Joesph was dreaming of his training as a youth on the long ride East.
The train kept shifting back and forth underneath him.
He was jerked awake with searing pain.
He looked around and he was inside a train car but not a passenger one.
Next to him lay a man laid out in his uniform.
He sighed deeply inside as he closed his eyes.
He could see them again running away the youngest ones across the field.
He knew when his son in law had come with the wrong men that they were in danger.
He climbed out of the window but was struck from behind.
He heard the shots over and over again.
They had propped him up in a chair with his wife and oldest daughter standing behind him.
They were protecting the young boy while his remaining daughter had also been caught.
The two women in the back were whispering "we did not know he would turn on us".
He had allowed his oldest to marry a military man for love and protection of the family.
He was now one of them, which is how they had been gotten to so easily.
He should have seen it coming, but he was distracted with his wife's sympathy's.
He had lived with the Cossacks as well as part of his training.
His father being murdered had prepared him for many things.
But not the betrayal of his daughter by her husband and her mother desperately clinging to her.
They were dead of course; they would not have been able to have serviced the close-range shots.
Meanwhile, as his mind readjusted to the train he could hear her, Ana's breathing with difficulty.
Somewhere in this train she was a still with him in their fight against the mad Kaiser.
There are cousins and then there are relatives.
The Germans had gone way over in their domination.
Everyone was meant to have their own kingdom.
The power struggle of the past century had strengthened the borders.
But destroyed the interior workings of the court.
The Great game had gone to far for some.
He could only lay in misery as his wounds became more evident.
He had been wearing an insulated vest provided him by his own valet.
It was worn constantly and had been hot at times.
It was worth it as it had saved his live and given Ana a chance.
He had thrown her behind him when they began to shoot.
He lost consciousness as soon as he realized his wife was not wearing her corset.
Her protection was on her back, and she was to throw herself on the nearest one.
Instead, she had gone down with her first born protecting the boy.
He can almost remember being hauled out by his shoulders.
Over the others and up the stairs and shoved into a dark space.
He can smell hay and they must have been on a wagon at one point.
That would explain the rolling that was going on inside his head.
He shifted between consciousness and hallucinations.
His life flashed in settings from the past.
His life living among each ethnic group.
His desire at learning the grace skills.
Finally, he can smell the sea as his dressing have been changed.
He is now sitting up and the man was removed a while ago.
They put it on a cart and drew it up towards the border in the south.
Crimea got to see the sight of the dead hero, before he was slipped into the water grave.
It was the only way they could understand to get through to the troops.
That their leader was dead, and his family gone for good.
Her body he discovered was on the train with them.
The two women were in the car where the ice was piled at every stop.
A huge fire he understood had engulfed the small forest where they had been held.
He has been provided information that they will be setting sail.
They want to know where to take the women.
They feared to leave them behind, not the wolves but the maniacs.
Unspoken fear, he nodded his comprehension.
A proper burial for them would have been at one of the small churches.
Or even taken back to the city, but they were not sure if it would be secure.
Too much hatred had been shown towards them for being beautiful females.
Instead, he had to decide on an Asian burial perhaps.
Or even Alaska, a former Russian territory.
Ana had not recovered but continued in a coma like state.
Her health was fragile, and the next stage of the journey had to be considered.
His self-appointed savior had explained the delicacy of everyone's situation.
It was discovered there were friends he had not known.
They have agreed to take the responsibility on the rest of the journey.
He can stay only as long as his recovery will take.
Then he must move on with his females.
The ones to be buried will continue with their ice.
Ana, is being given special treatments.
They hope she will awake soon.
Wherever they go it will not be back home.
They must go towards the last outposts of hope.
An ocean voyage was almost more than he could bare.
The constant jarring against his ribs as they healed.
His mind again wanderd to the times his family were told.
How the others were living and yet they had done thier turn.
It is odd how some dont understand the complications.
Of dealing with trouble rousers.
