Aubrey: Dangerous Shoals

By Atonia Walpole

(Continued from Biebe: Waiting For The Freeze)

Part 1:

Max took his coffee out to the little iron table outside in the courtyard. It was early morning and the mist had yet to rise from the Luberon Valley. It was mid-April and still cold enough a steam rose from his cup as he sipped the dark, rich morning potion. He looked up toward the balcony outside his study window. Ludivine and Connie were already at work. He could hear the hovering.

When they came back from America it was clear they were in love and, giving up all pretense, Connie moved into the Chateau with him. Her father had to find another bookkeeper for Connie was concentrating her efforts on helping Max renovate the chateau.

Max’s attention was drawn to the drive and out of the thick mist came a man on horseback. Max set his cup down and walked over where the man had stopped. He was a rather oddly-dressed fellow and seemed in some distress.

“May I help you?” Max asked in French.

“Monsieur Skinner?”

“Oui.”

In English the man spoke, “I have a message for you.” He reached into a leather bag and pulled out a rolled parchment, handing it to Max.

Max unrolled the parchment. I was written in an old-fashioned script and would take careful examination, but he got the gist of it

“Won’t you come in, a meal perhaps?”

“No, non.” The man doffed his hat, turned his horse and galloped off into the mist.

Max stared after him and took the parchment inside, his coffee quite forgotten now. Once inside he headed for his study and ran Ludivine and her hoovering out into the hallway. At his desk he took a large magnifying glass and studied the parchment.

“Bollocks!” he exclaimed.

Connie came up to his side. “What is it, Max?”

“A message from Jack. He’s been taken prisoner.” He now knew what the disturbing dream he’d had a few nights ago was about. Jack had been trying to contact him.

“Prisoner? Oh, my! Where, Max, where is he?”

“Here, in France. He’s outside Paris at La Fontaine, a country estate being used as a Bastille.” Max’s mind was turning. Jack would have to be rescued of course, but how, how to get back to the early 1800’s to help him? Search and rescue brought Terry to mind and, disregarding the time difference, he picked up his phone and called him.

Terry rolled over on his back. Something had awakened him. He glanced over at Toni, fast asleep at his side. As he reached for his cell phone on the night stand next to the bed it began to vibrate in his hand. A quick glance told him it was  4:10 in the morning.

“Yeah, Thorne here.”

“Terry, it’s Max. I have a rather disturbing hand-written message from Jack. He’s being held prisoner outside of Paris.”

“What, prisoner…Jack? How the hell…when did you get it?”

“Just less than an hour ago. It was delivered to my house by a man on horseback.”

“That explains it then. I knew he was in trouble but didn’t know where or what.”

“Obviously we must do something but how, Terry, how to get to him? I can go to Paris and find this place, but it’s 2009 not 1805.”

“Not necessarily. A window opened somewhere for the messenger to get though.”

“Um, I’ll go today if I can get out of Marseilles  on a flight and at least find out what I can about La Fontaine. That’s the name of the estate he’s being held at. Are you coming over?”

“Yeah, let me, uh, wake up and see what I can get arranged. It’s four in the morning here, Max. It’s Max, Toni.” Toni was now awake and sitting up, rubbing her eyes.

“Is he okay?”

“It’s not him…it’s Jack. He’s been taken prisoner in France. Max, I’ll call you in a little while and let you know what’s happening here. Dino is in Miami. I’ll get him on board. You see what you can find out in the meantime.”

“Right. Talk to you later.”

“This is serious, isn’t it?” Connie asked after he got off the phone.

“I’m afraid it is, for Jack to be taken prisoner by Napoleon’s forces…yes, his life could be in danger.”

He had been treated quite well so far, despite being confined to a room with barred windows. He stood at the window now, tracing his finger along the curved ironwork. Outside in the hallway he could hear the guards laughing over something. He was not amused. Across the room Dr. Stephen Maturin was intent on watching an insect and its mate as they moved along the marble floor.

“There’s no way, of course, to know if he got through at all,” he said quietly to himself, thinking of the seaman to whom he’d entrusted his message. He’d taken a chance giving him the paper but he’d recognized him. He’d once been an able seaman aboard the Sophie and taken prisoner, pressed into service in Napoleon’s navy and had at sometime taken his oath of allegiance, perhaps to save his life or better himself, Jack thought.

“What’s that you say?” Stephen asked, leaning against the wall.

“Beckham, the seaman. No way to know if he made it.”

“That is true, my friend. He had such a long way to go and through magic at that. Ah, Jack, I am so sorry to have gotten you into this. You should never have come to my rescue. I’m sure I would have talked my way out of it. There is nothing to connect me with anything but being a ship's surgeon.”

“I should not like to see you shot as a spy, Stephen.” Jack moved from the window, noting the painted walls and stepped back to have a look at an especially well- endowed young woman leaning over a table. “I wonder who posed for this?” he mused aloud.

