CHAPTER 56
The first stop Athos made on his mission to Dieppe was at the site where they had fought the guards on the road in the forest. It appeared no one had stumbled across the massacre yet, and for that he was grateful. The less attention they drew to themselves the better, which meant cleaning up the remains of this battle scene. Before he did that, he performed the distasteful task of searching the deceased guards, for he needed money to buy the medical supplies. If he came up empty handed, he'd have to figure out how to steal what he needed. Luck, or Father Biene's prayers, were still working because he found a few sacks of coins which he believed would be enough to purchase the supplies.
The other thing he did was remove the doublet of one of the guards. He donned it over his dark shirt to help hide the bloodstains from the slashes he received during the fight. Had the shirt he was wearing been lighter in color, the red would have stuck out like a sore thumb. Even though the shirt was dark in color and did a tolerable job hiding the stains, it still had a suspicious number of rents in it which might attract unwanted attention.
Wearing a jacket that identified him as one of the guards was a risk since he didn't know the townspeople's attitude towards their officials. The guard's jacket he shrugged into had one bullet hole near the heart but most of the unlucky man's blood had ended up on the man's shirt, not jacket. If no one studied it too closely, Athos hoped it would pass muster.
It wasn't easy and by the time he got all the dead bodies dragged off the road and into the undergrowth, he could list a half-a-dozen of his body parts that were extremely unhappy with him. However, the unpleasant task was done and hopefully the dead bodies wouldn't be easily spotted by anyone passing by. The last thing he and the injured Porthos needed was any more attention.
Breaking off a low, leafy branch, he swept the ground trying to mix the blood into the dirt so it wasn't quite so visible on the road's surface. As an added touch, he walked his horse back and forth over the area a number of times to further scuff the ground. Surveying his work from atop his horse, he decided it was good enough, so he turned the beast's head towards town and dug in his heels.
Riding swiftly, he did not slow the horse's gait until he neared the outskirts of Dieppe, where he pulled up so as not to attract undue notice. Athos had no idea where to find an apothecary as he steered his horse through the winding streets. When he came across a small market square, he dismounted and led the horse behind him as he examined the wares being offered by each merchant. He didn't expect to find any of the ingredients here, except perhaps the eggs.
He noticed, as he walked through the crowd, people moved aside with apprehension, telling him the guards in this town were probably feared more than respected. Getting into character, he plastered a scowl on his face, glaring at those around him. Finally, he came across an old woman near the far edge of the vendor stalls who was selling eggs. Stopping in front of her cart, he examined the eggs.
The woman, unlike the others he had encountered so far, seemed to have no fear of a guard, and in fact displayed outright distain for his mere presence. "What do you want?" the wizened woman demanded of him.
"Eggs." He did a quick count of how many she had left which was an even dozen. "All you have," he added.
The woman's eyes raked him up and down and her glare grew even more contentious. "They're not free ya know. Even guards gotta pay. I ain't no church charity."
"Of course, Madame. I fully intend to pay," he declared as he reached for the stolen purse to withdrew some coins. "Your price?"
The old woman named an outrageous sum, which made Athos glare at her. His hand swept over the items in question in an elegant gesture. "I am not asking to buy your entire flock of chickens, merely the dozen eggs displayed here."
They haggled some more before a mutually acceptable price was agreed upon and coinage changed hands.
Those dark eagle eyes raked him again and two totally unrelated statements were issued by the merchant. "How are you going to carry them? And there is a musket hole in your jacket. I know cause my son was shot by a guardsman. Killed."
Athos wasn't usually caught flat footed, but he was now as he stood there staring at the merchant woman with his mouth hanging open.
Reaching beneath her cart, she withdrew a small, lidded basket with straw in it. Placing it on the flat surface of her display table, she began gently to nestle the eggs within the cushion of hay, talking the entire time.
"Jacque was a good boy. Only son. Three daughters we had, but only one son. Good boy. Came here with me to sell our eggs and cheese. One day the guards come through, bullying everyone, taking what they want because they could. Times is hard. We need every penny we get to survive. This guard comes over and takes an entire wheel of cheese. My Jacque demands he pay for it and the scum laughs in his face. My son, he has his father's temper, insists on payment, and when the guard tells him to shove off, Jacque rips the cheese out of his hands."
