Ah HA! (familiprix) There it is! Chapter 5 (or 6, whatever), after so much time… And I kept my promise! Okay, I wrote this, used the grammar check and didn't even re-read it… I'm hoping it's okay…
Enjoy!
Horses
We had been sailing for two weeks, and the ship had been going on smooth waters for a while, and it swayed less, letting us stand on our two feet and giving me a chance to overcome my seasickness. I still couldn't look at a piece of bread without having my stomach making loops in my insides, but at least I wasn't puking my guts out every time I breathed in anymore. We were still on a boat, not knowing where they were taking us, and I still had my irons on my wrists. I was worried sick about my kids. I couldn't take it anymore.
I sighed and tried putting my attention back to the game in front of me, and the cards in my hand. On an empty wooden box laid dry cookies and coins, stakes for the secret poker games we were playing when no soldier was around. Everyone was out of the game now though, except me, of course, and Julien. Julien was my wife's brother, but also my sister's husband. Brother-in-law in more than one way, and more than one way to hate the guy. Especially when he looked at the three aces and two kings I put on the box, trying to ignore the clinging of the chains at my wrists, and he raised his cold blue eyes to mine. "You cheated!" he gasped, and I raised my eyebrows.
"What did you just say?" He rose to his feet, face flushed.
"You cheated! You hid those cards!" I frowned, and I saw Henri stepping forward, and Émile walking to stand behind me. I rose as well, not looking away from Julien.
"I never cheat, Julien. Never heard of luck?"
"Never heard of a lucky bastard, no." My vision became red, and I lunged at him. He saw me coming, though, and stepped aside before pushing me against a wall. I managed to punch him in the stomach, but he got a hold of the two feet long chain linking my hands together and pulled it down sharply, almost bringing me to my knees. I quickly rose, throwing a hook in his side and making him double up, clutching his inside. I pulled him against the wall, and grabbed the chain, bringing it under his neck. He gasped and cough under the strangling sensation, his Adam apple bobbing up and down like crazy under the cold steel chain.
"Don't push me, Julien." He opened his mouth to reply when the door opened suddenly to reveal two soldiers. I sighed, and stepped away as the soldiers ran in the room to grab me by the shoulders, pulling me away from a gasping Julien.
~~
Captain Summers was sitting behind a desk covered with maps and papers of all sorts, and had his elbows leaning on the desk, his chin resting on his crossed fingers. He glared at me as I entered, escorted with two soldiers. He didn't blink, but sighed rather loudly. I smiled.
"Mister LeBeau." I nodded at him.
"Capitaine Summers, bonjour." He rolled up his eyes.
"What have you done again, LeBeau? Jump off the ship again? Tried to kill that other man again, Boudreaux?" I narrowed my eyes, recognizing Julien's name despite the accent, and Summers saw it. He smiled. "I wonder what he's done to you, LeBeau. You seem like an honorable man…" He rose to his feet and walked in front of me. He was tall, almost as tall as me, and he had the most ridiculous white wig on his head, but I could tell by his eyebrows that his hair were a deep brown. He was very young to be a captain, I could see that. And I was giving him trouble. I grinned. He took my smile as an approval of whatever he said. "But I cannot keep you on board. You're too much trouble, and I don't need it." He walked away from me and to the window, and I nearly broke into laughter. That guy walked like he had a…
"Excusez-moi, Capitaine Summers…" He turned around, an eyebrow rising in inquiry. "Avez-vous besoin d'aide pour retirer ce bâton de votre cul?" [excuse me, captain Summers… Do you need any help to pull that stick from your butt?] Captain Summers frowned, probably wondering what the hell I just said, and I just stood there, a large grin on my face. This was fun. One of the soldiers snorted, but quickly turned it into a light coughing. Oh, so they were bilingual people in this world?
"What did you just said?" he asked, and then turned to the soldiers still coughing. "You! Did you understand what he said?" The soldier quickly recovered, and looked lost for a few seconds.
"Huh, no, captain. I didn't notice." Summers snorted. So maybe he wasn't a complete fool.
"Alright. I have a friend who lives near St-Mary's river, in Georgia. We'll leave you there before heading forward to the Louisianne." The soldier next to me took a sudden intake of breath, and I was taken away from the office. When the door shut, I turned to the young soldier and grabbed his shoulders.
"What did he say?" I asked him in French. "What is he going to do to me?" He bit his lips.
"Comprendre… français. Pas bien…parler?" I nearly sighed in despair at his incredible accent.
