They decided to go and see Celeste before they went back to the blacksmith shop that night. Li would accompany them, being as there was no sense going to see Sophia and then having to come up with an excuse to leave again that night.
They arrived at the Rochelle home and soon all were inside exchanging warm greetings. They took Caryn aside and told her about Cosette’s tragic death. She revealed that Celeste seemed to know when it happened as they made their way to her room.
They knocked and then walked in to see Celeste. She turned in surprise and with tears coming to her eyes, she ran to Marie and began to cry even as Marie held her gently and wept with her, rocking her.
She said “Yes child, it’s true. Our Cosette is dead.” Eventually she lifted her head and her beautiful doe eyes showed that she had been crying for some time now. She said “Oh Marie! Poor Ian! Poor Ian! Oh how bad this is for him! He was burnt so badly! Where is he?” Marie was a bit surprised because Celeste always knew when Ian was near or not. She never had to ask where he was before this. “Why, he’s at the chateau with Louis and Mustafa. He wanted to be the one to tell them himself, and his burns are healing very well.” Celeste nodded in understanding as Marie said “He promises to come see you the next time he comes to Paris. We don’t know when that will be though because he’ll be doing a lot of Henri’s banking business from now on.” That seemed to make her brighten appreciably.
Caryn took Marie aside and said “Celeste’s monthly cycle has started, Marie. Her body is now changing and she’s changing with it.” Marie instinctively knew that was the reason that Celeste seemed not to know where Ian was and had to ask. Somehow her prescient abilities had departed since she had entered puberty.
Henri produced the eyeglasses for Caryn’s approval and she gasped when she saw the workmanship. She put on her new pair and absolutely loved them. “This is going to be the fashion hit of the autumn season I can tell you that! Henri, you and Ian are geniuses. I am going to sell these things, just you wait and see! Oh my, I’m going to be envied soon because of this.” Henri thought you may have more Adept vampires for customers than humans for what these things cost.
They chatted pleasantly about various things including how well Celeste was doing in all her lessons. It was near dark when they said their goodbyes, telling Celeste that they were going to leave early the next day for the chateau, to be with Ian. She was sad to see them go but happy that they would soon be with Ian, which deeply touched Marie.
They were soon on their way back to Pelleau’s Blacksmith shop, deciding to leave the carriage nearby in a vacant lot that was hidden from the street by bushes. The horses had grass to eat and no one could see them from the street. Soon they had changed into their dark clothes and had their weapons.
Gliding down the dark side street they easily leaped over the fence landing silently in a large tree inside of Pelleau’s fence. Silently all three dropped into his back yard in the darkness. They crept along and soon had split up, their vampire senses straining to detect the presence either of their own kind or of humans. Soon they met up again and none had heard anything.
They were debating whether to begin breaking into one building at a time when they heard a carriage pull up outside in the front. Soon a man came to a narrow gate leading from the outside of the blacksmith shop to the back yard. A padlock was undone and the man came through heading to the building in the center of the back lot. He knocked softly and was let in. In under a minute, Pelleau and the man came out and went to a building adjacent to the shop itself. The three followed the men into the dark building. Soon there was the creaking sound of a trap door being lifted up. Then there was soft crying and whimpering heard. Marie tensed and would have killed them both then had Henri not held her back.
The two men emerged, each having a bundle over their shoulders and making their way to the front of the shop. Three dark figures glided along silently behind them. One put his bundle down and went for the carriage. Soon he had circled it to where it was stopped adjacent to the front entrance to the shop. Marie turned to Henri and whispered “Let me do this.” Henri nodded. He and Li glided in the dark to position themselves just inside of the doorway; one on each side to block any escape attempt.
The man came back in and stooped to pick up his bundle. Marie stepped forward from a shadow and kicked the man full in the face, knocking him cold. She turned as Pelleau entered the room and said coldly “Put that girl down you bastard.” Pelleau was startled and froze a second. He could barely make out a petite figure in the gloom standing motionless between him and the wagon.