The scowl that had been painted on the tired woman's face faded and was replaced with sorrow as she continued to spin her tale.
"The rest of the guards, seeing their buddy bested by a twelve-year-old boy, start laughing and making rude comments. The guard demands the cheese again and my stubborn boy refuses, clutching it to his chest like a shield. I had been a few stalls away, buying some day-old-bread. Friends of mine, always gave me a good price. I heard the commotion, saw what was happening and hurried back over, yelling for Jacque to give up the cheese."
By now, tears were leaking down her wrinkled cheeks, splashing into the straw where she was carefully packing the eggs. "I saw the guard draw his pistol, aim it at my sweet boy. I threw myself at the guard, I did, but it was too late. The bullet ripped through the cheese Jacque was clutching and into his heart. It was like a bad dream; I watched my precious boy drop the cheese and saw the blood spreading across his coat, a hand-me-down from his father. I'll never forget the look on my son's face. Disbelief. His knees gave out and he crumpled to the ground. I scrambled on my hands and knees to his side. His last words to me were 'Mama, I love you.'"
The last egg went into the basket and she bowed her head as she rested her hands on top of the basket for a moment. "They were gonna drag me off to jail for knocking over the guard, but in the end they settled for beating me and trashing my stand. Buried him in that coat, neat little round bullet hole and all."
Picking up the basket, she limped from behind the stand to where Athos stood. She gazed into his face. "It is the greatest sorrow to lose someone you love when you feel you could have prevented it. If I only had left Jacque home that day, not gone to buy the stupid bread, taught him to know his place and not challenge the guard..." She let out a long sigh. "I'd not be standing here today with a heart dead from grief."
She handed him the basket, which he numbly accepted, his own heart feeling constricted from hearing her story and the memories of Thomas' death it dug up.
"I can see, Monsieur, that you know the sorrow of which I speak. I don't know who you are, but I know you ain't a guard, and if the condition of your clothes and body are any indication, I'd say you've been on the wrong side of their temper. Be careful, they are dangerous. Every single one of them.''
In an uncharacteristic gesture, he reached out with his free hand and took one of hers. "Nothing I can do will ever bring your son back. But I promise you, these guards will be dealt with."
She studied his sincere green eyes once more before giving a brief nod. "I believe you are a man of your word. I can't imagine how you will do it, but it does my heart good to know there is decency in this world still."
Athos cocked his head slightly as a fleeting grin touched his lips. "Like your son, I have been told I can be stubborn, as well as determined. I have some business to attend to, but one day, I shall return." After giving the woman's hand a gentle squeeze, he let it go.
"The priest in our church advised me that vengeance is in God's hands."
Athos moved to store the container of eggs in the saddlebags. "While that may be true, Madame, I believe I have also heard that God helps those that help themselves. I shall simply offer Him some additional... assistance."
The woman shook her head as she limped back to her stall. "If you hope to pass yourself off as a guard, you better learn to look meaner and keep your mouth shut. You speak more like a nobleman than a guard."
Athos attempted not to let his body twitch at the direct hit and merely replied with a smirk, "Duly noted." As he was preparing to leave he asked if she knew of an apothecary and was directed a few streets over.
"He is honest, he is. Well, for a witch doctor."
Athos thanked her and before leaving, reached into his pocket and removed a second bag of coins that he had taken from the guards. "This belonged to a guard, who now has no need for it. A little restitution, for what was done, though I know nothing can ever erase that hurt from your heart."
She took the bag of coins, gratefully. "They're bad. The whole lot. You did the people of Dieppe a service if you killed any of them."
With a dip of his head, Athos bid the woman farewell and began pulling his horse in the direction that she had indicated would lead to the apothecary. It seemed that not only were the guards involved in shanghaiing people to serve as slaves on Spanish galleys, but many other despicable activities in this town as well. He hoped he could come up with a way to bring them to justice, not only for what they had done to him and Porthos, but also for what they did to this woman and her son. Her story, being helpless as you watched a love one die, hit way too close to home for the swordsman.