“But you enjoyed the opera?”

“I did indeed. Almost makes this confinement worth the trip.” He smiled at his friend. “I do not believe it was Lady Montpelier who betrayed us but her brother-in-law. I do believe he had designs on her himself.”

“You will never learn, Jack, and you a Captain, that what lies beneath still waters…”

“Dangerous shoals. Oh, but I have. What do you think they will do to us here? We’ve been here for two weeks and not so much as a visitor, not counting them outside.”

“I think they are waiting for someone to arrive, Jack, and then the interrogations will begin.  I fear they will not be pleasant.”

“No…I should think not. I wish they’d get on with it. This damned waiting about is wearing on.” Jack ran his hand over his blond hair, pushing a strand behind his ear.

The room was partially furnished with two narrow beds, a chamber pot and a vanity with bowl and pitcher for washing.  There were two long windows, one on the side of the room facing the forests and one facing a courtyard to the side of the house where each day a wagon would arrive with the day’s allowance of food. Jack was never sure if what was intended for them actually made it or was consumed by the guards outside. He was constantly hungry. Bread, a watery soup and cheese, sometimes an apple or a pear to be relished, was their diet.

Stephen could put himself in a sort of trance to pass the hours. Jack never knew exactly where he went during this time. He wished he himself could attain such a state. He sat on his cot, closed his eyes and pictured himself back at the House of Four Seasons with Toni. He would take her up to her light and airy bedroom and then…the sounds of horses and men brought him from his reverie and he walked to the window over the courtyard. Their day of reckoning might be at hand.

“Stephen, do you recognize any of these men?”

Stephen peered out of the window. “Ah, yes, I’m afraid I do.”

Part 2:

“This is why I hate to come to Paris,” Max stated, moving through the maze of traffic and honking horns. “There are too many people and they are all on the move.”

“How will we ever find St. Georges?”  Connie turned on a pen light, consulting the street map. “There are no squares in Paris, no blocks.”

“Typical Frog engineering. What’s this street up here?” Max was afraid to take his eyes off the road for a moment.

Once checked into their hotel and dinner eaten in the dining room, they retired to try and get Max’s computer online. “Ah, Eureka!” he declared as the messages began coming in from Terry, including his flight arrangements and a note that Toni insisted on coming, too. Dino would be flying in directly from Miami. “He wants to know where to meet up. I suppose here. We have to have a ground zero. They will be arriving tomorrow afternoon so that leaves the morning to find out where La Fontaine is, if it’s still standing. I hadn’t thought of that. It may have been bombed out in the war.”

Connie was thinking about Toni and her baby. “I am surprised Toni would leave her baby to come.”

“She has Munchie to look after him and this is Jack, Connie. He’s very special to her. I imagine if Terry couldn't persuade her to stay behind that anything might have. I’m not surprised at all.”

“He must be about two months old by now. I wish she’d bring him along.”

“We don’t know what may happen, Connie, and if I know Toni, and I do, she’ll be in the thick of it.”

Connie smiled and placed her hand on the back of his neck as he sat in the desk chair. “Well then, so shall I.”

“You will not…Connie?” He tilted his head back and received an upside down kiss.

“Try and stop me. Am I not a member of this family now? Remember the magic at the House, Max. I still feel it, a tiny thing inside but it’s still there. I love you, Max, and your family.”

“Six months of calm sailing and now this. I wonder sometimes if we’ll ever be able to lead normal lives.”

“It’s certainly never dull around you, darling.”

“When are you going to marry me, Connie?”

“We’ve already talked about that, Max. I don’t need a piece of paper. I’ve said all the right things to you and you to me.”

“It’s your father, isn’t it? He wants legal access to my grapevines. I would give them to him, Connie.”

“No, you will not give anything to him. Now then, have you tried looking up this estate on the net?”

Terry accepted a bottle of water from the stewardess and looked around the seat in front of him. Toni was watching a movie instead of sleeping. He moved up the aisle and squatted beside her.

“I don’t know what you think you’re going to do once we get there but Paris is a great place to go shopping, Toni. You’ve got carte blanche  with the credit card. Buy yourself a whole new wardrobe.”

“If you think that’s going to keep me from finding Jack, forget it, Mr. Thorne.” She leaned over and kissed his forehead.

“You shouldn’t have come but it’s too late for me to say anything now. I should have put my foot down and forbid it.”

“Do you really think that would have worked?”

“No, you are the most stubborn woman I have ever known.” He kissed her hand, got up and sat back in his seat. At least Connie was there. Maybe she and Toni would get together and find something to do in Paris. He closed his laptop and settled back, thinking of John, who’d called him wanting to know if anyone had heard from Jack. He, too, knew something was wrong and when he found out what Max’s message said he was frustrated that he couldn’t come but Donna was about to give birth and he had to be there.

