Drums of War (25 page)

'We
haven't seen the major all day,' noted Hillier.

'I
daresay he's seen us, Tom.'

'Why
is he keeping his distance?'

'He's
just biding his time.' Dobbs picked up a stone and tossed it idly into the
water. 'Have you heard from Sergeant Welbeck?'

'Not
a single word, Hugh.'

'He's
a poor bloody uncle.'

'I
told you before,' said Hillier. 'He denies there's any family tie between us. I
was hurt at first but I've come to see that he's doing me a favour. If I kept
turning to him all the time for support, I'd never be my own man.'

'I
still think he's letting you down badly, Tom. Ah, well,' he said with an arm
around his friend, 'since nobody else will teach you, I'll have to take you
under my wing. We'll wait until tomorrow night.'

'What
for, Hugh?'

'Didn't
you see that town we passed a couple of miles back?'

'Yes,
it was very pretty.'

'It's
more than pretty,' said Dobbs with a cackle. 'We camped near there two years
ago and some of us sneaked into the town for some sport. It was amazing, Tom.
It cost me a week's wages but it was worth every bit of it. She was the best
I've ever had.'

'What
are you talking about?'

'With
a brisk walk, we could get there in under half an hour, though it might take us
a lot longer to get back to camp.'

'Why?'

'We'll
be exhausted, you buffoon.'

Hillier
was perplexed. 'I'm not sure that I follow you.'

'Manhood,'
said Dobbs. 'I'm talking about satisfying our urges between the warm thighs of
a woman. You can't hold on to your virginity for ever, Tom. It's high time you
learnt to fuck.'

To
reinforce the message, he pushed his friend into the stream with a big splash.
The cold water helped to cool Hillier's blushes.

The
inn was on the edge of a village and it served their needs well. While the
others slept inside the building, Daniel stayed in the courtyard, curled up
inside the coach with a pistol at his side. He shared an early breakfast with
his friends, leaving an ostler to harness the horse. Before they left, Daniel
took Kees Dopff aside.

'I'd
like you to sit beside me today,' he said. 'Have you ever driven a cart or a
coach?' Dopff shook his head. 'Then I'll have to teach you,' Daniel went on.
'In case something happens to me, you must be able to take over. There's nobody
else I can ask.'

Dopff
was pleased to be offered the chance of taking the reins but worried by the
suggestion that Daniel might not be with them indefinitely. He could not
imagine how the four of them would possibly survive without him. The others
climbed into the coach and the little Dutchman took his place beside Daniel. It
gave him a sense of being useful again. Having lost his roles as cook and
keeper of the tapestry, he was ready to embrace a new challenge. When Daniel
flicked the reins to set the horse off, Dopff watched the driver's every move.

It
was a dull day with low cloud and the promise of more rain. Daniel hoped that
they were not caught in another downpour. He pushed the horse a little harder
than before without taxing it too much. When the animal was trotting over level
ground, Daniel handed the reins over for the first time. Dopff took them
nervously as if expecting the horse to react mutinously to the change of
driver. Instead it continued to trot at the same unvarying pace. Dopff turned
to Daniel and nodded happily. He was clearly going to enjoy being in charge.
Controlling the coach seemed remarkably easy.

His
confidence steadily grew. It was soon dented. They came to a series of deep
ruts that made the whole vehicle sway crazily from side to side then Dopff
mistakenly took the horse off the track altogether. When they crested a low
hill, he saw another problem looming. At the bottom of the slope was a ford,
the fast-flowing water creating white foam. Fearing that they'd be trapped in
the stream, he thrust the reins at Daniel but they were immediately put back
into his hands. Dopff was even more nervous when Daniel jumped to the ground
from the moving vehicle and took the bridle to lead the horse through the
water. It was very shallow and hardly reached his shins. Safe on the other
bank, Dopff felt a sense of pride. He'd been alone on the driving seat when
they'd negotiated the hazard. He grinned for a whole mile.

