Chapter 5

Two miles away from the castle, three horsemen came out of a cusp of trees in front of Phillip. They were not in uniforms, Phillip noted thankfully. The last thing he needed was for the French army to find him on the way back to the coast. One of the men raised his arm to him. Then a shrill high whistle split the quiet morning.

Phillip nearly cried out in joy as Boni's coxswain whistle sounded across the field. He rushed to the horsemen at a full run.

Boniface met him halfway across the field, first giving him a hard slap on the back and a huge grinning hug. "What are you doing in France?" Boniface said.

"I could ask the same of you," Phillip said. "But I think I know."

The mood grew heavy as he told his family the news. "Sarah is two miles back in the abandoned castle in the valley. Only it is not abandoned. You will be riding into hell if you go there."

Boniface came off his horse along with Mark, his older brother, and Frank, a more distant cousin to them in the Army. Phillip finished, telling them about his mission to catch up with Evans and all that had happened since.

His cousins listened carefully, asking for more details as Phillip went. When he finished, Phillip said, "I did not want to leave her there, but the count is ruthless. He had Georgette tossed out that balcony like an old rag doll."

Sarah's brothers understood, finding no fault in his caution. Frank, however, was less attached to the girl and more willing to take risks. He was also the oldest of the group and a veteran of battles in Spain. He would know more about what needed to be done.

They explained how pure luck allowed Mark, Boni, and Frank to see Sarah's abductors carrying her away. After the party had ended and all the guests had left, They had gone for a midnight walk to look for fairy lights. As they reached the hill overlooking the lake, they saw two men carrying a struggling woman down the footpath.

"We cannot leave her there," Frank said. "You cannot allow the shuttling of tainted information to Lord Wellington, either. For all you know, Napoleon is back in the monster's good graces, and these orders have been altered to get our men killed. Were you to meet anyone on the coast? Did he set up a rendezvous for you?"

"No," Phillip said, shaking his head. "I was to go to the coast and hire a smuggler to get me Brussels."

Frank nodded. "In that case, no one is going to miss you. I say we go back to that castle. Four men with stealth and a little luck could get in and out. Sarah is a level girl. Has she been unnerved by this?"

"At first, yes, but Sarah has shored herself up since," Phillip said. "This morning she did not cry when I was taken away and was calm when I saw her on the balcony as I rode away."

"How many guards did you see outside the castle?" Boni said.

"None," Phillip said in surprise, thinking back. "I never saw anyone guarding the place. There were no sentries at doors, just the guards who escorted us around."

"That could mean he has fewer men than you might think," Boniface said.

Frank looked over his group as his mind made plans. He was the only army-experienced man in the bunch. Boni and Phillip were battle tested naval officers, which would help, and Mark was not a bad sort. He would not have been his choice for something like this. Mark Fogg was here because he loved his sister and had saddled his horse fast enough to come after them when Frank and Boni followed Sarah's kidnappers. Mark was a fop, a rich, pampered heir, and had never tried to be anything else. There had been no time to call on other help. If they had gone all the way back to the house, or been slower to get back to the stables, they would have lost Sarah completely.

"I am for trying," Mark said after a moment. "From what you say about the fiend, we cannot trust him to keep his word about not hurting her. And Frank is right. You cannot send tainted orders to Brussels, Phillip."

"All right," Phillip agreed. "I know which door I came out of this morning. I could lead us up to Sarah's room. With luck, we could get out again with our skin. But, what about the count? You do not imagine he is going to take what we do kindly?"

"You say they are doing some excavating?" Frank said. "Through bedrock?"

"Yes, this country is all granite under the topsoil," Phillip confirmed.

"Then they have explosives." The veteran grinned. "I do not expect to take down the whole castle, but maybe just the count's tower. If he is the way you say, he cannot get around easily. He must have his people do all the legwork. Beyond the fear factor, I do not see how he could oversee anything in that condition.

Frank Fogg was wrong.

The Foggs couldn't know about the count and mind control. It was a talent Count Gregory had learned after he awoke from near death to find himself resurrected, a living corpse, by the magic of the monks of his templar order. Count Gregory had experimented with it, honed and strengthened it in the centuries since.

At first, he had used it to control his followers from short distances. Now, he could contact his watcher's minds over nearly two miles with the use of an implant developed for him. He was presently working on a newer design that would give him greater reach. The mind screw was a simple device, but very effective in ensuring loyalty and increasing the terror factor in his enemies. In his watchers, it was nearly perfected. He was testing it in Watcher 445 to see its range. So far, he had reached the watcher's mind at a startling fifteen miles away. Soon, he would issue orders to his minions through watchers all over Europe.

The Count was at that moment reaching into the mind of his test subject, who was traveling across France. Before that, he had been in the mind of his watcher in the castle, observing Phillip Fogg's leave-taking. There had been no defiance in the young Englishman. Count Gregory felt satisfaction in that. Phillip had seen his cousin standing on the balcony as he was supposed to and had looked down to the ground where he was supposed to. Count Gregory had no concerns after seeing the Englishman. The castle watcher had been told to go on to his other duties, as his master had let his mind go.

Secure in the new device's success, Count Gregory turned his thoughts to the child who was now his principal captive. She had been returned to her room after Phillip Fogg rode out of sight. The mind screw was working so well, he considered implanting it in her for his next experiment.

It would not do for him to keep the girl as he had the other one. Georgette had been an orphan when he had taken her. Or at least his taking her had rendered her thus. No one missed her after her parents were killed. This one, however, would be different. To keep the English from causing him trouble, the count would have to let her go as soon as he Phillip Fogg had done his work, but he didn't have to lose her completely. If he made her a new watcher, he could make her a watcher in England. The implanting would not be visible to her family once Sarah was back home. Watcher implants were placed in the back of the head and deep. His people in England would then be told of her recruitment and how to move the girl into the right places. If all went well, he could use her for years to come.

Count Gregory ordered his new guest ready for implanting. It would be done tonight after a drugged dinner.