He checked his watch. Dino should be landing about now, having got an earlier flight from Miami. He was leaving it up to Dino to get up with their French agent and take care of the logistics. Terry had no idea how this was going to play out or how they were going to get back to Jack’s era in time to save him and the doctor.

“That’s a terrible cough you have developed, Jack. Do go and lie down and cover up with the blanket.”

“I’ve not been feeling that well for the last two days. My throat is sore.”

“I’m afraid there is nothing I can do for you and that does pain me, friend.”

Stephen took up the small piece of marble Jack had been working the metal grating over the window with and began grating it against the mortar. He looked out toward the forest and watched as a flock of birds  flew from one tree to another. If he’d had a glass he could have identified them. Jack’s deep cough brought his head around. He was a little worried about him for surely a fever would follow and he had nothing with which to treat him.

Jack slept and while he slept they came for Stephen. When Jack woke and found him gone he was agitated and paced around the room. A glance out of the courtyard window and gauging the shadows on the brick pavement told him it was around four o’clock. He was worried for Stephen for the man identified in the courtyard was a henchman of the head of French intelligence. He pulled the blanket close around his shoulders for he was feverish now and it was not a time for him to be sick.

He hadn’t been sick in years and then only a fever developed from a wound. Why now, he wondered when he needed all his wits about him. He was thirsty and went over to the wash basin and poured out a cup of water from the picture. He could barely swallow it his throat was so sore. Absently looking into Stephen’s cup he saw the piece of marble and took it to the window and began scraping away at the mortar again. They had been very careful scraping only on the outside of the bars so as not to draw any attention to the window. The mortar was old and it crumbled easily in places. He nearly dropped the marble shard when the door opened but quickly palmed it and placed his hand in his pocket. It was Stephen, accompanied by another man he had not seen before, perhaps one of the horseman he’d seen earlier.

He spoke very good English. “Ah so you are the famous Captain Jack Aubrey who has caused us so much trouble on the high seas. I am Monsieur Gillette and I do apologize for your present circumstances, Captain. I have much respect for you but, alas, we are not Navy here and I cannot accommodate you as our brave Naval men would do. There is a certain civility I know that is exchanged for officers of your rank."

“Have you come to set us free?" Jack asked, his voice a hoarse whisper.

“Oh, would that I could. I have no need of you, Captain, but you see your friend, Dr. Maturin, has some information that he has not seen fit to share with us and until he is persuaded to do so my hands are tied. You do understand, I am sure. You do not look well. I shall have a doctor to come and look at you. Dr. Maturin, I shall see you tomorrow.” He gave a little bow and left.

“Are you all right, Stephen?”

“Tired. How many ways can you not answer the same question over and over? You really do not look well, Jack. Go and lie down.”

“I can’t lie down. It is my duty to try and get us out of this marble mausoleum. The grating is the only thing I can come up with other than trying to overpower the guards and there are too many of them. We’ve counted them, Stephen.”

“Do not talk. Pray spare your voice. Where is the marble shard?”

Jack handed it to him and sat wearily back on his bed. A little time passed and a French doctor came in to have a look at Jack. He brought some dark salve with him and liberally smeared it over his chest and back. He was also given something to drink that caused him to cough and sputter. Stephen conferred with the doctor for some time before he left and he did leave the medicines for Stephen to administer to Jack. By the time he left Jack was asleep and Stephen opened the bottle and smelled the liquid. He recognized it and it was laced with laudanum.

Part 3:

Clearly in the present century La Fontaine was a partial ruin. What remained contained an antiques shop and residence for the owner. Max pulled up the drive and parked in the area in front of the shop.

“This doesn’t look promising at all,” he remarked, shutting off the engine.

“It’s lovely. Lets go in and have a poke about.” Connie opened her door.

While Connie moved around the shop, Max engaged the owner in conversation. His French was tested but he did all right. He told him about his own chateau that he was restoring and got him into conversation about La Fontaine. In the end they were given a tour of the house and grounds. Max asked him about the history of the house and the owner knew it had been used as a prison during Napoleon’s rule. It had been used for political prisoners he believed. They spent a delightful hour with him and then Max said they must go but Connie bought a small snuff box before they left.

“What will you do with that?” Max asked, pulling out onto the drive.

“I thought it a fair exchange, didn’t you?”

“I hope so. There being so little left of the east wing and we have no way of knowing where he would have been kept.”

“Max, do you think Toni could find it? I know she has a stronger sense than I do about all of you. She’s connected with you all in a way I never will be. Could she find the area, do you think?”

“I don’t know but it might be worth a try. Perhaps you could bring her out here, a little antiquing maybe?”

“That’s a good idea. What time are they arriving?”

“3:00. Dino will bring them to the hotel. He’s been here since about twelve I believe.”

“Would you trust me to drive in Paris?”

“Connie, please do not ask me a question like that.”

“So what were you able to find out?” Terry asked once they were in St. Georges Hotel and settled in their room Max had arranged for them down the hall.

