Austria-Hungary.

Muhamed Mehmedbasic - One of the assassins from Sarajevo. Previously made a failed attempt to assassinate Oscar Potiorek.

Lieutenant Colonel Merizzi - Adjutant to Archduke Ferdinand. Injured in the grenade attack.

Baron Morsey - Aide to Archduke Ferdinand.

Misko Muratovic - Advisor and friend to Nicolai Pasic.

Nicolai Pasic - Prime Minister of Serbia and leader of ‘Narodna Odbrana’, the Peace Party.

Captain Popovic - Member of the Black Hand, based in Sabac and smuggling weapons and people into Bosnia.

Cvijetko Popovic - One of the assassins from Sarajevo.

General Oscar Potiorek - Military Governor of Bosnia.

Gavrilo Princip - One of the assassins from Belgrade. Fired the shots that killed the Archduke and Sophie.

Captain Propanovic - Member of the Black Hand, based in Loznica and smuggling weapons and people into Bosnia.

Mihaljo Pusara - An acquaintance of both Gavrilo and Nedeljko who happened to be present at the assassination.

Baron Rumerskirch - Archduke Ferdinand’s Chamberlain.

Duchess Sophie - Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, from the then kingdom of Bohemia. Wife of Archduke Ferdinand.

Major Vojislav Tankosic - Second-in-Command of the Black Hand.

CHAPTER ONE

A different world: past and present

Grab hold! Julius shouted urgently. He took one stride across the kitchen and put his arm firmly around Edith’s waist.

But - , Vicky faltered.

Go! cried Aunt Minnie as she pushed Vicky toward Julius. Quickly!

They could already hear the sound of heavy boots on the stone flagging of the hallway outside. Josh leaned forward and grabbed Vicky’s arm, pulling her toward him. Without thinking, Vicky gripped Julius’ shoulder whilst Josh took hold of his arm.

Wait! cried Vicky. She bent down and picked up the painting she had hoped to give Aunt Minnie. Ready, she said as she straightened up.

Julius looked at Aunt Minnie and tried to smile, but all he could see was the panic in his sister’s face. The kitchen door started to open. The room was filled with a soft blue glow and the air seemed to ripple. Vicky shut her eyes tightly as the familiar swirling sensation started and then they were gone to a different time.

*

When they had burst excitedly into the kitchen a few minutes before, they had not got the welcome they were expecting. They had just returned to the New Forest and the present day from Florence of 1913 and Vicky had wanted to surprise her aunt with a copy of the Mona Lisa, brilliantly painted by Yves Chaudron, the master forger of Paris at the start of the twentieth century. Instead, Aunt Minnie had been terrified and told them to leave immediately. Then they had heard someone breaking down the front door of the old cottage. Everything had moved so fast that neither Edith nor the twins, Vicky and Josh, had understood what was going on. Only Julius had realised what must have happened. He understood straight away that something had occurred whilst they were visiting the past and they had returned to a different world from the one they had left. Someone, and he was sure it must have been Lucrecia Walpurgis, had done something to change history and that had affected the future for all of them.

Julius was a time-shifter, one of several extraordinary people whose families had evolved the ability to move around in time at will. He was now forty-three years old and had the slightly eccentric look of an Oxford professor. His long hair swept straight back from a high forehead and was touched with white at the sides. He had a gentle, simple smile but his eyes held a curiosity for everything in the world around him. Ever since he was a small child and his parents had taught him how to use his incredible gift, he had become fascinated with history. Simply by focussing on a date and the hour in the past, if he knew the exact co-ordinates of the location he wanted to visit he could get there by using the worm-holes formed in the fabric of time as it folded back on itself. Once in the past, he could return to the present using the same method. Of course, he could never go further into the future than the present day because time had not created it yet. However, as a keen historian this had never concerned him. He was happy just using his ability to research the past and find out what had actually happened in the great events of the world and why. He had never given much thought about the future. That was about to change.

*

Bungling fools! Lucrecia Walpurgis snarled into the mobile phone and her blue eyes flashed before she switched it off and dropped it carelessly into her bag. She shrugged herself back into the car seat and began to twist a strand of long, black hair around her fingers. Ignoring her brother who was driving, she stared out of the window as the German countryside sped by.