“Why certainly, Mademoiselle.” He carefully laid the bundle over to one side and then turned to Marie. “You’ve got a lot of gall to come in here like this little woman. I think I should teach you some manners.”
“You’d first have to have manners in order to teach them, Pelleau.”
“You know my name then?” Pelleau struck a match and lit an oil lamp. Henri and Li faded back a bit further and crouched down. Pelleau turned and saw a petite blue-eyed lady wearing a dark top and a dark pair of men’s pants. She was standing empty-handed but with a pistol and dagger stuck in her sash. She saw his eyes go to the weapons.
“Not to worry, Monsieur Pelleau.” She said as she slowly drew both weapons out and even turned her back briefly to drop them in the wagon next to the door. She turned, stepping away from the wagon towards Pelleau. Again she stood motionless.
“You said something about manners, Pelleau?”
He lunged at her then saying “Wench! When I’m through with you…”
Marie met him with a blinding front kick to his groin that was so powerful that it brought him up on his tiptoes. In a blur of motion she then darted to her left and pivoted at blinding speed to her right extending her foot to hook his foot from under him. He roared and crashed to the floor doubling up in pain. About that time both doors of his shop closed and latched.
Marie was on top of him in a flash grabbing his hair in one hand and smashing his nose with her petite fist. She then dragged him back towards the entrance to the building where the two little girls had been held, using only one arm. He roared and cursed her, kicking and threshing as she dragged him even as he began to vomit.
Henri followed and Li stayed with the two girls. He untied them and calmed them, telling them that they were soon going to go to a new home and would never see this place again. Pointing down to the man lying unconscious on the floor he smiled, saying “He’s not coming with you.” Then he gave them a water skin to drink from, thinking that they might be thirsty. They took turns drinking from it and while they drank, he reached down and instantly broke the neck of the one lying on the floor. Coming to the wagon with a smile then, he said that his friends would return in a moment and they would leave that place forever.
In the other building Henri opened the heavy trap door. Beneath was a pit maybe ten feet long by six feet wide. Half of it was under a wooden floor and half was covered by the trap door. It was about six feet deep. Marie threw Pelleau into the pit and jumped in after him, landing on his chest. Henri tossed her the dagger from the back of the wagon.
“Who hired you to take these girls, Pelleau?”
“Rot in hell wench!” he said as he struggled to get up and reached up for her.
“Pelleau, your manners!” she said as she grabbed his reaching hand and sliced off his little finger so fast he couldn’t believe it. He bellowed and cursed her, drawing his hand back.
“Manners, Pelleau, manners!” He wailed and thrashed about. She stood to one side and kicked him in the teeth. He spit three teeth out, cursing. She stood back motionless, in typical vampire fashion. Three minutes of moaning passed then she said. “Pelleau, remember your manners now. It’s not polite to keep someone waiting who has politely asked a question. I’ll ask you again and I must say to you that I’m beginning to get a bit peeved. Who paid you to take those gi
rls?
“Why should I tell you?”
She reached down in a flash and sliced off his other little finger “Because I asked nicely you dunce.” Pelleau screamed again and thrashed around for some two minutes moaning. When his moans died down some she said “Pelleau, I’m about to lose my temper. Once I do, your manhood is going to be the next thing that I cut off. She reached down and took the hair of his head in one hand and struck him three times like a tiny sledgehammer. That splattered his nose all over his face. He hollered in pain crying out “Stop, stop! A pox on you!” She remained motionless and his moans subsided.
“Tsk-tsk-tsk. Such an ill-mannered boy.” She stooped and took her knife and cut his belt in a flash and ripped if off of his trousers. Henri tossed her a piece of rope left over from tying the girls. She handed the knife up to Henri and taking the rope she lashed his hands together in a split second and stretched his arms up by tying the rope to the frame of the trap door. She then ripped open his trousers and said to Henri “Mr. Pelleau here is learning how it feels to be helpless and tormented but his manners are still lax. My knife, please.”