Max described the layout of the house and what was there and what was missing. “Connie had an idea that Toni might be able to sense something if she were allowed over the place. What do you think?”

“I don’t want Toni anywhere near the place. If she falls through the magic then we’ve got her to rescue, too.”

“Can that happen, falling through?” Connie asked.

“Where is this place?” Toni asked.

“I don’t know if it can happen or not but I don’t want to take the chance that it might. Somehow we have to get back to him. I figure we’re gonna get one chance at it maybe…and you don’t need to know where it is,” Terry looked at Toni and she looked back.

“Can you sketch it, Max, give us something on paper to go over?” Dino asked.

“Connie can.” He began rummaging through the hotel desk and came up with some stationary. Between the two of them they got a reasonable facsimile of the house and grounds. “Now a lot of this wing is missing so there’s no way to know how the rooms were actually laid out. This front wall is still intact and part of the side wall next to the courtyard, that’s where this archway leads to. The old man said carriages and horses would have entered here and grooms would have taken them in this direction where the stables were located.”

“How many floors, do you know?”

“There are five on the west wing so I would think it would be symmetrical but we are talking Frogs here.”

“Frogs?” Dino looked up

“He’s talking about the French. That’s what English schoolboys call them,” Terry grinned at Max.

“I’d like to see the place for myself,” Dino said, straightening up.

“What if you fall through the rabbit hole, Dino? There goes half my rescue team. We can’t go out there until we’re ready to act.”

“What if I went back and took some pictures? He was a nice man, after all. I think I could pull that off,” Connie suggested.

“You’re not going by yourself,” Toni said. “I can find him, I know I can, and I’ll stay with him if I fall through the rabbit hole. I can help, Terry.”

“If you think I’m going to let you do something like that, you’re crazy, Toni. You have no idea what kind of condition he’s in or what kind of place he’s being kept. It’s going to be dangerous enough as it is. We’ve never really done anything like this before and we don’t know what can happen.”

“Connie and I had no problem out there today. I can take her back for pictures.”

“Max, same goes for you. We don’t want to have to rescue you, too.” Terry ran his hand though his hair.

“I can go by myself, say I saw something else in his shop I wanted and ask if I can photograph his beautiful estate. Sounds simple enough to me,” Connie said.

“Max, it’s up to you.” Terry looked at him.

“You don’t think she’d be in danger?”

“I don’t think so. She’s not connected to Jack in any way.”

Max didn’t like the idea. This talk about rabbit holes had him worried. He walked over to the little balcony and looked down at the street then turned back to the group inside. “Connie, you would have to stay on your phone constantly so I know you’re okay.”

“We can wire her, Max. That might be better,” Dino suggested.

“Let’s do it,” Connie said, meeting Max’s eyes. She was excited and determined to help in any way she could.

Toni was sitting in a chair, her head in her hand. Something was wrong with Jack. She could feel it. He was reaching out to her. She didn’t give a damn about rabbit holes. She knew if she could just get to him, he would get them to safety. He would. We are here; we are coming. She tried to send a message to him.

“You can’t make me sit here on the sidelines, Terry. I won’t have it!” She was very near tears.

“I’m not going to, Toni, but until we’re ready to move I’m not taking any chances with the mother of my son. Do you understand that, luv? I can’t be worried about where you are right now. You can drive the getaway car or carriage…who knows how we’ll get away.” Terry thought that might satisfy her for awhile. He knew of the strong bond between Toni and Jack and although she might prove useful in locating him he wasn’t about to put her in danger.

Stephen dosed Jack with the medicine again. He seemed worse in the morning. His fever was higher and Stephen mopped is brow with a cool, wet cloth. Jack had told him his bones ached and Stephen suspected it was influenza. He was careful about dosing him at night for if a rescue attempt was to be made it would surely be at night and Jack would need his wits about him.  But for the long, tedious daylight hours sleep was the best thing he could do for him.

He continued scraping at the barred window and a shove with his shoulder proved some progress was being made, however as he looked down at the garden below he sighed. It was a long drop. Jack had suggested making a rope from their bedding but now he was in no condition to make ropes and Stephen had no idea how to begin such a task. Soon he knew they would come for him again and hours of questioning and threats would follow. So far no physical violence had been visited upon him, but that would change, he knew, in the near future.

Jack was in a fog. The laudanum caused him to drowse rather than lose himself in a sound sleep and his dreams were so real he forgot where he was. From time to time he would feel Stephen's hand on his brow and that would rouse him for a while but then he drifted away again. In his subconscious he was reaching for Toni, wanting her there with him. Struggling to get to her, he called out her name. An answer came to him clearly ‘We are here; we are coming’. He buried his face in his thin blanket ‘come now, come soon,’ he sent and drifted into blackness for awhile.

