“Good day, senoritas. Is there something here that I can help you with?”
“Good day, senor. Perhaps there is. Do you know who sailed this ship to Barcelona?”
“Why yes senorita, it was me.”
“Did you have any passengers, a tall young man, a Scot?”
“No senorita. I bought my ship back from a tall Scot by the name of Angus McCloud. He took it at sea as a prize after pirates who had taken it had attacked his ship.” His bright demeanor changed a bit when he saw how crestfallen this beautiful lady suddenly became. Then suddenly he said “Ah! I recognize you! You’re Senorita Vasquez! I sold passage on this ship to you and your lovely companion here. Your aunt and uncle were passengers too. Oh I speak too soon. My apologies senorita Vasquez. I forgot that they were killed by those pirates. My apologies.”
“That’s all right, Senor.”
“My ship was at the center of quite a story. It was big news at Marseille. Oh, I have newspaper accounts of a lot of it. Please wait here while I go aboard and get them.” He hustled up the gangplank and disappeared below the aft deck. Shortly he reappeared carrying a small bundle of newspapers.
“Here take these senorita. I was there getting cargo and getting cosmetic repairs done on Tico. That young man you asked about, that Ian; he oversaw the major repairs on Tico and I must admit he did a good job of that. But anyway, there are lots of newspapers here for you to go through. I thought I saw a story about a wedding taking place aboard the McCloud ship, uh, I cannot recall her name…… Elsie……?”
“Elsie’s Cloud.” Alandra furrowed her brow, her eyes looking out to sea.
“Yes, that is it. Elsie’s Cloud. You may keep these, senorita.”
“Gracias, senor, gracias. Good day senor.”
Alandra turned and walked with Celita back to shore and they turned, walking until they found a bench near the bazaar and shops. There she sat and read through them one by one. It took a while for her being as they were French newspapers. Suddenly she gasped and stiffened. The pile of newspapers slid unnoticed from her lap as she clutched one. Celita saw that the color had drained from her face. Tears welled up in her eyes and she seemed to wilt. Her shoulders began to shake as she sobbed. Celita held her, rocking her back and forth, trying to console her.
“What is it Alandra? What is it?”
Alandra couldn’t answer but just continued to sob uncontrollably, leaning on Celita. The gut wrenching sounds seemed to be wrung from her very soul. Celita had never seen or heard such grief.
“Ian….. Ian is alive Celita. He….. has….. has…. m…. married, Celita. Ian has married someone.”
There were only the sounds of the sea washing against the breakfront, the seagulls calling, the hubbub of the market place and the sound of a girl, sobbing on a bench by the seaside.
***
Ian spoke then “Come outside Celeste. I’ll show you something.’ They all went outside to the iron grating and stood upon it. Celeste looked up and took both Ian’s and Cosette’s hands. She stood still for only a few seconds, and then she said “He came from there.” as she pointed off to the east towards a distant wooded hill. Marie said “Let’s go to the maintenance building over there and change our clothes.”
Within a quarter of an hour, the five emerged wearing dark clothing. The women wore pants All had sashes rigged for pistols, but all weapons were in a large bag that Ian carried. They got into the coach and directed the driver to drive back to the base of the distant hill.
Once there, Henri instructed the driver to wait until they came back. Ian put Celeste on his back and started into the woods winding his way up the hill. The others followed. They walked a mile back into the woods. It was a steady but gentle climb. Ian let Celeste direct him and she corrected him a bit from time to time. They finally encountered a dirt road and followed it until they saw a large wooden house. It was a badly neglected place, and was boarded up really well with large timbers. They backtracked to a large thicket and Ian put Celeste down. They all looked at her.
“The Bad Men are inside. There are nine of them. Another man is with them, but he isn’t like them.”
“Very good, Celeste, I’ll take you back now to the carriage. You’re to go to Caryn’s and say nothing of this. We know what to do.”
“The girls are gone, Ian.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. They left three nights ago when Bridgett was brought. She was the last one they needed.”
“How many did they have?”
“Five.”
“Do you know where they went?”
She pointed to the east.
“Thank you, Celeste. I’ll take you back now.”
“They weren’t like the Bad Men that took me, Ian.”
“What does that mean?”
“They were like the driver of our coach, not like the Bad Men in this house. Not as strong or fast. They were in a dark blue coach with four horses. There were only two of them.”
He kissed her forehead saying “Thank you Celeste.”
Removing his boots and socks he stood, swinging her to his back. “Now Celeste, you hang on real tight, and keep your legs around my middle. Ready?”
“Yes.”
He leapt away and gave her a moment to adjust to the speed he was building to. She was aware of trees going past her in a blur and the wind a roar in her ears. Her eyes began to shed tears from the wind velocity. Ian kept two hands on top of hers for safety. She laughed in his ear “Oh Ian, this is so fun. This is something you and Cosette do isn’t it?”
“Yes, little one. We run a lot like this.” He leaped high over a creek that was down in between two high banks and smoothly landed. They came in sight of the carriage and Ian slowed down to a human trot and took her to the door. It was barely a minute since they had left the others.