“No! No! My God no!”
She paused and said “Did you say something, Pelleau?”
“His name is Julian Deroche.” He gave her the address and added that she was to go to the alley and knock at the back door. He said that Deroche was expecting the girls tonight.
Marie cut him loose and he collapsed, moaning and trying to hold the stumps of his missing fingers. She stooped and pulled him to his feet and then picked him up bodily over her head and threw him up out of the pit. Then she leaped up out of the pit and stood off to one side, saying “See how easy that was, Pelleau?”
Henri grabbed him and pulling him upright said “Can you stand on your own feet?”
“Y-y-yes, I can stand.”
“Good. That makes this easier.” He drew his saber and struck his head from his body in a flash.
Chapter 51
The wagon with two men in the seat rolled to a stop in the alley of a posh district of Paris. The hour was very late. A tarpaulin was pulled back revealing three bundles. The driver lifted a bundle to his shoulder and carried it to the service door of the place, and knocked. A servant came to the door and opened it a crack.
“Delivery for Monsieur Deroche.” The door opened and the man carried the bundle inside. The servant said “Are there not to be two deliveries tonight?”
“Yes. I’ll go back for the other as soon as I carry this one where Monsieur wants it.”
“Follow me then.” And he turned to walk a short distance and opened a door to the cellar. He carried the bundle down the steps to a cellar that was well lit, its’ floor was paved with brick. He turned the corner and saw an overweight man of maybe fifty years sitting on a bed with a glass of wine. He was wearing a gentleman’s evening jacket and his heavy-lidded cruel eyes gave away his true nature.
“Where is Dassault?”
“He twisted his ankle chasing this one. He’s in the coach with the other girl. I have to go up and get her now. We could take her back if your guest doesn’t come tonight. We’ll cut the price in half for a good customer like you Monsieur.”
“No need. I want two tonight.”
“Very well then, Monsieur.” He took his knife and cut the cords and pulled the wrapping blankets off, cutting her bonds. A small feminine form lay on the floor, facing away from Deroche. She had glossy black hair and was probably a little over five feet tall. Deroche got up and came around the bed to view her better. The man stepped away as if to go back upstairs for the other girl.
“She looks to be cleaner than the ones I’ve had in the past.” He stooped down and made to turn the girl over. Like a flash Marie leaped off of the floor and was behind him before he knew it. Her two small hands gripped his jowly face and turned his head nearly completely around. There was an audible snapping sound. “You’ve molested your last little girl you pig.” Li stepped to the corpse and put it on his shoulder. Marie looked about the cellar for a way out and found a firewood opening. She ripped it open and made it look like someone escaped from it by putting a table near it. Looking about she hoped to find a journal but failed, although she did find a purse with a goodly sum of gold coins and took it, tossing it to Li. She nodded to Li and flashed up the stairs, him behind her with the corpse on his shoulder. He dropped him about halfway up.
The King’s Gendarmes would say that it was another case of a man losing his balance on stairs and breaking his neck. Such a shame. The staff would pretend to know nothing for fear of being accused of being an accessory for their part in abducting orphans for the pervert they worked for. They would be relieved that the death of this Deroche was so neat and tidy.
Li and Marie looked at each other and smiled grimly, eyes aglow and glided out to the back entrance. Shortly Henri joined them, having slipped in when the servant was showing them to the cellar door. He waved a ledger book as he came up to them and kissed Marie. “There might be some information in here to help us track others. We’ve already taken the girls to Angel’s Care so what’s keeping us in Paris? We’ve no more leads and we have a long way to go to get home. Should we go on foot and just leave tonight, or go by coach tomorrow towards Dijon?”
“Let’s go home and let Li go see Sophia. They can come home by coach after they see all of Paris that they want to. I want to see Ian and the boys.”
