Destiny by Graham Hadfield 922 words The gun battle continued around them with Ralph playing no part. He wanted to save his bullets for later and make each one count. Simon’s relatives had been picked off one by one. The problem with Mafiosi, thought Ralph grimly, was that they didn’t spend enough time on the firing range. Rather five men who could fire accurately than twenty men blazing away indiscriminately.

Suddenly Simon, who seemed a lot brighter than his relatives, crouched down beside them behind the pew. Ralph’s initial reaction was one of irritation. The attackers were obviously trying to kill Simon and members of his family. Having achieved that objective they might leave him and his sister alone. Then he thought how upset Laura would be at Simon’s death. “Save your bullets” Ralph hissed and Simon stopped firing.

Ralph remembered the time his father Reginald had tried to get him to apply to join the SAS. Reginald had described how after a rigorous series of tests bringing someone to the limits of physical endurance each recruit was given a word and then were tortured to try and force them to reveal it. “Sounds too good to be true” Ralph had said flippantly, “there has to be a catch”.

Now if his father had encouraged him to join an entertainment troupe, such as they had in the Second World War Ralph wouldn’t have hesitated for a second. As to the SAS he always enjoyed being surrounded by men, but psychopathic men he was less keen on. He’d spend the whole time worrying someone would come up behind him and garrote him with their shoelace.

Ralph was brought back to the present with a start. The firing had suddenly ceased and someone was shouting at them. “Surrender and we’ll spare your lives. Hand over Simon Corleone and the rest of you can go free.” Ralph sighed to himself. Another group of psychopaths he had to deal with.

If Ralph had been on his own he would not have hesitated in handing Simon over. Simon had lied to them about his involvement with the Mafia. This was his fight. Ralph may have fancied him but he wasn’t prepared die for him. However there was his sister Laura beside him to think of. Laura, the only decent relationship he had in his family, the sister who had stood by him when he had come out as gay; Laura who had utmost faith in her older brother to sort out any problem.

While he was behind the pew Ralph had been scoping out the church. His military training told him there was no risk free way of getting out alive. All he could do was to make it a calculated risk. The attackers had entered the church through every exit. There were three men at every door. The longer they spent running for one of the doors the more chance they had of getting hit. Therefore the best option was to make a run for the door closest to them at the side of the church. Ralph noticed that all three men stationed there had rifles. That would have been an advantage outside but inside it was a liability.

Simon was about to speak but Ralph laid a restraining hand on his shoulder. He quickly whispered to Simon and Laura. “I am going to talk to them to gain time. Listen to what I say. When I mention the word Guards we make a run for it towards the closest exit on the left of the church. I will go first, followed by Laura and Simon, you will give us covering fire before following us. Good luck.”

Ralph’s posh voice rang out round the church as he slowly eased himself to his feet. It sounded incongruous in the surroundings and caused a murmur of surprise among the attackers. “My sister and I are British citizens” Ralph said slowly. “We seem to have been caught up in some local vendetta.” As he spoke Ralph noticed from the corner of his eye that Laura and Simon were edging along to the end of the pew getting ready to break into the aisle. At least they are obeying orders thought Ralph. “My death at your hands will cause an international incident and bring a level of police attention that you will not welcome. That’s because I am a member of the British armed forces. The regiment looks after its own. I am a member of the Guards.”

At the mention of the word Guards Ralph spun on his feet and with the pistol in his hand started sprinting towards the nearest exit. He hadn’t got time to check whether his sister was right behind him but he could feel her breath on his back. He heard the sound of Simon blazing away with his pistol in all directions. Simon certainly knew how to blaze away. Ralph approached the three men at a sprint. They were initially startled but then started to raise their rifles to a shooting position. Ralph remembered how embarrassed he’s been at his excellent scores on the shooting range but now he needed to reproduce them in real life. Anyone who knew Ralph would have described him as kind, loving and peaceful but in this situation he knew what he had to do. His sergeant had hammered it into them. “If you shoot, shoot to kill, never give them the chance of another shot.” In this close quarters situation Ralph knew his pistol gave him an advantage. As he approached the attackers he fired three quick shots to the head.