They
paused at midday to have a light meal. Since Dopff was eager to renew his
education as a coach driver, Daniel let him take the reins again. The
Dutchman's main concern was to keep the horse on the winding track. Daniel, on
the other hand, was more worried about the weather. A storm was brewing. The
clouds were darker and more menacing. Though the windows were mere open
rectangles, those in the coach did have a measure of protection. The two
drivers had none. Seeing a copse ahead, Daniel wondered if it was better to
seek shelter there until the storm had blown over.

In
the event, he was given no choice between stopping and driving on. Shortly
after they entered the copse, they had unwelcome company. Three horsemen
appeared out of nowhere. One blocked their passage, forcing Dopff to pull on
the reins and bring the coach to a halt, while the other two came up behind.
All three of them held pistols. The leader of the highwaymen was a handsome man
in his thirties with a well-groomed black beard.

'Well,
now,' he said, smirking, 'what do we have here?'

'We're
in a hurry, friend,' replied Daniel. 'We don't wish to be caught in the rain.
Pray stand aside, if you will.'

'I
will not. I want to see who your passengers are.'

There
was nothing that Daniel could do. While the leader flicked his pistol to make
Daniel and Dopff hold their hands in the air, the other men ordered the
passengers to get out. Beatrix alighted first, petrified by the sight of loaded
weapons. Janssen came next, helping his daughter after him. As soon as the men
saw Amalia, they licked their lips. One of them, a squat individual with a
patch over one eye, dismounted in order to search them. Choosing Amalia first,
he took the opportunity to grope her. She stepped back in disgust and her
father tried to push the man away. Janssen was punched in the face and fell
back against the coach. He had no more strength to resist being searched.
Beatrix screamed when the man ran his hands over her. It was a disappointing
haul. He held up the few valuables he'd managed to find on them.

'Search
these two,' said the leader, indicating Daniel and Dopff. 'Maybe they'll have
something worth stealing.'

They
were made to climb down from the driving seat. The man found a small purse on
Dopff and an even smaller one on Daniel. Of more interest to him was the pistol
that Daniel was carrying. It was tossed up to the leader.

'This
is an army pistol,' he observed, studying it. 'Did you serve in the army?'

'Yes,'
replied Daniel, 'and I was proud to do so.'

'How
many years did you follow the drum?'

'Twelve.'

'That
may save your life,' said the other, weighing him up. 'I was a soldier myself.
I like a man who fights for his country.'

'What
shall we do with the others?' asked the searcher.

'I
haven't decided yet.'

'I
say we shoot the two men and let the women live so that we can take it in turns
at night.'

'Oh,
the ladies will survive, have no fear of that.'

'Shall
I kill this one?' said the squat man, holding a pistol to Janssen's temple.
'He's no use to us at all.'

'Yes,
he is,' cried Daniel. 'Shoot him and you throw away the chance to make a lot of
money.' He turned to the leader. 'Tell him to lower the pistol.'

'Do
as he suggests,' said the leader and the man obeyed. 'Now what's this about a
lot of money?'

'Is
the name of Emanuel Janssen familiar to you?' asked Daniel, looking around the
three men. When he received blank stares from the trio, he pressed on.
"Ibis gentleman is the finest tapestry-maker in Europe. His work hangs in
the capital cities of almost every nation. He and his daughter have been living
in Paris where he's been weaving his latest tapestry. This,' he went on,
touching Dopff, 'is his assistant.' Dopff smiled uneasily.

'We're
on our way to deliver a tapestry commissioned by the Bishop of Beauvais. If you
don't believe me, we can show it to you.'

'Do
that,' said the leader, interest aroused. 'But let's have no tricks, soldier.
Make one false move and I'll shoot you between the eyes.'

Daniel
reached into the coach to bring out the tapestry then he and Dopff carefully
unfolded it on the grass. The highwaymen were astonished at the size and
quality of it.

'Nothing
but the finest materials have been used,' said Daniel.

'Yes,'
said Janssen, taking his cue. 'What you are looking at is Picardy wool, Italian
silk and gold and silver thread from Cyprus.'