“Then home it is for us. Li you have the key to our place. Stay as long as you and Sophia like but be sure to dismiss the staff when you leave. They know what to do when we go away. And do stop to see Celeste at least once while you’re here.”
“What about the carriage?”
“You need to take this rental carriage back after you dump those two bodies. Just leave the blue one that we took from Francoise’s guests where it is. Someone will steal it eventually and that will be the end of that loose end. I led the horses to a large field outside of Paris. Someone now has four matched carriage horses. We’ll see you at the chateau.”
They said their goodbye’s then and Marie and Henri were off, rocketing away into the night.
***
At dawn the next day they were approaching the chateau and shortly they surmised that they had company Not long after changing into fresh clothing they met Anna and Jacques, who introduced themselves since Ian was absent.
The talk turned to politics and markets. Henri finally said “I know the name Fellman from banking. I don’t suppose that you’re related to the banking Fellman family are you?”
Anna said “I am the Fellman banking family, I and my son Serge. My husband Johannes is dead now seven years. We still hold all the shares of the banks my husband’s father founded.” Henri drew her into a conversation about banking, international drafts, and the problems of them being honored at one place and refused at another.
“Henri, I’m returning to Lausanne after this trip and I’d like to take a proposal to study. We only have a small piece of the Swiss banking pie, but we do have partners too. Would you be so kind as to draw up one for me to take home?”
“Why yes, Anna. It would be my pleasure. I’ll send Ian when you’re ready to discuss it if it meets your approval.” Anna nodded her approval with a smile, thinking oh please do send Ian! That meets with my approval all right!
Anna felt a warming deep inside of her, a feeling she hadn’t had since Johannes had died. She thought Now Anna; you naughty lady. Don’t think about this young man as a silly school girl would. But would a school girl think what I’m thinking? At those thoughts, her internal temperature did start to rise. I hope I’m not blushing now!
That evening Marie played her harpsichord and Ian got to dance with Anna. He enjoyed himself more than he thought he would. For her part, Anna felt an electrical tingling when Ian held her hand at times. Oh my, Anna. Where is this going? Uncle Jacques will want to get home and I must go with hi
m and stay there awhile. Too bad. Anna, you are so very naughty, but it’s such a delicious thought!
Two days later they announced that they were leaving for Nice, but they promised to stop by on their return to Switzerland. Anna was thrilled when Ian hugged her good bye and kissed her cheek. She thought oh my! I hope my internal temperature isn’t showing!
The time passed quickly enough for Ian what with him spending so much time with the boys. He asked for the green ledger book that had belonged to Francoise. After studying it, he came to Henri and Marie late one afternoon and told them he was traveling on foot to find and kill the men who had furnished the horses for Francoise.
***
Ian returned seventeen days later and reported that he had killed seven men and eight drivers who had furnished horses for the kidnappers and driven the carriages. He had started with Aristide and had forced him to divulge others that he knew before killing him and had worked his way back toward Paris until getting the last one and returning to the chateau. The trip was punctuated by travel on foot which Ian liked for the distraction it provided.
While he was gone he had examined his life now with Cosette gone. What was keeping him from resuming the life he loved as first mate aboard Elsie’s Cloud?
He pondered this in between the fifteen killings and he had to admit that he enjoyed delivering every single death. He found a grim satisfaction in seeing the horror in the eyes of each man as he realized the supernatural power of the being who was about to kill them. It never helped the aching emptiness in his heart though, and he thought more and more about returning to Scotland after saying a final goodbye to everyone at the chateau.
So it was that he had returned and tried to take up his life there until a proper time would present itself for him to reveal his plans.
Marie came to Henri and voiced her concern about Ian.
“What is it?”
“I fear we’re losing him, Henri.”
“Losing Ian?”
“Yes. I fear he wants to return to Scotland. Maybe forever.”
He got a sorrowful expression on his face then, saying “What can we do, really?”