Something wrong? asked Leonatus mildly as he pushed his foot down on the accelerator of his Porsche.

Lucrecia remained silent. She was still seething with anger and couldn’t trust herself to speak. She had waited a long time for this moment to arrive. She had planned for it carefully; her instructions had been specific and detailed; and now, just as everything had reached the critical point, someone had messed up.

She and her brother were members of another family of time-shifters and she had been behind the failed attempt to trap Julius in his sister’s cottage.

Well? said Leonatus, keeping his piercing black eyes on the road ahead.

Julius has escaped, she replied at last.

Leonatus said nothing but his jaw set firmly and he pursed his thin lips tightly together. Gripping the steering-wheel firmly, he began to think of the events that had led to this moment.

They had been visiting Paris back in 1911 when Lucrecia had first explained her idea to him. He had been against it from the start. He respected what she was trying to do but everything about her plan carried too much risk. She had never appreciated the dangers of messing with time and he thought he had managed to put a stop to it then. However, he had underestimated his sister’s determination and she had gone ahead behind his back. Whilst he was preoccupied with stealing the Mona Lisa, she had found those who had been willing to work with her. Together, she and Major Tankosic had managed to change the course of history and, he had to admit, apart from one possible complication, her plan had worked. Now that complication had materialised: Julius had escaped.

What are you going to do now? he asked.

Nothing. We just carry on keeping watch. He’s got to come back. What else can he do?

If I were Julius, I wouldn’t come back. Not once I realised what must have happened and what you had planned waiting for him.

I see, said Lucrecia scornfully. So if you were Julius what would you do?

I would go back in time and try to prevent it all from happening. I would return to the beginning, Leonatus said quietly, and I think we have no choice now but to go back and stop him.

*

There is a secluded corner in the large Boboli Gardens just outside Florence that is surrounded by tall hedges of yew. It cannot be seen from the road that runs nearby and, apart from the occasional gardener, is seldom visited. It was here that Julius brought them. The long grass was already dusted with hoar frost in the afternoon shadows and the cold air of December 1913 seemed to shimmer for a moment as the small group appeared in a dull blue haze.

To an outside observer they could have looked just like any tourist family that had wandered off the main path and got lost. The twins were sixteen years old but, apart from sharing the same deep blue eyes, there was nothing else to suggest they were brother and sister. Vicky was slightly taller than Josh with long, straight, dark hair and a slender figure whilst Josh had the stocky frame of a good rugby player. His blond hair had a natural wave in the front that fell across his forehead and he brushed it back now with his free hand as they arrived a hundred years in the past. They all stood motionless for a moment to let the feeling of giddiness pass. Vicky was clutching the painting to her side with one hand and Julius still had his arm firmly around Edith’s waist. Josh loosed his grip on Julius’ other arm and took a step forward as he looked about him.

You’ve brought us back to Florence, he said. It looks just as we left it. Is it the same day?

Yes, replied Julius. We’re back in 1913. It was my first thought and there wasn’t time to think of anything else.

There was a moment’s silence as they all looked around. Vicky let go of Julius and walked slowly over to Josh. She said nothing but reached out her fingers and grasped his hand in hers. Edith turned to face Julius and shivered.

Let’s go back into the city, she said. We can’t stay here, it’s too cold.

But what happened? Vicky asked.

Explanations can wait, said Edith. We need to get into the warm first.

Edith is right, said Julius. We’ll find a bistro and then we can talk about it.

He started to lead the way across the crisp grass and the others followed him silently. The Boboli Gardens were deserted in the late winter afternoon and nobody saw them as they reached the Via Dé Guicciardini, the road leading to the Ponte Vecchio and into the heart of the city.

As they trudged their way through the streets, each of them was preoccupied with their own thoughts. They all knew now that the present day to which they had returned was not the one they had left and there could only be one explanation for that: whilst they were in the past, someone had done something to reshape the future.