"Please, try." He nodded.
"Bateau…ship… va Louisianne, va New-France… Toi pas. Toi…go…aller Georgia, aller plantation. Work for planter… Travailler." Nearly incomprehensible. Nearly. But I got the main point, and my hands slid from his shoulders to fall at my sides, my shoulders slumping. The soldier shook his head, looking sorry. "Moi…sorry… désolé."
~~
They stopped the ship only for me, I could say I won that at least. But as the ship when away with my only chance of freedom, I'm sure I heard my heart break in three parts. One with Belle and my children, one with my freedom sailing away as I stood on the ground, trying to get my land legs back, and a last part, as small as a baby's hand, still thumping wildly in my chest to keep my alive. Could such a small heart give me life? At that very moment, I seriously doubted it. The man standing next to me took a look at the irons still binding my wrists, and put a hand on my shoulder. "Come on, man, let's go see tha blacksmith so he can take these off yah hands." And when the irons were cut off my wrists, he looked down at me as I sat on a small bench, and smiled. "Come on, stretch yahr arms. Yah haven't got tha chance tah do that in a while, didn't yah?"
Later, I was gently rubbing the bright red marks on my wrists as I sat in the boat that would take us down St-Mary's river, down to God only knows where. The panorama was beautiful, I had to say, but right now I wanted to get away as far as I could from that boat and water. There were three men accompanying me. There was the one I'd identified as the good guy, and two others who looked like they wanted to ignore me more than anything in the world. They were right; for them I was a Frenchmen. No better than the nigers they were using as slaves in their plantations. I shivered at the thought. Was that what was awaiting me? My piece of heart trembled, and I wondered what could happen that could tear it into pieces again. Nothing could go worse, couldn't it?
It took three days before we stopped, and one of the men motioned me to get off the boat. A carriage was waiting, and there was a bald man standing outside of it, a walking stick in his hand. The three men escorted me to the carriage, and the bald man looked at me before turning to the other men. They talked for a while, and finally the bald man nodded, and I was pushed at the back of the carriage with the three men. We rode for a few hours on rocky roads, and there were acres of sugar plants around us, hiding the view. I swallowed. I could never live like this, it was a matter of life or death. We finally arrived at a gigantic house, and I hoped down from the carriage. The bald man walked in front of me, and stared at me for a few moments. "Horse?" he suddenly asked, and I blinked in incomprehension. He pursed his lips, and put a hand on his chest. "Lord Sherston. Charles Sherston." He pointed at my chest, and raised his eyebrows.
"Remy LeBeau." He nodded, and pointed at the horses hitched up at the carriage.
"Horses." I nodded, swallowing. This was the first time an Englishman actually took the time to communicate with me. Revelation. "Do you love horses?" He joined his hands on his chest, and pulled them away, as if he was pouring his heart out. "Love?" I nodded. "Love the horses?" My eyes lightened and he smiled when I nodded. He limped to one of the horses, and put his hand on the leather bridle. He mimed the gesture of taking it off and raised his eyebrows again at me. My heart thumped. I understood. I walked to the horses, and started taking the hitching off from them. Lord Sherston smiled and pointed at a brown barn not very far away. "Stables. Where you work, where you sleep."
~~
I let myself fall in a pack of hay, sighing in relief. Six horses for a single carriage? I closed my eyes, ready to go to sleep, when a shadow came over me and blocked the sun coming through the stable door. I opened my eyes, and nearly jumped. The man in front of me was entirely black, and his teeth showed clearly when he smiled at my surprise. He reached out a hand to help me up, and I took it. "Amiki" he said when I was up and in front of him, and he saw I was taller than him. "Suis ami." [am friend] I smiled.
"You can talk French?" I ask him in the same language. He nodded.
"Un peu…Assez pour parler. Assez pour comprendre toi." [A little… Enough to talk. Enough to understand you.] "Me Ibbo. You?"
"Remy" I answered. "You work in the stables?" He nodded with energy, a wide smile on his lips.
"You too, Remy. You work with me, work with horses. Be careful, must be careful." I frowned.
"Be careful? Careful of what?"
"Careful of Miss Mary. Wants to run away, must not. Careful of Miss Mary."
"Mary?"
"Mary Sherston, daughter of Lord." I smiled. A girl didn't scare me at all. I've seen more… I patted his shoulder.
"Don't worry. If she comes, she has to talk to me."