Stephen was very concerned for his friend’s state. He’d never known Jack to be sick. The man had a strong constitution and though he thought him a little overweight, he was healthy enough. He wondered what had brought him so low at this time.  It was spring. He should be feeling a renewal of spirit.

Part 4:

Connie could hardly wait to get back to the hotel. Not only had she another snuff box but she had her pictures and a copy of the original drawings for the chateau graciously copied for her by the owner. A recon of the area revealed a road that came up on the other side of the forest behind the house. That she thought might prove very valuable.

“This is excellent work!” Terry met her eyes.

Connie smiled, “Thank you.”  She leaned over Max’s shoulder as her pictures were being uploaded on his laptop.

Dino had gone to meet their French agent who had procured what he hoped was enough equipment to effect a rescue. He lived on the Left Bank in what might be called a garage apartment except there was no garage, only an archway leading to former stables turned into apartments. Jean Paul Limonde had been briefed by Dino and although he found the whole thing unbelievable, he was up for it. He’d leased a van to store the equipment which Dino went through with him, checking and rechecking.

“It’s tonight, Jean Paul, so don’t make any dinner plans. I figure we got one shot at this.” Dino drove him back to the hotel to meet the rest of the team. He wasn’t sure what Max was going to do yet. They had yet to get their plan worked out. Jean Paul was especially eager to meet Terry, owner of the company.

Toni was sitting on the side of the bed slowly rocking herself back and forth. She felt like she was being shut out by Terry. It seemed everybody had something to do but her. She listened as they made plans for the rescue attempt and not once was her name mentioned. She was beginning to wonder if Terry even planned to take her with them. She felt an unaccustomed anger building inside. She’d never once been angry with him since she’d met him. After a while he came looking for her in the bedroom.

“What are you doing in here by yourself?”

“Getting angry, that’s what. Just where do you expect me to be while the rest of you are rescuing Jack and Stephen?”

“I expect you to be with me, at my side as much as possible. We have a workable plan in place but it’s flexible as all things have to be. I know you can locate him, Toni. We’ll need your help for that…and I expect Jack will need you afterward. You think this is easy for me/ You’re everything to me, Toni, everything. If something happened to you I couldn’t go on.”

“Oh, Terry!” Toni felt the tears overflow.

“Don’t be angry with me.” He sat down beside her, taking her in his arms. “I love you beyond life, Toni. I think the safest place for you tonight is with me, barring locking you in this room, and I know you’d get out somehow. Max and I have talked and we think Jack is maybe sick. That’s what we’re getting anyway.”

“I think he is, too. That’s why it’s so important for me to be there. I have to be, Terry. He’s saved me in more ways than one. You know that. There are no secrets between us. I love him.”

“I know what you feel for him. He’s a part of me, and that’s why I said he’s going to need you. I know I would if it were me sick and imprisoned. He’s going to need your love to bring him back around.” Terry took her face in his hand, kissing her deeply. “Give him what he needs,” he said against her lips.

Max leaned in the doorway. “I hate to interrupt, Terry, but I think we need to get on the road. Toni, have you something dark to wear?”

Toni wiped her eyes, still holding onto Terry. “Yes.” She held out her hand to Max, who came and took it, sitting down on the other side of her.

“What’s all this about?” he asked, looking from one to the other.

Terry took a breath and lifted his chin. “I told her to give Jack what he needs, Max. You know he’s going to need her.”

Max met his eyes, “And so do you.”

“I have her always, forever.”

Max nodded. “Are you okay, Toni?”

“I think so.  I need to change my clothes. Max, you be careful, too. Nothing can happen to you, either.”

“Don’t worry about me. Let’s concentrate on what we have to do.” He kissed her cheek and got up, leaving the room.

“You are too much, Terry.” Toni stood up against him.

“So you’ve told me. Let’s get dressed before we get into something else.” He smiled and ran his hand over her head.

Jack was disgusted to find his hand shaking as he raised his glass of wine to this lips. “I’m as weak as a babe,” he remarked to Stephen as they had their evening meal

“It’s the fever. It will do that to a man. Pray how is your throat? You are making manly sounds there.”

“It feels like I swallowed a sea urchin, but at least I am past a whisper. God, what I wouldn’t give for a mutton chop.” Jack spooned the soup into his mouth.

“Soup is better for you now with the sickness upon you. I’d say this confinement and meager diet has improved your shape. You eat entirely too much, Jack. How is your head?”

“Clearing. I’ll need it clear tonight I think. They are here and are coming.”

Stephen accepted Jack’s other life, as he called it, not one to question the marvels of the universe. As a scientist he did not rule out parallel worlds. He believed Jack was caught between the two and, indeed, he had himself traveled through time in Brazil. “Do you think the one they call Dino will be amongst them?”

“I shouldn’t be surprised. He’s Terry’s mate and a fine fighter. He acquitted himself very well during our rescue of Terry and the sinking of the yacht.”

