Chapter Twenty-Two
The tiny mountain shack, set back from the muddy road, would provide none of the comforts to which Marilyn had lately become accustomed, yet it was as inviting as anything she had come to expect. Gratefully, she got off her horse and headed inside, following Fausto, who was followed by several guardsmen. The prisoners, with the exception of Count Gregorio, were herded into an enclosure to the side of the little hut, originally designed to keep animals penned up.
Once inside, Fausto busied himself with preparing a meal from the provisions in the back room. He turned during his activities toward Marilyn and said, “M’lady, ye can be certain that I shall provide ye with explanation of all that ye’ve seen and heard today.”
“That would be a good thing, Fausto. I do feel quite confused, but right now, I’m just tired, hungry, thirsty… and I’ve got to pee.”
Fausto chuckled, and then he said, “of course, m’lady. Ye can go around t’ the side.” He indicated with his arm. “And I’ll have ye somethin’ t’ eat and drink. And then I shall sit down wi’ ye and answer yer questions.”
Marilyn stepped out and turned to the side of the building, away from the prisoners, and headed into the woods. When she was done, she was startled by a soft noise behind her. She turned quickly, and was surprised by the ethereal form of Maggie, who was leading another young girl by the hand. There was a slight bluish glow to her face and features. Her red hair blew radiantly in the gentle evening breeze. Behind her was a young girl
who appeared to be roughly ten years of age, and who peered shyly from behind Maggie.
“Lady Marilyn,” said Maggie, her face appearing both youthful and wise beyond years, “I am called Maggie, and I come with greetings from Falma. This is Lisa. And I bring her to you for discovery and for safekeeping.” Then, turning toward the lass, she said, “Now, Lisa, this is the lady, Marilyn. She will keep you safe. You may go with her. She will not harm you – of that you may be certain.” And saying that, she turned away, and walked back into the depths of the forest, leaving behind her the faint scent of trees and running water.
Marilyn, herself a bit shocked once more, reached out her hand and said to Lisa, “come, child, let’s go inside. There you can tell us of your adventure, as well as getting something to eat and drink.”
Lisa did not say a word, but followed Marilyn into the hut, clinging to her hand like a life-line. As they came inside the hut, they were met by Fausto. Lisa, having never seen anyone so huge, cowered behind Marilyn.
“Oh, Lisa, don’t be afraid. This gentle giant of a man will not hurt you. His name is Fausto, and he’s here to protect folks like me and you.”
But Lisa, after seeing his bulk, and his sword, cowered even more behind Marilyn.
“Come now, Lassie, ye’ve got nothin’ t’ fear from me,” Fausto said, his voice booming through the small hut. This, unfortunately, had the opposite effect on young Lisa. Marilyn turned and held the girl, who was trembling with fear.
Fausto was going to ask where the girl came from, but when he saw Marilyn’s face, he thought better of it, and quietly went back to the table, and prepared a plate of cheese, dried meats and fruit, signaled to one of his men, and had him deliver it to Marilyn. She took the plate, wordlessly, and offered it to Lisa.
Lisa took the plate with one hand, and in a voice barely above a whisper said, “this… this food is…fer me?”
“Of course, it’s for you,” answered Marilyn. “Come, sit down here with me and enjoy it.”
“Who this girl?” asked Count Gregorio, rather suddenly.
“I know not, Count,” answered Fausto, “but she is now one of us. She shall be protected with my life.”
So, over the next half hour, while Lisa sat in Marilyn’s lap, and ate her meal, the girl gradually relaxed, to the point that Marilyn felt it appropriate to begin asking her questions. Marilyn was perplexed by this little waif, and just what she was supposed to do with and for her.
Gradually they found out that her mother was in Shepperton and worked in a house owned by someone called LeGace, whom she thought of as a bad man, and who stole her away from her mother. Also, they had taken a nice man, named Melchior, an “all-chemist” but who could not do magic. She told of how she and Melchior were held in an underground place, and then they were moved to a ship. And that was where Maggie
came, and rescued her, but how she was not able to say, just that the “blue light” had something to do with it. And Melchior was still back in the ship as far as Lisa knew.
“The blue light, eh?” Marilyn recalled the faint blue light of Maggie’s face, and how this young girl seemed to understand and to be able to walk easily between the two worlds which had come to envelop Marilyn, Bob and Charlie. I’ll have to ask Tom the next time I see him. See if he understands it as well.
“Tell me, Lisa, do you know what you’re supposed to do, and why you were chosen?” asked Marilyn. “Did Maggie tell you anything at all?”
“She simply told me - she was taking me to someone safe, someone who would know how to get me back to me mum.”
“And what is your mother’s name, Lisa?”
“Me Mum’s name be Sylvie.”
“And your father?”
“Me father – him I know not. I’ve not met ‘im.”
“Hmm, quite strange, indeed. Fausto, do you know anyone named Sylvie, who might be this young girl’s mother?”
“Nay, m’lady I know her not. It seems we shall have to ask Tom the next time we see him if he knows.”
“My thoughts, precisely,” said Marilyn. Then, as Lisa gradually warmed up to Fausto, Marilyn got to thinking about her circumstances. How is it that I have been chosen for this? It seems that I, a stranger, have been pegged as someone to go to. But as with Bob, I just got a glance as he seemed to be working toward something big. How am I supposed to do anything or make sense of any of this? It’s like I’m asked to play, but to figure out the rules of the game as I go along. And just whose game is it? Oh, Falma, is it yours, or are you just playing the game along with me? And what about this little girl and her mother – how does she fit into the scheme?