~~
Nights were long, very long, as I laid in my makeshift hay bed and looked out the window. They were also very short, considering I couldn't sleep and was really tired during the day. But I managed. One night, though, I was slowly drifting to sleep, when I heard the stable doors open. I opened my eyes suddenly as I heard light footsteps, and I lifted my head. A short, slim feminine figure was walking through the stable, obviously looking for one horse in particular. I got on my feet and walked silently behind her, gently putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Je peux vous aider, mamzelle*?" I whispered in her ear.[Can I help you, missy?] She jumped and turned, putting both her hands on her mouth as she nearly screamed in surprise, and I took a step back, raising my hands, ready to claim my innocence. "N'ayez pas peur, mamzelle… S'il vous plaît." [Don't be scared, missy… please.] She took a step back too, the look of surprise on her face slowly morphing into rage, and a ray of moonlight lightened her face, showing emerald green eyes glittering with anger.
"Who the hell are yah?" she asked, taking a step forward. Not one to be scared by an angry young woman, I didn't move a toe.
"Je suis désolé, mamzelle, je ne parle pas anglais…" [Sorry missy, I don't talk English…]. She narrowed her eyes angrily, and it was then I noticed she wasn't dressed like the daughter of a wealthy planter was supposed to. Her long and dark curly hair was tied up at the back of her neck. In riding boots and brown leather riding pants, along with a white shirt and wool coat, that girl was dressed to ride. And according to the packsack she was carrying on her back, to ride far away. She put her hands on her haunches and tilted her head, eyeing me.
"Yah must be that Acadjan** guy my father hired." Well, at least I caught the word Acadian, so I knew she was talking about me. "Leave me by, Acadjan." she said again with a horrible accent. What's so hard to pronounce in Acadian? She took a step left to make a circle around me, but I stepped aside, blocking her. She glared at me, and I smiled.
"On dit ' Acadien'. Et vous devez être mamzelle Mary, je présume." [It's 'Acadian'. And you must be miss Mary, I presume.] Bad move. She probably didn't understand French, but she heard her name, and her eyes blazed, it such a thing was possible. I repressed the urge to walk away and let her go wherever it was she wanted to go, but before I could move, she reached out and grabbed my collar, pulling me down with incredible force for such a young woman. My face was now inches from hers, and I almost forgot the situation I was into to loose myself in incredible green eyes before she almost spat in my face.
"You…" she hissed, and looked at a loss of words for a few seconds, probably looking for a good insult. But her face changed drastically, and she actually smiled at me, showing pearl white teeth in a perfect smile. My heart skipped a beat as she tilted her head to the right. "Yah know, in tha moonlight, yah have beautiful eyes, Acadjan." It sounded nice enough to my ears, so I guessed that was a compliment.
"Merci, mamzelle Mary. Pourriez-vous me lâcher, maintenant?" [Thank you, miss Mary. Could you let go of me, now?] She frowned and loosened her grip on my collar.
"Yah don't talk English?" she asked in a curious voice. I opened my mouth to repeat my incapacity to understand her when the stable doors opened suddenly behind her, and I looked up to stare in Lord Sherston's angry eyes.
"Mary!" he howled. "What are you doing in here again?"
to be continued...
* French-Canadian slang for 'mademoiselle'
** That's not a typo, it's the beginning of the oral transition from 'Acadian' to 'Cajun'.
Reviews!
Foofighta : HERE! Promised I would update before I go to bed! Even better, it helped me fight this meany writer's block and write the whole thing in a few hours! Yay!
BJ2 : Hum, sorry, yup, Remy and Rogue have to be joined at the hip in my stories… Love them too much for that. Anyways, Remy can't very well wait for his family to appear… it doesn't look like he'll be seeing Belle in a while, don't you think? Now, you don't think Remy's the kind of man who should stay alone for so long? What a waste!
ishandahalf : Okay, she's gonna get romanticaly involved with Remy, promise. As for staying, I can't tell you, or I'll ruin my storyline and the surprise. Can't tell! You must wait! Oh, and for the cookie… If I give you a great Romy scene, will you drop the cookie? I hate cookies, I have none in my kitchen…
Meari : Wow, thanks, very nice review… I love history as well, and putting Remy in it, and at the same time informing people about French history… I'm in heaven as well!
Yumiko : *giggles* I really couldn't write Remy without Rogue, could I? Well, you must be happy now, there she is. And full of attitude with that…
Jaenelle Angeline : What a cute name, I really like it. Thanks for taking the time, I wish I had the time to read all the stories of all the people that review my fics… *sigh* I barely have time to write myself!