Vicky began to feel guilty. It had been her idea to go back to Paris in 1911 and make sure that when the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre the original was returned. Aunt Minnie had told her that the painting recovered in 1913 was a forgery and that the original had been kept by Leonatus. After a series of adventures, they had been successful and the original painting was now hanging in the Louvre. Was it that success that had changed the future for all of them? Vicky bit her lip as hot tears welled up in her eyes and ran down her cheeks.

Josh said nothing but took out his handkerchief and passed it to her. He knew what she was thinking but didn’t believe restoring the real Mona Lisa to its proper place had caused the problem. They had managed it in such a way that everyone involved continued to believe what they had always thought. Leonatus didn’t know they had swapped the original painting for another forgery; he still thought he had the real one and nobody had ever questioned the authenticity of the picture now hanging in the Louvre. As long as nobody found out what had actually happened, they would all continue to behave exactly as history had recorded. Nothing should have changed.

Like Josh, Edith thought the adventure with the Mona Lisa had nothing to do with their present situation. In her mind there was only one thing which had happened that could have changed the future and, though she didn’t want to believe it, that was down to Julius. Trying to research the background to the First World War, he had unwillingly been recruited by the Black Hand, the secret underground Serbian terrorist group. They had wanted him to help finance an assassination attempt on the Archduke Ferdinand. To avoid being in any way responsible for the start of the First World War and all that followed, Julius had persuaded them instead to direct their attack on Oscar Potiorek, Governor of the Austrian provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Julius knew that several attempts had been made to assassinate this particular man, but he believed they had all failed. Could he have been mistaken? Could this have been the event that had changed their history? It was the only thing Edith could think of.

Julius, on the other hand, was sure he knew who was responsible. It was Lucrecia, Leonatus’ sister. As another family of time-shifters, they were less scrupulous than himself and it was they who had stolen the Mona Lisa in the first place. Their intention was to sell forgeries to some of the world’s wealthiest people. The money they raised would help fund the start of the Balkan Wars and make them richer than ever through their investments in the armaments industry. But Lucrecia had wanted more than that. She had wanted to delay the start of the First World War in order to let Germany develop its work on the tank. With such a weapon, she reasoned, Germany could win the war. That was her goal and she had tried to get Julius to join her. He had refused, of course, and when he learnt that Leonatus was against the idea as well, Julius had thought that would be the end of it. Now he realised that he had underestimated Lucrecia. Leonatus had obviously failed to stop her and the present day they had returned to was one in which Germany had won the First World War!

*

It wasn’t until they were all seated around a table in the warmth of a bistro that Vicky turned to face Julius and said what had been on her mind since they left the Boboli Gardens.

It’s all my fault, isn’t it? she whispered.

Don’t be silly, said Josh. How can it be your fault?

But it is, Vicky suppressed a sob. If I hadn’t wanted to go back then none of this would have happened.

Josh is right, said Julius, you had nothing to do with it.

Edith leaned across and put an arm around Vicky’s shoulders.

Do you know what happened? she asked, looking at Julius.

Not for sure, but I’ve got a pretty good idea.

When we were back in Aunt Minnie’s kitchen, said Josh, you mentioned that Lucrecia might have had something to do with it.

Yes, she wanted to delay the start of the First World War and I think she must have done something to make that happen.

But what about us? asked Edith hesitantly. I mean, couldn’t we have done something, perhaps without knowing it?

Julius paused. He would have liked to reassure them they had nothing to do with it, but that wasn’t quite true. Time-shifting always carried an element of danger. He had warned them what could happen by interfering in the past but, not wanting to scare them, perhaps he had made too light of it. One of them could have been careless without realising it.

It’s possible, I suppose, he admitted at last, but unlikely. Everything we did always resulted in something which we know actually happened. As I said before, as long as everyone carried on believing what they had always thought, then they should not have behaved any differently from what history tells us. Everything should have been the same.

Okay, said Edith, let’s suppose Lucrecia did do something, can someone please explain exactly why we can’t go back to everything as we knew it.