Daniel
took over again. 'Imagine the cost,' he said. 'The bishop is very wealthy. He
wishes to have another tapestry made by Emanuel Janssen. Can you hear what I'm
saying to you? Hold the tapestry and its creator to ransom, and you'd all be
rich men.'

'That
makes sense,' urged the squat man.

'Be
quiet, Gustave!' snapped the leader.

'Bishops
always have far too much money.'

'True
enough. I'd be delighted to make one of them part with it. First, I wish to
know something,' he went on, turning a suspicious eye on Daniel. 'If that
tapestry is destined for the Bishop of Beauvais, why does it depict a battle?
Surely a prelate would choose something more spiritual to hang on his wall?'

'You're
clearly unaware of his links with the army,' said Daniel, inventing the tale as
he went along. 'In his younger days, he served as an army chaplain. His brother
holds the rank of general and actually fought in the battle you see laid out
before you. It will not hang in the bishop's palace. It's a gift for his
brother. The second tapestry,' he explained, 'will show a religious scene.' He
felt a first spot of rain. 'You can see how delicate this is,' he went on.
'With your permission, we'll fold it up again.'

'Do
that, soldier.'

As
Daniel tried to bend down, Janssen stepped forward to stop him. He insisted on
folding the tapestry himself. Aided by Dopff, he handled it with a care and reverence
that showed he must have woven it. They lifted it gently back into the coach.
Any lingering doubts the leader might have about Emanuel Janssen were swept
away. The rain now began to fall in earnest.

'What
do we do?' asked Gustave.

'Get
them in the coach and take them to the house,' said the leader. 'We need to
write a letter to the Bishop of Beauvais.'

The
house was less than a mile away. It turned out to be a derelict cottage on an
abandoned farm. With a loaded pistol levelled at him by one of the men, Daniel
drove the coach into a dilapidated barn and brought it to a halt. In defiance
of the countless holes in the roof, the horse managed to find a dry spot. The
passengers were ordered out and tied up in turn. Daniel, Janssen and Dopff were
bound hand and foot. The two women simply had their hands tied behind their
back. Gustave bent over to steal a kiss from Amalia. The leader grabbed him by
the collar and pulled him back.

'Show
more respect,' he warned. 'If I learn that either of these women has been
molested, you'll get nothing of the ransom.'

'That's
unfair!' wailed Gustave.

'Waiting
heightens the appetite.'

'I'm
ready for her
now!

'You'll
get your turn in due course. Stay and guard them.'

'Where
will you be?'

'Armand
and I are going to the house to compose the letter. You can have the pleasure
of delivering it to the Bishop of Beauvais.'

'I
want another kind of pleasure first.'

'Later.'

'Yes,'
said Armand, shooting a lascivious glance at Amalia, 'while you're riding to
Beauvais, we'll be playing cards.'

The
leader smiled. 'The winner has the pretty one and,' he went on, pointing to
Beatrix, 'the loser gets the ugly one.'

'I
want them both,' said Gustave.

'For
the moment, you can simply look at them.'

After
issuing another warning to Gustave, the leader ran across to the cottage with
Armand, leaving the captives seated on the ground in a semicircle. Gustave
walked around them to make sure that they were securely bound. When he reached
Amalia, he leered at her.

'Don't
you dare touch my daughter!' yelled Janssen.

'I'll
do what I like when the time comes.'

'When
you get your ransom,' Daniel told him, 'you'll have enough money to buy any
woman you choose.'

Gustave
leered again. 'I'll have this one free!'

Sitting
down a few yards away, he rested his pistol on his thigh and ogled Amalia. She
lowered her head in despair. Beatrix had already resorted to prayer, closing
her eyes and sending urgent pleas up to heaven. Dopff was utterly distraught,
fearing for the safety of the tapestry as much as for his own life. Janssen was
grateful to Daniel, knowing that his intervention had saved two of them from
being shot dead. All that Daniel had done, however, was to buy some time. When
it was discovered that the Bishop of Beauvais had no knowledge of any tapestry
woven by