Looking at Li, Ian said “I told you that Marie thinks of everything.”
The time passed quickly. Marie and Cosette continued on to the orphanage after letting everyone off at the wharf district. Ian had asked to be let off at the jeweler’s shop for something he wanted to leave with the man. He had brought a small package along. Marie promised they would join them aboard Elsie when she finished her business at the orphanage.
At the orphanage, Marie and Cosette went immediately to the headmistress who took them to the dormitory where it had happened. Marie looked about the place and then said “You say that there was no sign of anyone forcing their way in?”
“Yes, Madame Lafayette. Well, there was some broken glass from that window there.” Marie and Cosette looked up at the window some twenty feet above the floor.
“Broken glass?”
“Yes, Madame. There was a pane broken out and glass lying there.” she said, pointing to a place beneath the window. “The window was latched though.”
“I see that the glass has been replaced, yes?”
“Yes, Madame. But it wasn’t broken though when the second girl went missing.”
“What? What second girl?”
“It just happened, Madame. I have the report completed. It’s waiting with the report about the window repair to be picked up by the courier.”
“And you say that this window was not damaged when this second girl was found to be missing?”
“No Madame. It was neither broken nor open.”
Cosette said “Excuse me, but the latch hasn’t been replaced.”
“Why is that?”
“The workmen didn’t have a latch for it. They thought there had been no latch there for a while. They said they’d find a latch for it and would bring it the next time something else needed repairing.” Marie regarded the window. Cosette was staring at it intently. Then she stepped back and looked at the nearest oak cross beam intently. “There is a black thread hanging there.” she said pointing at the beam where a tiny piece of thread was wedged under a burr in the roughhewn wood. Marie said “Maybe the workmen were up there to place a walk board to stand upon?”
“Yes, that could be it.” The headmistress wondered how the two could even see the thread they were talking about. The inspector hadn’t seen it, nor could she.
“And this last time when Mimi was found to be missing, this window was found to be intact?”
“Yes, Madame. It was intact and closed.”
“What did the inspector have to say about it?”
“He thought a bird had done it. He had seen that happen once before at a church.”
Marie stood and thought a while then nodding slowly she began to walk toward the door to the central hall outside of the dormitory. Cosette and the headmistress followed. Cosette said “Marie, it looks as if that latch hasn’t been missing for very long.” Marie turned and regarded Cosette, then looked back at the window as if seeing it for the first time. She stood like that a bit, and then she said “Very well, I’ll stop at the King’s Gendarmerie to see if Inspector Rousseau has any other details.”
About the time they left the dormer a little girl waiting in the hallway came to Marie and tugged on her dress.
“And who might you be?” she said as she and Cosette paused.
“Are you here because Mimi and Juliet are gone?”
Cosette and Marie both knelt and smiled at the little girl, then Marie spoke saying “I am, and who might you be?”
“I am Michelle.”
“Hello, Michelle. I’m Marie and this is Cosette.”
“Hello. You have pretty eyes. Turning to Cosette she said “You do too.”
“Well thank you Michelle. You have very pretty eyes too. Did you want to tell us something?”
“Yes.”
Marie and Cosette raised their eyebrows and waited for the little girl to speak.
“I thought I was dreaming but I was not dreaming. The Bad Man with the shining eyes took Juliet and Mimi”
Chapter 26
The longboat rowed away from the ship a short distance, and then its single sail was unfurled to catch the breeze. It picked up some speed and began a series of tacking maneuvers accompanied by the rowing of the crew. The ship unfurled its’ sails and weighed anchor. Slowly and majestically it moved out of the harbor. The two moved apart, the longboat moving toward the shore while the ship moved southward.
Alandra stood on the starboard side, watching Barcelona begin to recede as the ship gathered speed. Her mother and father stood beside her, both with their arms around her. She leaned her head on her fathers’ shoulder.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the Rodriquez family. I really have missed Spain while I was in France. I think this trip to Almeria will do all of us good. You two will see.”
Alandra took a deep breath and sighed. She was thinking back to when she was offered the chance to steer a ship. She became warmer inside at the memory of standing at the helm of Tico with Ian close behind her, his arms around her as he helped her hold the helm. As she drifted back reviewing those magical memories, she recalled the line of his jaw, his brow, and his frosty blue eyes that seemed to peer into her very soul. His eyes could twinkle magically if he was amused at something while at other times they could have a penetrating look about them as if he could see inside of one.
She relived sitting on the bowsprit of Tico while Ian sat holding her from behind, his strong arms around her waist, she lying back against him, feeling so warm and content, so....as if she belonged there and nowhere else. Then there were the kisses. Madre de Dios! What a thrill, the fire that had run through her body! Even now she was stirred at the memory. She somehow knew that she would never feel that way again with anyone else.