“Tell me, Fausto, are you as confused by all the goings on here as I am?”
“Confused, m’lady? Nay, that I am not. I am simply tasked wi’ keepin’ ye safe, and to take ye back, along wi’ these prisoners, to Shepperton Castle.
“Shepperton? Not Castle Kearney?”
“Nay, m’lady, fer it seems as though Tom has decided that it be Shepperton where ye’re needed the most.”
“Needed, eh? Now I’ve been allowed to see Bob twice, from a distance, and I haven’t been able to interact with him. Now don’t you think that’s a bit strange?”
“I’m not much fer thinkin’, m’lady. I simply do what I must. An’ I leave the thinkin’ to people like ye and Tom.”
“Well, then, the next time we meet, I’ll definitely ask him.”
Fausto nodded. In the guarded corner, Gregorio sat and absorbed all that had happened to him in the past day.
“Lady Marilyn,” Lisa spoke up suddenly, “do ye but suppose that me mum bein’ as she’s in Shepperton, might have somethin’ to do wi’ yer bein’ needed there?”
“Now, I hadn’t thought of that! From the lips of babes, eh, Fausto?”
“Indeed, m’lady.”
Marilyn just hugged Lisa tighter, and asked, “Just how far is it to Shepperton?”
“Well, wi’ the prisoners walking, it should take us a day and a half, I’d say.”
“Then you’ll ride with me, Lisa, if that’s all right with you.”
“Oh, aye, lady Marilyn, ‘twould be nice.”
Aboard the ship, the mood was grim. Antoine LeGace paced about and asked his guard again, “just what did you see, and why did you not prevent this from happening?”
“I did not see anythin’ but the two o’ them come out o’ the brig, and then leap o’er the side, there.” He pointed with his hand. “An’ then I ran o’er to the spot, an’ lookin’ down I didna’ see them, but I could see a blue light in the water, headed outward, toward the open sea. An’ so I got Marik t’ get me a boat, an’ then we went down t’ the water, and we looked about, an neither one o’ us saw anythin’ at all.”
“And just where were you when they came out of the brig? And had you checked the lock?”
“I was standin’ right o’er there. And aye, I had checked the lock afore, an’ also upon my return, an’ the lock was fast. No one coulda’ come out wi’ out makin’ a sound, but they did, the two of ‘em. Also, I talked wi’ the other prisoner, an’ he had tried the door, an’ he too noted the lock was fast from the inside.”
That was enough for LeGace. He signaled to his other guardsman, who came over immediately and with the help of two more, quietly tied up the unfortunate guard. Then, with graceless certainty, he said to the now cowering guard, “Did I not make it plain to you the penalty for losing one of my prisoners?”
“Aye, ye did, sire…”
“Then tell your last wishes to Peter, here, for I care not.” And then her turned and walked toward his own room and signaled to Peter to take him away and be done with it.
After that, he sat in his room, with Leonardo as the only other one in the room, and uncharacteristically, began discussing his plans.
“Now, with one fewer prisoner, we shall have to be a bit more careful. I know not if this one even escaped, but even if she did, what could she tell them? Nothing too useful it would seem.”
“But it would seem,” said Leonardo, “that her chances are exceedingly small of having survived at all.”
“That would be true, if not for the blue light mentioned by our guard. Remember this, Leonardo – we are not dealing with only what we know, but there are possibilities that you and I know little of, which are known to our enemy. And if we underestimate them, we do so at our peril.”
Leonardo’s thoughts immediately took him to Wheezer, and his survival – unlikely but nevertheless apparently real, as he found out that morning while seated at Barncuddy’s.
“What is it? Your look says you have seen an apparition.”
“Ah, nothing…”
“Hmm… well, just remember, there are more things to be aware of than you would suppose. Now, back to business. What do you know of our army’s readiness for conflict? Are we going to be ready in three days’ time, armed and equipped?”
“As to their readiness, that appears to be yet an open question. They still number close to a hundred men, all armed, but with only about fifty horses thus far available.”
“Ah, well, in that regard, I shall have to talk with Patronis and that snake, Guarneri about that, see if I am able to get any satisfaction from them.”
“D’you trust them?”
“Nay, I do not, but I do have something over them to get what I need.”
“Does it involve King Henry?”
“Indeed, it does…”
“Then I shall ask no more…”
LeGace nodded and smiled subtly. Then he spoke again, but in a conspiratorial tone said, “If you are able, I should like it if you could arrange a chance meeting with our two Scotsmen. Not at Barncuddy’s (that would be too risky), perhaps in Champour somewhere. I should like to find out what they now know, and more, what they suspect.”
“For when?”
“Perhaps tomorrow evening.”
“I shall see what I am able to do in that regard, sire.”
“Very well, ‘til tomorrow, then. But, before you go, I should like it if you could determine a couple of things for me. The first is to make certain that our guard has been
taken care of. And then, if you could query our remaining prisoner, and determine, if you are able what did transpire from his perspective.”
“Consider it done, sire.”
No comments:
Post a Comment