Rasputin had been dangerous they had said.
With his monk's attire and lust for a life not his own.
But the Jews who had been welcomed were now causing concerns.
Ulyanov was a medical doctor allowed to convert to Orthodox.
His spoiled grandson was pretending to be a field worker.
Or industry slave. Like that Hughes crew.
Donetsk had been bought by this Welsh guy.
Who reinvented the community into English speakers.
Meanwhile, the Odessa Jews were known to be Pirates.
Cutthroats, the worst villainy upon their own people.
And then there was the sadness of Sicily.
Who had also gone the way of the rogues.
But again, friends had arrived with a place for them.
Thier arrival was soft and in the fog.
He recognized the old fort.
But it is not the correct place.
There is one better than this for his family.
He had not seen the old wooden buildings in a long time.
He was surprised there was so little left to the area.
Most of it they said had been sold and was now in Sacramento.
He was taken to Sebastopol, where he laughed, hurting himself, it was the wrong one.
They introduced him to a new vehicle.
He had been in aeroplanes but he was not expecting this ride.
They wanted to get them quickly to the last place.
He has to make a decision now on the final resting place.
He recognized the young man.
His family were rail inventors, and exiled royals.
A variety of different types of rails and engines.
He was very kind in explaining how much had changed.
When he and his wife had arrived, they had expected a wooded estate.
Instead, they had Jardins of fruit trees.
Olives, apricots, avocados, and even grapes.
His life was not as expected, his new friend lamented.
But he knew people and there was nothing to go back.
Schleswig lands were gone to the Germans.
His theory of life was not his own but he enjoyed the conversations.
He understood he could not be in contact with his usual associates.
He was introduced to several new people.
Those who knew how to fly these machines and electric cars.
He was introduced to Hazarthy the West coast wine master.
He had seen the International Pan-America exposition.
He explored the old original Sebastopol.
He was sad to see how much of it had been destroyed.
In their haste to get away from the Spanish once they realized.
What they had missed, not the coast but the ships east.
His decision was a service inside the old ceramic tiled churches.
They were laid to rest with cement walls to guard them.
If they could smell they would smell flowers.
The Monarch butterflies keep coming to see the new residents.
The point was to have that found at all, due to their identities.
Having meet several pilots he began to take lessons from them.
While he waited for news of his living ones.
Those that escaped had not been mentioned to him on the journey.
But one of them made it through, word had come of her in Asia.
She had gotten separated from the others and was air delivered to hm.
He wanted to join the fight from the air himself.
Now he must consider relocating to another place.
For the safety of the children, he can't be discovered.
Ana finally awakes from her coma but has been left behind.
Adopted by a distant relative she will remain undetected.
His one daughter was removed to a more secure location.
He has gone back as a Cossack to sneak in behind the lines.
He must find the other two missing, before they are used as hostages.
He has new friends who are helping, with negations.
He has had to be kept from speaking to those who have been waiting for news.
It is their security they are concerned.
It is thought that once this Great war ends.
There will be more trouble ahead.
If he wants to stay hidden, he may.
If he wants to challenge, he will have to do so afterwards.
Cairo became their home for a while, his grandson had been found.
The youngest found her way to him anyways instead of staying in America.
And the last one stayed missing until Paris gave up its secrets.
She had stayed under the radar the whole time.
And he had never known where and what she had done.
But had gotten the information that her body was never found.
Until one day she walked up to him at the Eiffel tower.
He had decided to become a diplomat.
To stay behind the scenes and mold the others.
And to keep peace as President Woodrow had attempted.
His grandson had grown up at his knees.
Never far from him, as he learned the Western styles.
Living on horses and going to the shore.
Learning life in a different world view.
They had survived the worst sort of horror.
Thier own relatives had devised to destroy.
Not even a hint of it will ever surface.
But there is a grave waiting to be given back.
To the people who should have wanted them not to be murdered by their own.
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