“Take her to Caryn Rochelle’s place and do walk her in. Do you understand?
“Oh yes, monsieur. I know Miss Rochelle very well. I am her preferred driver.”
Celeste nodded and Ian said “We won’t see you very soon.”
“You go to find the girls, as you went to find us.”
“Yes.”
She threw her arms around his neck and kissed both of his cheeks several times, saying “that is for Cosette, Marie, Henri, and Li too.”
Ian laughed and said “I’ll give them to Marie and to Cosette, but I won’t be kissing Li or Henri!”
She giggled and got into the coach, waving out the window and smiling. He watched it depart then returned to the woods. In barely a minute he had rejoined the others.
It had been decided to breach the place by way of the windows on the second floor. Li and Henri had already circled the place from way back in the trees, looking for a way in. The place was securely boarded up and sealed. Somebody didn’t want anyone coming into that house from the ground level. The front porch roof and the two windows above it had to be the way in.
Ian spoke then. “These aren’t likely to be Adepts. Look at how dark they keep the place.” A short discussion ensued and it was decided that even if one got past them, they could easily get him in daylight as he was not likely to be an Adept.
They all looked to Ian. “Check your pistols now. We all go in with a saber in one hand and a pistol in the other.” As he spoke, he went from one to the other checking their weapons. “When you fire the first one, just drop it and transfer the saber to your right hand if you’re going to need it. If not, remember to cock the second pistol as you pull it out of your sash. And as much as I hate it, we must cock our pistols before we climb inside. They might hear us otherwise. We don’t know where they are in there. Now be ready and keep your wits about you. Remember that we need to keep one alive for questioning. Are we all ready?”
Everyone nodded and Ian met each ones’ eyes and nodded back. After embracing both Cosette and Marie he nodded curtly to Henri an
d Li and streaked for the house. Landing on the roof as light as a cat, he tried the right hand window and it slid up noiselessly. He heard the others behind him and cocked his pistol. Seeming to flow through the window he looked around quickly and advanced in a crouch, watching the door of the room he had entered. In seconds the other four were with him. He looked at each one and they all nodded to him. Moving stealthily towards the door he very slowly eased it open and peered through. The place was dark, but his eyes had adjusted already. He held his finger to his lips and eased through the doorway into a long hallway that went to an open staircase.
They silently checked and cleared each room. He crossed the staircase and saw nothing down there. Ian regarded the staircase, being afraid it would creak as they descended it. It had a large heavy balustrade of oak. He whispered to everyone to un-cock their pistols and to secure them really tight in their sash. Smoothly he hopped up on the balustrade and stooping, he did a handstand and walked on his hands down the handrail. It was solid and never let out a sound. He easily let himself down at the landing and drew his weapons. Slowly in a crouch he moved away from the staircase toward the nearest door. There he paused to wait on the others.
Each one of the others did as Ian did and descended the handrail, walking on their hands without making a sound. They were all on the main floor now and they followed Ian in a crouch as he glided silently from room to room. There was no one in any rooms. He beckoned them closer and whispered “Unless Celeste is wrong, they’re in the cellar. We might kill them all. They’ll have to get past us to get out. Everyone cock their pistols now before we open that door. Ready now?”
Everyone nodded and Ian glided to the door leading to the cellar, under the main staircase. He eased it open as slowly as he could.
Chapter 41
They were all assailed by the smell of blood, seeing some light and hearing voices. He gestured to Li to come behind him and nodding to everyone, he started to creep down the steps, hoping not to step on one that was creaky. He neared the bottom and then a step creaked slightly. Everyone froze in place. The voices continued talking and Ian could hear them now quite well. He held up his hand and made a fist. Everyone froze, listening.
“So who did Pelleau say was paying for those girls?”
“He was pretty tight-lipped about it. He did say it was some rich bastard in Lyon who owned nearly half of that place.”
“Sounds like Marcel Francoise. Rich family and I hear they like strange diversions.”
“Their gold is as good as any other mans’.”
Ian beckoned them forward again as he glided down to the last steps. He silently glided around the corner and stopped briefly when he saw why they were all down in the cellar. A corpse hung upside down from a beam overhead. It was directly over the center of the table. His throat had been cut and he was bleeding into a cup held by one of the vampires. The others had cups in front of them and waited their turn. Then Ian heard a gurgling sound and a cold chill ran down his spine as he realized that the man was still alive. They were bleeding him alive so that his heart would speed up the grisly work of pumping his life’s blood out to be consumed by the nine.
He glided silently toward the knot of vampires sitting around the large table that were waiting for their turn to drink even as he saw the eyes of the victim roll his way and widen just a bit. The poor man saw him and fastened his eyes on Ian’s. He had nearly reached the table when one saw him and shot up out of his seat. Ian’s pistol thundered as a hole appeared right between his eyes. Li had moved to be beside him as they had silently glided the last thirty feet toward the table, firing at the next one shooting him through the throat. The other seven exploded from their chairs in a blur of motion. Ian took off the next one’s arm below the elbow. He ran him through and hacked the next one across the neck nearly cleaving his left shoulder from his body. They were screaming with rage.