She had wanted so to return to Marseille and to look for Ian. Her father had forbidden it vehemently. She’d finally agreed to this trip. She hoped to see some things to fill her life enough so that she didn’t cry herself to sleep every night. Perhaps Papa was right. Perhaps this excursion to Almeria would do her good. No doubt she needed to get away from the Villa after all. She knew the motive for her fathers’ insistence in going to Almeria, but didn’t mind seeing Philippe’ again. He was pleasant company and had a sunny disposition, only being a bit too excitable at times it seemed. This could be a good thing, and certainly better than lying in her bed at home all day. There were miles of good places to ride horses, and lots of shops and sights to see. She sighed deeply again and resolved to make the best of it.
***
“You say that you have three girls now, LeClerc?”
“Yes.”
LeBlanc shifted uncomfortably, grimacing in pain. His arm was splinted and might never heal properly. His broken ribs hurt at the least movement and breathing was even painful. He was drunk and his speech was slurred.
“You’re still in much pain, LeBlanc?”
“Yes. That damned sailor threw me around like I was a wench. Damn his eyes! If ever I get a chance I’ll have my revenge on him.”
“You mean we will have our revenge on him. He and that bitch vampire stuck me full of holes so that I could barely see for the pain. If I find him, I’ll kill him. You can count it a favor. And where the hell did she come from? And what was she doing there at that time of night? If I ever see her again she’ll wish I hadn’t. I’ll always be carrying this from now on” he said, pulling out a curved knife over a foot long. “I thought that maybe she wanted to feed, maybe hadn’t fed in days and just thought to take my kill. But there was another man there that she could have had. I don’t understand any of it.”
“Well we can nose around and try to learn their whereabouts after we conclude this business tonight. That sailor’s ship is still in the harbor. I spoke to an attorney. He told me later that day that he wouldn’t take my case. Seems some well-placed lawyer has taken that seaman’s case already. Enough about that. I need, no, must
have five girls by tonight.”
“I know where to get the last two tonight. I’ll have help. We’ll bring the five to you here, as planned?”
“Yes. I’ll have a carriage and drivers waiting. You’ll be paid in gold coin as agreed. Here is a small sum now to show my good faith.”
LeClerc took the small leather bag and counted the coins inside. With LeBlanc so drunk, he might just loosen his tongue a bit about this ‘client’ that he had been so secretive about. “Who would pay even this sum for five urchins?”
“Someone who doesn’t want to have five urchins suddenly missing where that same someone lives.” LeClerc said as he downed another one.
“Sounds like a ritual of some kind.”
“The Francois brothers are known to be…… peculiar…. bizarre perhaps.”
“The Francois of Lacoste’?”
“Yes, no. That is the Marquis de Sade, Donatien Francoise.”
“I thought he was in jail.”
“He was, but he’s out now. Rich bastards always bribe their way out it seems. But these five are to be taken to their place in Lyon for his brother, Marcel. I suppose he wants to be further from the crown and its agents when indulging in his… pastimes.”
“His gold is as yellow as the next man’s. What do I care? We could bring them here two hours after midnight.”
“That will be perfect.”
“It will be done. And tell your friends that we can supply their needs easily any time at all. We need little advance notice. I know a place where I can get these girls like picking apples from a tree.”
Chapter 27
“Longboat approaching, sir.” Angus looked and saw two ladies in a longboat. Marie and Cosette he thought. Both had large parasols opened. The six crewmen of the craft were rowing really hard and fast. He thought six oarsmen? They must be in a hurry for some reason!
“Prepare to take aboard passengers, port side!” he ordered. Two boatswain’s seats were swung over the port side via the two port side cargo booms. Ian, Henri, and Li had walked to join Angus and all were now waving at the craft as it neared. The two ladies waved in return.
Soon the two were swung aboard and greeted all. “We must talk privately now!” Angus led them to the aft deck and they ascended the steep staircase up to the helm area. No one was about that part of the ship as the workmen were covering the canopy amidships.
Marie explained the situation quickly but thoroughly. Ian said “LeClerc?” Henri said “Maybe, but it could be another. There is more than one in Marseille like LeClerc.” Angus looked askance at him, raising his eyebrows.
Ian then spoke “I have an idea.”
“Let’s hear it.” said Henri.
“Some of us can watch the orphanage and some can watch the Red Dolphin. Whoever of us sees LeClerc first can follow him while one comes to get the others. How far is the Red Dolphin from the orphanage?”
“Four miles.” said Marie, and then she continued “Why not all wait at the orphanage?”
Henri said “We want to find where they’ve taken the others. If we kill them or chase them away, we’ll never find those two girls.”
“But are they alive?”
Ian and Henri both said “Yes.” at the same time, and looked at each other.
“Why do you say that?” Henri looked at Ian who said “We have to assume that they are for their sakes. Besides, how much easier is it to just kill some drunk, drink his blood, and then slash his throat and turn out his pockets? Why would any vampire risk waking up an entire dormitory full of screaming children just to feed? There just has to be more to this than we know, and LeBlanc might be the key. Is he selling them into slavery, maybe smuggling them out to end up in Morocco or Libya?”
Angus spoke up then “By Heaven, I will gut that bastard like a fish myself if that’s true! Oh, I apologize for the language ladies.”
“No apologies necessary, Angus. Ian is right.” said Henri. “There has to be more to it, and I would bet that money is changing hands.”
