Jane Feather - Charade by Unknown (howl and other poems .TXT) 📕

She could do nothing for them now, but had a desperateneed that they should see a familiar face and die in the knowledge thatthere was still hope of escape for those they left behind.

This time they were to take three carts out of Paris. St. Estephe hadprovided the third and

Dream Girl

would handle the extra passengersbecause she must. Once the winter storms set in, raging against thatunwelcoming coast, not even Jake would risk the voyage, not to mentionstanding to at anchor for two weeks while he waited for the light toshow from the cove.

They passed the

barrieres

intheir usual fashion, except that this time Danielle wore the peasantdress

and kerchief of a farmer'sdaughter and flirted outrageously with the guards, dancing around theguardhouse as the carts passed through unquestioned by the distractedsentries. She made her escape

by the hem of a grimy petticoat, leapingback onto the seat beside Julian with a stream of invective thatcontained the promise of her return. The guards laughed heartily andpromised her reception on the next occasion with much ribaldry.

"God damn it!" Jules exclaimed as they hit the familiar road. "Why mustyou take such risks? You become more outrageous every time."

"It is necessary," she replied calmly.

They reached the Breton coast in ample time, quite unaware that St.Estephe and his men were following them, half a day's journey behindand by a different route.

St. Estephe had hoped to make up the time, knowing that his chosenroute was shorter and that on horseback they could travel faster thanthe laden carts. But he made a grave error of judgment in picking apath that, unlike Danielle's, took him through major towns where theywere frequently stopped and

held at the gates while their credentialswere examined. In one place they were hauled before an excitable mayorprepared to suspect any party from Paris of being fleeing royalists.St. Estephe fumed at the delays, raged at the officious bureaucraciesthat insisted on confirming his passports with meticulous care, andcould not begin to understand why he was in such a hurry as theyconferred at length before returning the papers and wishing him apleasant journey. Thus his hopes of being on the beach, ready in ambushwhen the fugitives signaled for the dinghy, were unfulfilled and thecareful orderliness of his plans thrown into disarray.

"The dinghy will have to make two journeys," Danielle whispered toWestmore as they stood on the small beach, shrouded in dark cloaks. "Weshould first send our passengers." She glanced at the pale shiveringgroup huddled in the lee of the cliff, sheltering from the blasts ofthe late October wind. There were nine of them, seven women andchildren and two men, and the journey from Paris had been arduous inthe extreme, made even more miserable by constant complaintsat the privations they all endured and the incessant challenges of themen who refused to accept the authority of the grimy urchin that wasDanny, now back in her shirt and britches.

Westmore agreed. "I'll be monstrous glad to see the last of them," hemuttered. 'The voyage will be

made wretched with their moans."

Danny laughed without much humor and shrugged, peering across the blackexpanse of foam-flecked water for the first sight of the dinghy. "It iscoming," she said as her sharp ears picked up the soft splash of oarsan instant before her eyes made out the dark shape.

They all ran to the shore to help beach the dinghy and the twomonosyllabic sailors merely grunted when told that they must return.The boat could carry seven passengers if enough of them were small andthe nine passengers argued amongst themselves, wasting preciousmoments, as to who should go first.

"Take the women and children; the men stay here with us," Philipordered crisply. One aristocratic lady, clasping her child to herbosom, announced dramatically that she would not be parted from herhusband. "As you wish, madame," Philip responded in frosty tones. "Letus just

hurry

for the Lord'ssake!"

The husband in question began to bluster at this brusque manner ofaddressing his wife and Danielle, quite out of patience, whirled on himwith a few well-chosen words that left him stammering with fury. But atlast they pushed the laden dinghy off the beach, Danny and hercompanions soaked to their thighs while the French family stood highand dry on the beach, muttering indignantly at their rude treatment.

"Merde!"

Danielle hissed."Perhaps you would prefer the tender strokesof the guillotine?"

"Hush," Jules said, putting his arm around her. "They are frightened."

"And are we not all?" she muttered, thinking of Justin with a deep stabof lonely despair.

It was two hours later when the dinghy reappeared and this time, in theinterests of speed, waited in the shallows instead ofrunning onto the beach.

"Vous permettez, madame?"

Julessaid politely as he swung the woman offher feet and carried her to

the boat. Westmore carried the squawlingchild but no one offered to assist the stiff figure of the father whowaded with a visible shudder into the cold black water. The restfollowed and the oarsmen picked

up their oars just as the childshrieked.

"Ma bebe. J'ai oublie mabebe."

Danny swore, feeling the profanity quite justified, as she plunged backinto the surf.

"Attendez!"

She

ran across the beach to where theforgotten doll lay by a rock.

None of the watchers in the small craft were able to sort out whathappened next. Men seemed to appear from nowhere, hurtling down thenarrow cliff path, a musket shot exploded in the still air, but apartfrom that, for an eerie moment, there was no other sound: Jules and histhree companions leaped to their feet setting the small craft rockingdangerously, the woman screamed, and the rowers put to their oars as

rapid fire broke out anew from the beach, quite clearly directed at thedinghy. Danielle was a tiny figure, dodging from side to side,attempting to evade her captors and make for the water as the dinghypulled away under the desperate efforts of two pairs of strong armsencouraged by the hail of bullets spurting

the