“And how is Terry, no afteraffects of the poppy? I have done some research on the poppy and find some very interesting drugs can be made from it.”

“None whatsoever. He has a fine son, who I had the pleasure of meeting at his birth.” It was almost too much of an effort for him to eat and he sat back in the chair.

“Do finish your meal, Jack. You will need the strength if they are coming tonight.”

“I cannot, Stephen, but I will find the strength when I need to. I must.”

Having slept away most of the day, he went to the wash basin and washed his face, feeling as pale as he looked.

Soon the guards cleared away their meal and they were locked up for the night. A single candle burned on the little table and they sat on their beds and waited for what they hoped might come.

The team was already in place, waiting for darkness and a magic window to step through time and arrive at the chateau in 1805. Terry was convinced it would happen tonight. He’d felt it all day and so had Max.

Toni moved up beside Terry where he leaned on a tree. “I’ve never seen you in makeup before,” she whispered.

“Do ya like it? Maybe I’ll start wearing it.”

“You’ll scare little Jacky.” She slipped an arm around his waist, thinking about their son.

They were in the woods behind the house, a good  fifty yards away, Max sitting cross- legged against a tree and Connie beside him. She was to go back to the van in a little while and wait.

“Don’t let anything happen to you, Max. Now that I’ve found you I couldn’t bear it.”

“I’ll be okay. I’m not the one scaling walls and rooftops. I’m the ground crew.” He smiled and hugged her close. “Just be sure that motor is running when we come running.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep that motor warm.”

“Hmm?” Max smiled, raising his brows.

Terry’s keen eyes noticed the fog rolling in and he turned to Dino and nodded, “Wait for it. It’s coming.”

Max kissed Connie and sent her back to the van and they all moved forward to the edge of the woods.

Toni leaning against Terry, asked, “You’re not going to do anything…foolish tonight, are you, daredevil antics and such?”

“Nothing foolish. I’ll do what I’m trained to do and you remember…silence. One scream from you and the whole thing could turn ugly. Dino and I are going up once you locate him and you are to stay with Max. You hear that, Max?”

“I’ll keep her under control.”

They were silent as the fog closed in, seemed to swirl before their eyes, and cleared enough they could make out the chateau’s lights ahead.

“There it is,” Dino said quietly. “God-damn son-of-a-bitch.”

Part 5:

Dino and John Paul moved out quickly through the mist to the gardens and taking shelter in the shrubs, were to assess the situation. They watched one man come out, take a piss and go back inside. “One pisser,” Dino said into his mike.

“We’re coming in,” Terry replied and taking Toni’s hand they set off running for the gardens with Max behind them. Breathing fast, Terry looked at Toni. “Anything?”

At the moment Toni looked up a candle appeared  behind the grating high up in the roof. “He’s up there. That’s him.” She bit her lip.

“He would take a fuckin’ penthouse suite!” Dino growled.

Terry looked up at the wall. They would have to do it, make it to the roof and rappel down. “Okay, Max, stay here until you need to move." He looked at Toni, kissed her hard and moved out with Dino to the chateau.

Max shifted the uncomfortable rifle on his shoulder. He’d never shot anything but skeet in his life and hoped he didn’t have to use it tonight. Max moved them out to the edge of the gardens so they could watch Dino and Terry climb the wall of the chateau. They were hidden in a group of junipers and sat down on the ground. Jean Paul was a few bushes over, where he had a view of the back of the house.

“Oh, my God!” Toni whispered when she saw Terry and Dino begin the climb up the wall, feeling for hand holds and foot holds. “How can they do that?”

“Like rock climbers, Toni. They’ll go all the way to the roof top. He’s good, our Terry.”

“Two pissers,” came over Max’s earphone and he peeped around the junipers, suddenly tense. Toni felt him tense up and looked at him.

“What is it?” she whispered.

“Shh!” He pushed her back into the junipers and unshouldered his rifle. If anybody came around the house now they’d see the two men on the face of the wall. They couldn’t see the doorway from where they were positioned or the men but they could hear them talking and laughing. The east wing jutted out at an angle toward the front of the house and unless they walked out into the gardens and looked upward Dino and Terry were safe. It was a tense moment until Jean Paul relayed, “Safe.”

Max breathed again, amazed at how calm he felt. Could he have done it, he wondered. He glanced at Toni. “All clear. Couple of blokes taking a piss.”

Just seeing Max with a gun did something to Toni and she placed her hand on his, met his eyes and  slowly shook her head. He smiled at her and went back to watching the two on the wall. They’d cleared the first floor.

“They’re here, Stephen,” Jack said and moved to the window with the candle.

“How do you know?” Stephen went to the window and looked out, seeing nothing below but the gardens.

Jack pointed to his heart. “I know…in here.”

“How do you think they’ll go about it? There must be twenty or more men here and some women as well.”

“I don’t know. Perhaps through the window. Would that I had worked on the grating instead of lying in bed.”