For a moment Josh and Vicky were surprised at the question. Edith had adjusted so well to the world they knew that it was easy to forget she belonged to a different age. Edith had been born in America on 21st September 1875 but was still, in fact, only thirty-six years old. Julius had met and fallen in love with her when he had time-shifted to New York in 1910, but he had not shared his secret with her until circumstances had forced him. Edith had been a passenger on the ill-fated Titanic as it sailed on its maiden voyage to New York. It was only when Julius had whisked her from the sinking deck of the ship to the New Forest a hundred years later that she had learnt of his ability to move around in time. Naturally, she would not understand why they had a problem.

The twins looked at Julius. At their very first meeting when he told them he was a time-shifter he had explained what happened when you interfered with history. Now he took a deep breath and began to tell Edith.

Time existed in a dimension that contained an infinite number of parallel universes. Each of these held every possible outcome for an event so, depending on what could happen, there was a world in which it actually occurred. If a time-shifter changed the past from the world they had left, when they returned to the present day in which that new event had happened they could shift into that different, parallel world. It was a theory, of course, it couldn’t be proved, but it was the only thing which would account for the ‘grandfather anomaly’.

What’s that? asked Edith after Julius had finished his explanation. What do grandfathers have to do with it?

I can tell you that, said Josh. Imagine you went back in time and somehow killed your grandfather before your parents were born. If that happened then you couldn’t have been born yourself, in which case, how could you have gone back to kill your grandfather? The only way to explain it is if there are parallel universes: one in which your grandfather is killed and you are not born, and another in which he lives and has children.

It all sounds very complicated, said Edith, and I’m still not sure if I understand it. But that doesn’t matter. What counts is that something has obviously happened and we seem to be stuck in what you are now telling me is a different world. How do we sort it out so everything gets back to normal?

There was a silence around the table. Edith looked at Julius.

This must have happened to you before, she continued. What do we have to do?

Actually, it hasn’t, said Julius. I’ve always been very careful to avoid anything like this happening.

But you do know how to get us back, don’t you?

Julius was silent. He looked at the expectant faces around the table. They were all relying on him to put things right and the truth was that he didn’t know how. He had not been in this situation before. If any other time-shifter had experienced this, they had never returned to explain how to get back to one’s own world. He didn’t even know if they could but he didn’t want to frighten them. Meanwhile he had to tell them something.

I am sure there is a way, he said reassuringly. I will need to think about it. However, until I am able to come up with a solution we need to face the fact that we’re probably going to be staying in this world a while.

*

Leonatus turned the car off the road onto the long drive that led up to the house. Lucrecia was still silent in the passenger seat; she had not said anything since he had suggested they go back to the past to stop Julius. Now, as he pulled up in front of the garage and parked in the shade of a tall oak tree, she twisted round to face him.

Alright, she said, exactly what is it you are proposing?

Leonatus smiled. It had been a while since his sister had looked to him for advice and he was glad to see that things were getting back to what he believed they should be.

Let’s go inside and discuss it, he said.

They left the car in the drive and went into the great house. Two large borzois barked as they bounded up to greet Leonatus, their paws slipping on the tiled floor of the big hallway as they skipped around him; they left Lucrecia alone. She ignored them and went into the grand room that faced the sweeping lawns of the front garden. After kneeling down to pat the dogs, Leonatus followed her.

Well? said Lucrecia, sitting down in the corner of a comfortable settee.

Leonatus settled himself in a chair opposite before speaking.

Let us consider the problem facing us, he began. Thanks to your original idea, we have been able not only to amass a considerable fortune, but we have also managed to hold onto the lands that have been in our family for generations and the influence that goes with them.

An idea that you were against, Lucrecia couldn’t resist reminding him.

Yes, I admit I had reservations to start with. I believed it was too risky, there were too many unknown factors, and now, just as I feared, one of those risks has materialised.

At that moment the door opened and the third member of the family came in. Holofernes was the youngest sibling. His pale complexion suggested he lived too much indoors and his jet black hair swung over his forehead like a comma. He might have been considered handsome if it weren’t for the heavy brows and his eyes which shifted nervously all the time.

I heard you come in, he said and then paused as he sensed a tension in the room. Am I interrupting something?

It’s Julius, said Leonatus.

He came back to that cottage in the New Forest, just as I said he would, interrupted Lucrecia.

And escaped again, just I warned he might, Leonatus finished.