Ian felt the thrill of combat surge through him as he moved to the next one who was retreating with a drawn knife. All the others had drawn their knives. Li was hacking down the next one when Henri appeared between Ian and Li and shot one through the head. By then Ian had leaped the table to pursue one and had caught him trying to circle back to the stairs. Taking a cut across his chest, nonetheless he cut him down nearly shearing a leg off at the knee and following that by cutting off his arm as he tried to lunge back towards Ian with his knife. He roared in pain as Ian hacked off his other arm and turned to leap back across the basement into the thick of it.
Li had hacked another one down with excellent swordplay and had cut his arm off. Marie shot one through the throat and then dropped her pistol and using two hands she cut his head off with her saber. Cosette shot one in the chest and Li took him from behind and twisted his head half off, breaking his neck. Cosette then leaped across that body to kick another one in the face who had regained his feet and found his knife. She leaped on his chest, taking a stab wound in her side. Jamming her pistol into his mouth as he roared, she blew the back of his head off. On her feet in a blur of motion she fluidly drew her saber and using both hands, cut off the vampire’s head, kicking it into a corner. She spun to assist Marie who had one backed into a corner and the two proceeded to hack him to pieces, Marie at last lopping off his head.
Ian pivoted in time to see Henri fire his second pistol point blank into the chest of one. He then drove a knee into his mid-section and followed up with a sword thrust to the throat. Li had hacked off another arm of one still fighting and Cosette leaped on his back and slit his throat with such force that his head nearly fell off. He flopped about on the floor, gurgling as he tried to scream, his head flopping about held to his body only by the bones of his neck.
There were only four on their feet now. Ian and Li moved in on them and Ian pulled his second pistol, shooting his target through the head. He then chose another one, following with a devastating sword attack in which his blade was a blur, slashing his target to shreds, ending with him lopping off the head of that one.
Li likewise was all over his target who tried to defend himself with a knife in vain as Li cut his hand off at the wrist. Cosette was plunging her knife into one so fast that her arm was a blur as her target screamed and threshed violently. Ian leaped towards him sweeping his feet from one side. As he hit the floor, Ian drove his foot down on the vampire’s throat so hard that he crushed his windpipe, choking off his screaming. Swiftly he decapitated that one.
Marie was hacking one mercilessly, her blade also a blur. Henri shot that one point blank in the head with a pistol he pulled from Marie’s sash. The gunpowder smoke hung in the air so thickly that it was hard to see, but none of the nine had made it up the stairs. Five of them lay bleeding, gurgling and moaning, even as some of their wounds began to close.
Ian shouted “Anyone hurt?” and got no answer so he said “Henri, can you find one that can talk and pin him with your sabers? Cut off a foot if you want to.” Ian went to the table to see if the victim was still alive. He was dead.
He turned away slowly. His anger built as he flew about the cellar eyes blazing, his blade and arms a blur of motion. There arose an unearthly chorus of screams. In seconds the remaining hands of the five other vampires were severed, and kicked into the farthest corner of the cellar
Shouting above the din Ian said “Li stand this one up if you please.”
Li stood the designated one up and Ian stepped forward and using two hands struck his head from his body. They proceeded through the remainder who howled and cursed. Cosette, Henri, and Marie held one skewered, pinned to the floor in the other room. He was one with his face and throat still intact, but missing an arm and foot. They held him down with their three sabers through his chest. Henri put one foot on his remaining leg while Marie put one foot on his remaining arm.
Ian had just lopped off the fifth head. The heads lay all staring, their eyes rolling while they tried to scream. It was the stuff of
nightmares. He then came to Cosette and Marie with concern. “Are either of you cut?
Marie said “Yes. Both of us are, but the cuts are beginning to close. We’ll refresh ourselves outside when this is done.”
He looked to Cosette who nodded. He saw that her blouse was cut viciously across her abdomen. She said “Ian, you are cut in three places!”
“I’ll be all right.” He grimaced then as he had not realized until then that he was cut. “How are you?”
“I’m all right, Ian. Marie is cut on both arms.”
“Henri?”
“Just my thigh and my shoulder.”
“Li?”
“Just my chest and left arm.”
“Li, why don’t you relieve Cosette and Marie? We have some unfinished business with this one. Marie, why don’t you and Cosette go outside?”
“No. I want to hear what this piece of sewage has to say.”
Ian looked to Cosette who nodded. Without a word he looked around and found a forearm. He leaned down and placed it under the one good leg of the vampire, raising it off the floor about three inches.
He then picked his way through the carnage out in the main room of the cellar, where he stepped over heads, arms and assorted grisly remains of the melee. The eyes of those severed heads focused on him, following his progress through the room even as their mouths tried to speak. It was a brutally macabre scene. He found the vampires foot by matching its boot to the one still on the one in the other room. Skewering it with his saber, he brought it to the vampire and jammed the ankle up against his leg stump and held it there. He signaled to Marie to release his one remaining arm. The vampire then grabbed the foot and held it there himself, still moaning as it began to knit itself back to his leg. “We can find your hand in here somewhere too, my friend.” He stepped back and said “Who hired you to get those girls?”