“Sit down, Jack, and hand me the shard. You should save your strength.”

He sat down heavily in the chair. Even walking across the room had left him nearly breathless. He shook his head as if he could shake away the weakness and dizziness he felt.

Stephen began chipping away at the mortar in earnest. Two of the four bars on the bottom were free but the mortar on the sides was not as soft and he was reduced to grating it with the shard, making a fine powder that drifted downward.

The powder drifted down onto Terry’s head and he looked up, momentarily freezing on the wall. Slowly he began to move again. It had been awhile since he’d climbed a wall and he resolved to get back into training once he got back home.  He’d gotten too soft, too much easy living, he told himself, ignoring the pain in his fingers. They were climbing without ropes until they could reach the roof and find a hold for the hooks they had on their backs with their other equipment.

Farther along, a half story above Terry, Dino paused and looked down. They’d started out side by side but Terry was lagging behind. There was nothing he could do for him and he hoped he had sense enough to quit  and wait for him to get to the roof and send him down a rope.

“Don’t push it,” Terry heard in his earphone and looked up. He’d quit when he knew he had to but not before.

“Max, I think Terry’s in trouble.” Toni had been watching them intently now that they were above the third story.

“He’s okay, Toni. He’s taking his time.” Max thought he was, too. He’d been watching him and hoping he’d just quit and stay put. Terry worked his way over to a window where he had a good foot hold on the top of it where stones jutted out and he stopped.

“Oh, shit!” Max said. Someone had come to the window where Terry was perched above. “Don’t move!” Max whispered. “Terry, somebody is at the window.”

Terry leaned in against the stones, getting his breathing under control. He didn’t answer Max but he didn’t move, either. A long minute later came, “Clear.” He looked up and saw the ledge of another window above him and thought if he could get to it he’d get inside.

“Max, window above. Any light?” he asked

“No, no bars, either.”

“Goin’ up and in.”

Toni held her breath as he began to move again. This was her husband, her everything, hanging on the side of that chateau wall by his fingertips. She couldn’t watch and buried her face in Max’s shoulder. Max tightened his arm around her.

“He’s good. He’s moving up. He knows what he’s doing.” So intent was he in watching Terry he didn’t see the man come around the east wing and stop to take a piss until he was adjusting his clothes. He’d come from the front of the wing. In one motion he pushed Toni back and brought his gun around. The man must have sensed something and began slowly walking toward the stand of junipers. Max crouched, ready to move and not quite sure what he was going to do.

“Qu’est-ce?”

Max slammed him in the temple with the butt of his rifle before the Frenchman could find out what it was. The man went down in a heap and Max jumped back in the juniper, looking towards where he’d come from. There was no one else there.

Toni had her fist in her mouth, biting hard to keep from making a sound. Silence for a moment. “Is he dead?”

“I don’t know.” Gingerly he felt the man’s neck. “Alive. We need to tie him up or something.” Max dragged him into the junipers, ripped off the stock tied around his neck and stuffed it in the man’s startled, open mouth. He had some nylon rope in his backpack and a knife and did a good job of hogtying the Frenchman.

A moment later Toni asked, “Does he have to stay in here? He smells.”

“He’s French. They all smell.” His eyes were back on the wall where Terry had made it to the window. “He’s in!” he said into his mouthpiece. “One down over here.”

“Who is down?” Jean Paul wanted to know

“Frog,” Max answered

“What did he say?” Toni asked.

“Something very French,” Max smiled and touched her nose.

“Good onya, mate,” Terry commented.

“You in?” Dino asked.

“Yeah.” Terry cautiously moved through what appeared to be a bedroom and cracked open the door. He stood quietly for a moment, getting his bearings, remembering the layout and where the stairs were to the fifth floor. The hallway was dark but he could hear voices down below. There was a balcony-like thing farther down the hallway. Probably open to the downstairs, he figured. He would have to pass over that to get to the stairs.

It sounded to him like a party below, lots of laughter, and he could hear women’s voices from time to time as he backed and slid along the hallway, his back to the wall and feeling with his hands along the doorways and paneling. Finally he made it to the stairs, a narrow winding affair, and climbed upward to the fifth floor.

Dino made it to the roof  and after dislodging three shingles that fell to the ground, he found a chimney, wrapped his rope around it and secured it. He quickly strapped himself up and began rappelling downward until he reached the window Toni had indicated.

“Dr. Maturin, I presume…aren’t you gonna ask me in?” he grinned through the grating.

Stephen’s smiling face turned toward the door. Something had bumped against it, and again. The door opened and Terry walked through.

Jack was on his feet, leaning against the table. “Terry…”

Terry walked over to him, assessing  him as he moved. “Jack, the cavalry is here. We’ve come to take you home, brother.”

Part 6:

Stephen was explaining about the bars and Dino was testing them. “Terry, see if you can push these bars out.”

