Page 186 of Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt

Kreeg nodded. ‘We are.’ He slowly reached behind his back. I knew what was coming. Eszu produced a small metal pistol, and pointed it at my stomach. ‘Do you recognise this, Atlas?’ he asked.

I shook my head and replied calmly, ‘I’m afraid I don’t, no.’

‘It’s a Korovin pistol.’

I raised my eyebrows. ‘Of course. The first Soviet automatic pistol, if I’m not mistaken? All the guards had them when we were children. The Bolsheviks, too.’

‘I am pleased your memory is still intact.’ Kreeg approached me slowly, until he was only inches away. He pointed the barrel firmly into my abdomen. ‘I have kept this one with me. I took it from the body of a dead soldier. Over the years, I have carried it in the hope that we might be reunited.’

‘Before you kill me, Kreeg, would you like to know the truth?’

‘Truth?’ Kreeg parroted, before erupting into a deep, throaty laugh. ‘Such an interesting word. Do not worry, Atlas. I have not waited this long to shoot you on sight. There are some things I wish to share with you, also. Now, turn around.’ I followed his instructions. ‘Put your hands up, too.’

‘As you wish, Kreeg.’

He jammed the pistol into my back. ‘Walk to the aft deck. I have placed a table and two chairs so that we might have our final conversation.’ We slowly walked along theOlympusuntil we reached the back of the yacht. A mahogany table was placed between two dining chairs. ‘Sit.’

I pulled out a chair, as did Kreeg. Still grasping the gun tightly, he placed his wrist on the table between us, so the pistol was aimed directly at my chest.

‘It’s a beautiful yacht you have, Kreeg.’

‘Not quite as grand as yours,’ he spat.

We stared into one another’s eyes. His were so full of rage. I tried to calm him. ‘So, here I am, unarmed and sat in front of you after all these years of running. I wait for you to extract what you have always believed is your rightful revenge. I ask only one thing, Kreeg – that after I am dead, you will consider the feud over. And ask you – and your son – to leave my precious daughters alone.’

Kreeg gave me another smile, this time revealing a set of whitened teeth and a menacing aspect. ‘For me, Atlas, it has been over for many years.’

‘It has?’ I queried.

Eszu shrugged. ‘You believe that I could not have come to your door at any time during the last forty years? Atlantis. A personal palace named with characteristic pomposity.’

‘You’ve known where I was for the entire time?’

‘Of course I have. Since the 1970s.’

‘Then why did you not come?’

Kreeg grinned again. ‘All in good time.’

‘Is it because you were using your son to prey on my daughters?’

‘Your girls obviously have a certain... charm for him.’Kreeg cocked the pistol. ‘Now tell me, what is it you have to say to me before you die?’

I shook my head. ‘I’m beginning to wonder what the point would be. I told you the truth more than eighty years ago, as we stood together over the body of your mother.’ Kreeg’s jaw tensed, and he narrowed his eyes. ‘We were brothers, Kreeg. You didn’t believe me then. Why should you believe me now?’

‘What is there tobelieve, Atlas? I will never forget you standing there, with her precious icon in your hand. It was covered in her blood. You used it to beat her to death. The leather pouch containing the diamond slung across your body confirmed your motives.’

I shuddered at the memory. ‘I told you what had happened. As you well know, your mother was sleeping with a senior officer of the Red Army to put food on our table.’

Kreeg baulked at the memory.

‘I didn’t even know it was a diamond she possessed. She only told me that she had something of great value and had pleaded with the officer to sell it on her behalf, so that we could eat, Kreeg. Do you not remember how hungry we were? How cold...’

‘NO MORE!’ Kreeg screeched, banging his free fist on the table.

‘Just listen. That night, I tried to give you proof that your mother had realised her mistake and had asked me to take a “thing of value” to her relative in Tobolsk for safekeeping. So that if the Bolsheviks came to search the house, it would not be there. I had a letter in my hands, from your mother. She’d written it so that I could pass it on to her relative. But when you saw the scene, you didn’t even read it.’

‘I didn’t need to,’ he snarled.