Chapter 73: The Cooperation
"I can't." Phoebus said decisively.
"Why not?" Claude asked.
"Look, I'm glad you're doing this." Phoebus assured. "But you're asking a lot of me. This trip will be what, a week?"
"Possibly less." Claude argued.
"Still, it won't be any fewer than four days. That's a real commitment."
"It is, and I'm sorry to have to ask this. But I should really go with someone, and I'm afraid there is no one else I trust who would be capable of managing this journey."
"Well, I'm not available. I don't want to leave my wife for that long. And you may not understand this, but some of us work for a living and can't afford to be gone for extended periods of time."
The former soldier didn't even try to disguise the contempt in his voice, but Claude didn't let himself be discouraged by it. He couldn't afford that now.
"I'd be more than willing to pay you for this." Claude offered.
"I'm not interested." Phoebus persisted.
"This is for Esmeralda's sake." Claude reminded. "Why doesn't that interest you?"
Phoebus sighed.
"Like I said," He groaned. "I'm glad you're doing this. I want the best for Esmeralda. But you're the one who put her in this position, so you ought to be responsible for fixing it. I'm not interested in cleaning up your mess."
Claude understood that line of thought. The attempt to guilt him was unfortunately working, and under normal circumstances he would have given up at this point. But these were not normal circumstances. Esmeralda's happiness was on the line.
"I completely understand." Claude assured. "And normally I would never ask so much of you. But this is all for Esmeralda, and I likely won't be able to do it alone. Her people hate me, which means they won't take well to being approached by me. And travelling is dangerous regardless."
"No need to remind me of what travelling entails." Phoebus said harshly, holding up his handless arm. "But you really don't need me to solve that problem. Just take some soldier who wants a promotion."
"The only soldier I fully trust is the Captain." Claude shared. "And I need him here to manage the rest of the men. Besides, there is a task I believe you are uniquely suited for."
"And what could that possibly be?"
"I need to find a man named Clopin. You've met him."
"Clopin? I can't say I know that name."
"I believe he tried to hang you."
Phoebus' eyes widened in remembrance.
"That guy? Why do you need him specifically?"
"He's Esmeralda's brother."
Phoebus gawked in disbelief.
He flashed back to Esmeralda's mention of a brother. The brother he hadn't even known about, and regretfully hadn't asked about since.
"What?!" He exclaimed. "She's related to that crazy man?!"
"She loves him dearly." Claude informed. "And she misses him quite a lot. I must find him, but there is one major problem with that. If the man was so quick to try to hang you, how do you think he would react to seeing me? The only way this can work is if I'm accompanied by a friendly face."
Phoebus hesitated, as if he was considering the idea. But soon he looked at Claude coldly.
"Figure this out on your own." Phoebus dismissed. "By all means, make it up to Esmeralda, but don't expect my help. This isn't my job."
To his own surprise, Claude was becoming frustrated. He didn't feel at all entitled to any assistance from Phoebus, but it was beginning to anger him that the former soldier wasn't even willing to help him for Esmeralda's sake. How could he be so unwilling to help someone he called a friend?
Finally, Claude scowled.
"I'm not the only one who needs to make it up to her." He reminded.
Phoebus returned the hostile expression.
"Excuse me?!" He asked angrily.
"You know what I mean!" Claude accused. "You despise me, and I accept that because you have more than enough reason to. But you keep letting your hatred of me affect the way you treat her!"
"That's not true!" Phoebus defended.
"You're doing it right now!" Claude insisted. "You keep trying to make this about me, but it isn't! It's about helping Esmeralda! I need to find her people to make her happy, but she'll be heartbroken if anything happens to me! Is that what you want?!"
Phoebus was speechless. He looked as if the truth of the matter was suddenly occurring to him.
"What in the world is going on out here?"
Annette's voice came from inside the house. She came to the door and looked in curiosity at the two men, who immediately softened their expressions. They looked at Annette, then at each other, quietly trying to determine who should explain things. Phoebus was the one who decided to speak.
"I'm... Being asked to go somewhere." Phoebus mumbled.
"Why?" Annette asked, glancing at Claude.
"I need help to find Esmeralda's friends." Claude explained. "I was hoping I could borrow your husband for a few days."
Annette quickly smiled.
"That's wonderful!" She approved. "Esmeralda has been through a lot. She needs her friends! You'll go, won't you Phoebus?"
"You're alright with this?" Phoebus asked, somewhat bewildered.
"Of course I am!" Annette assured. "Esmeralda deserves to be happy. I won't stop you from doing something nice for the girl who saved your life!"
Phoebus looked ashamed when he was reminded that Esmeralda saved him. He seemed to realize just how ungrateful he was being. He looked at Claude calmly.
"We should bring at least four others." Phoebus announced. "Numbers will get us through the countryside safely."
It was natural for Phoebus to take this kind of caution. He'd lost his hand because the group he'd travelled with out of Paris hadn't been enough to fight off bandits.
"A wise idea." Claude approved. "But I don't have four others."
"I can take care of it." Phoebus promised. "I know several men who are out of the Army and owe me favors. Good men. You and I can run the search ourselves, but they'll see us through the countryside to keep us safe from bandits."
Claude was willing to accept the suggestion. As annoying as he was finding Phoebus to be, he knew that Phoebus was a good man. It made sense that so many people owed him, the war hero that he was. Claude trusted him, and he trusted that the people Phoebus had in mind were indeed good men, like him.
"Very well." Claude agreed.
The outcome of this mission was far from guaranteed, but Claude already felt better about it. He'd secured the help he needed.