Terry gave them a kick and the two loose ones gave way. Dino worked from the outside, passing bits inside and soon an opening was made large enough for him to pass through.

“Who’s first?’ he asked, brushing a bit of mortar off his sleeve.

“You mean to take us out through the window, but how?” Stephen asked.

“Doc, we’ll strap you to a rope and let you down, okay?” Dino looked him in the eye.

“But Jack will never fit though that opening.”

“He’s right, Dino." Terry said. "You take the good doctor down. I’ll get Jack out.”

“He’s very ill, Terry, and weak.”

“I can make it. Show me the way.” Jack looked at Terry.

“Think you can go down a rope?” Terry asked him, thinking he might get him out of the fourth floor window.

“Yes.”

“He can’t,” Stephen spoke up.

“God rot you, Stephen! I will do what I have to! ” Jack shrugged on his coat.

“Max, sending the doc down.”  Dino had him strapped into the rope and helped him out the window, telling him what to do. Stephen was mortified but followed instructions.

From the ground Max and Toni watched Stephen begin down rappelling here and there, dangling , swinging back and forth. It took him some time to get down  to where Max grabbed his legs and he let go of the rope.

“Oh, thank you!” he said, grabbing Max around the shoulders. Max unstrapped him and sent the rope back up.

“Dr. Maturin…Jack?” Toni asked, pulling him into the juniper.

“He’s very ill, very weak. Some kind of fever has set in. He coughs.” Stephen was still trying to catch his breath.

“He’ll never make it down from up there.” Toni looked up toward the window where Dino was pulling up the rope.

“No, Terry has him.”

Terry found out just how weak Jack was going down the narrow winding stairs. He stumbled several times and Terry had his arm around him supporting him until they reached the  hallway. Silently they moved across the opening. It took longer going back to the bedroom because he had to practically carry Jack the last few feet.

“What are you doing?" Jack wheezed once inside the bedroom and the door had been braced with a chair.

Terry hooked a rope to the huge bedstead. “Getting’ you down, mate.” He began strapping Jack into the rope.

“I don’t need this. I can climb down a damn rope.”

“Fuck you can! You listen to me! Do what I tell you. Use your legs, okay? You’re gonna rappel down. You ain’t gonna fall, Jack, I won’t let you. Toni’s down there waiting for you.”

“Toni?”

“Yeah, and I got to get you down there in one piece. You gotta help me.” They looked at each other for a moment and Jack moved to the window opening.

He came down good but once Max had his legs, he fell into him, knocking Max to the ground. With his last bit of effort Jack rolled off Max and passed out.

Stephen ran over to him “He’s fainted! It was too much.”

“We have to move him…what was that?” Max stopped in his tracks and edged toward the corner of the house. He was back in a minute. “It’s a horse and carriage. Jack is never going to make it to the van. Can we load him in the carriage? Can you drive it, Stephen?”

“Yes, of course I can.”  Max and Stephen got Jack to his feet and dragged him along the side of the building with Toni following.

“Toni, you know the way to the van. Go with them.” Max loaded Jack into the carriage and lifted Toni in with him. “Tell Connie to get the motor going.” He closed the door and Stephen took off at a clip.

Dino and Terry were on the ground by the time he got back.

“Where’s Jack,” Terry asked, “and Toni?”

“I put them in a carriage. Stephen is going to drive them to the van. There was no way Jack was going to make it, Terry. He fainted. It was an empty carriage waiting out front.”

“Okay, let’s move out. Jean Paul, we’re out.”

Once out of the gardens they ran toward the woods through the mist that seemed to linger over the bare ground. They tossed their gear in the back and waited for the carriage.

“Oh. Max, I am so glad to see you!” Connie was kissing him all over his face.

“You’re okay?” he asked.

“Yes, I was worried. It took such a long time.”

“We got them out. Dr. Maturin is bringing Jack and Toni in a carriage. Toni knows the way.”

Terry was pacing back and forth over the narrow road, smoking a cigarette waiting…waiting.

“That was a fine piece of work, mate.” Dino clapped him on the back.

“You think so?”

“What’s up, Tio?”

“I don’t know yet. How long does it take for a horse and carriage to make it to this road?”

“They’re coming. Hey, what’s that sound? Clip clop…”

Terry looked down the road as the horse and carriage approached. He also noted the mist across the road. “Come on….come on!” He tossed his cigarette down and ran toward the carriage. Stephen had stopped  the carriage off the side of the road, jumped down and walked toward Terry.

“Oh…Christ!” Terry yelled. “TONI!”

Stephen turned and the mist surrounded the carriage swirled and lifted. 

ON TO AUBREY: LOST AND FOUND

BACK TO BIEBE: WAITING FOR THE FREEZE

BACK TO SKINNER: LONDON MAGIC

BACK TO SKINNER: BOUQUET

BACK TO SKINNER: FINDING GROUND

BACK TO SKINNER: COLD REALITY

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