I see, said Holofernes as he sat down on the other end of the settee. He was used to the bickering between his brother and sister. So what are you going to do about it?

That is what we have to decide, said Leonatus. Lucrecia thinks he will come back to the cottage again, but I believe that now he knows something has happened and we are waiting for him, he has returned to the past and will try to put things back as they were.

But he can’t do that, can he? Holofernes sounded uncertain.

We don’t know and that is the point, said Leonatus. Is it a risk we can afford to take?

Even if he did go back, Holofernes started to argue, he doesn’t know what you did. He wouldn’t know where to begin. He doesn’t even know it was you, does he?

Lucrecia shifted uncomfortably as Leonatus stared at her. She stood up and walked over to the windows and looked out at the garden. The sun was just beginning to set and the shadows of the oak tree were lengthening across the lawn.

Actually, she began slowly, keeping her back to them, it is just possible he might be able to work that bit out.

What do you mean? Holofernes asked.

Lucrecia told him when we were in Paris, said Leonatus quietly.

What! exclaimed Holofernes. Why did you do that?

I thought he would want to help, Lucrecia turned to face her brothers. Don’t look at me like that. It was a perfectly natural assumption to make. The Black Hand had asked him to finance the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and you know what Julius is like. I believed he would want no part of it, and I was right. He should have been only too glad to help me stop it from happening and I thought he would jump at the chance. Anyway, how do you know I told him?

That wasn’t difficult to figure out, said Leonatus. When you eventually told me your plan, it occurred to me that you might have wanted to involve Julius. I simply made some enquiries at the restaurant we used and found out that you had dined together whilst I was away. Knowing your feelings toward him, it was obviously not for the pleasure of his company; there was only one possible reason.

Why didn’t you say anything? Lucrecia was slightly flushed with guilt at having been found out.

I didn’t need to. By then, Major Tankosic had told me the Black Hand was going ahead with the Archduke’s assassination anyway and, if you will forgive me for saying so, sister, you were not the easiest of people to work with at the time. I saw no reason to stir things up between us. Of course, I didn’t know then that you would later manage to persuade Major Tankosic to postpone the attempt.

There’s no point in going over that again, said Holofernes. The important thing is that Julius now knows what you were planning. If you’re right and he is going to try and stop you then we have to do something. If he manages to arrange it so the Archduke actually is assassinated then … he paused as the enormity of it hit home, then we stand to lose everything. We can’t let that happen now!

No we can’t, said Leonatus, and that is why Lucrecia and I are going back to stop him.

*

The hotel that Edith suggested they stay in was one she had used on a previous visit to Florence in 1910. They took two rooms: Edith and Vicky would share one and Julius and Josh the other. Now they knew they were going to have to stay in the past for a while they realised that they would need to go shopping. They had left the clothes they had bought in Paris in the apartment they had rented whilst they were there. They had not thought they would be returning and had only taken a few things they were able to carry in some hand luggage. In their rush to leave Aunt Minnie’s kitchen in the New Forest, Vicky and Josh had left those behind. Vicky only had time to pick up the painting of the Mona Lisa before they left and so they were going to have to equip themselves with some essentials. Additional purchases could be made later once they had decided what they were going to do.

None of them wanted to do any shopping that late in the afternoon. It was too cold to wander round the streets and they didn’t feel in the mood anyway. It was taking time to come to terms with what had happened. Josh and Vicky were talking quietly in Josh’s room and Julius had joined Edith in the one she shared with Vicky. There was a small bureau against one wall and Julius was sitting on the chair in front of it, deep in thought whilst Edith stretched out on one of the beds. She was looking at him through half-closed eyes, pretending to rest.

You’re very quiet, she said after a while.

I’m sorry, Julius said, getting up with a smile and going over to sit next to her on the bed. I’m trying to work out what to do next.

Talk it through with me, it might help.

Edith didn’t like to see Julius struggling to find a solution by himself; she wanted to do what she could to help even if it was just by listening.

Well, Julius began, "if I’m right and Lucrecia actually managed to carry out what she was planning, then she has somehow prevented the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. That was what started the First World War. If everything else went according to her plan then the war didn’t start when it was supposed to. That would