A discussion ensued in earnest and within a half hour a plan was made whereby Angus would keep watch over the Red Dolphin. They would watch from the roof of a warehouse which Henri owned and would have horses ready to go summon the others. The vampires would all be watching the Angel’s Care orphanage to see if another attempt would be made to kidnap another girl.
Some hours later a wagon with four horses arrived at a warehouse near the Red Dolphin. There was a large tarpaulin covering the cargo. The driver unlocked the warehouse door and pulled the team and wagon inside, closing the door. In a half hour, the wagon left, but had only two horses pulling it.
Two beautiful ladies had several packages of clothes put into a rented carriage. There was no driver and none needed. No livery would even raise a question to Madame Marie Lafayette about why she didn’t need a driver or why she needed the rig and team overnight. They had already changed clothes in the store where Marie had bought them. The ladies drove off into the evening with their packages piled in the carriage.
At dusk, a carriage pulled up at the pier where two seamen loaded a long crate into it. Henri drove and Ian sat alongside him. Li was inside the carriage sorting out weapons as the carriage moved off into the gathering darkness.
***
Night had fallen at Angels’ Care orphanage, and the hours passed until around an hour before midnight. Two shadows detached themselves from an area of deep shade under a grove of trees. They flitted to the side of the large building. Both rocketed upward, landing on the roof nearly simultaneously. One seemed to flow downward to a window high up in the gable end of one dormitory. Noiselessly it vanished into the building. The second shadow seemed to just flow down from the roof and also disappeared into the dark building.
In well under ten minutes one emerged, looking bulkier, and dropped silently three stories to the ground. It remained motionless. The second one came out looking bulkier and also dropped to the ground. It again leapt to the rooftop and seemed to flow down to the window stopping there. A second or two later, it dropped to the ground. The two shadows then leapt away from the building and ran rapidly to the north in the darkness. There was a full moon that night, but the clouds covered it.
They ran, darting around corners only twice and then staying on a long straight road leading away from the city. After only a few minutes they turned suddenly into a weed-choked lane and streaked up the driveway through dank vegetation. A dilapidated forlorn-looking two story house suddenly became visible as the clouds parted allowing the moonlight to fall upon it. The two leaped upward to land on a porch roof. In seconds they had vanished through a broken window.
***
In the dank dimly-lit cell, the two girls sat softly singing a song that Celeste had taught them. Suddenly the door at the top of the steps rattled and was unlocked and opened. Celeste said “Hush. Two bad men are here with two more girls. We’re to be freed tonight. Hush now.”
Two shadows with glowing eyes and carrying long bundles over their shoulders landed nearly soundlessly at the foot of the stairs. They came to the cell door and dropped their bundles even as one produced a key and unlocked the door. The two bundles were brought just inside of the door where their bonds were cut and their gags removed. The two little girls whimpered as the door was locked and five apples thrown into the cell. The two shadows rocketed up the stairs followed by the noise of the door closing and the lock being turned. Only the whimpering of the two could be heard. Then from the corner of the cell came a sweet voice saying “Hello Babette. Hello Cilia. I’m Celeste. Don’t be afraid. We leave this place tonight and will never see the Bad Men again.”
“How…. do you know that?”
“My angel told me in a dream. He told me your names and the names of these two sitting over here with me. He said that two more would come tonight, and then the man with blue eyes would come to free us.”
“You….you
have an angel that speaks to you?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know he’s an angel?”
“He not only told me the names of both of you, but he told me you two would come here together.”
“Did you see him in your dream?”
“Yes Cilia. I can’t see his face though because it is as bright as the sun. Everything he tells me happens. We’re leaving here tonight. The man with blue eyes is coming to set us free. Don’t be afraid.”
There was silence for a bit, and then Babette spoke saying “Who is this man with the blue eyes, Celeste?”
“His name is Ian, and he is nearby even now.”
***
The house at the end of the lane showed no sign of life or habitation. Indeed the whole place was dismal in the moonlight. Dank vegetation, weeds, and vines competed for every inch of space, vainly seeking more light by which to grow.
Five pairs of keen eyes surveyed the place. Henri whispered “It appears to be really boarded up well. Ian, come with me and we’ll see how well it is sealed.”
The pair flitted to the building. They parted and went silently around it, meeting on the opposite side, seeing a carriage and two horses sitting under some trees out back. Silently they made their way back to the others. Henri whispered then. “You two are still imprinting. You could have a faint spell or a disabling pain in there. So before we get into this thing, how are you both feeling?
Ian said “Let’s do this. I’m ready.”
Li said “I had a weak spell on the way over here. It wasn’t as bad as the others. I took blood. I think I’ll be at my best, no longer than this should take.”
Henri said “LeClerc is a very big and very strong vampire, as big as LeBlanc. We want to take him down first.” The two nodded. “Very well then. The house is boarded up with framing timbers and well fastened. Someone doesn’t want anyone getting into that place. Oh, there’s a carriage with two horses harnessed out back waiting. The girls have to be here. Why else would two or three vampires have transportation ready?”