The Stone of Blood (12 page)

“
And no zigzaggin’!
” She’d say just before I got out of ear shot.

“
Okay!
” I’d exclaim as my bike tires met the road.

Zigzaggin’ is what they called it when you ride on one side of the road and then you change over to the other side of the road, and so on back and forth like that? Mama only wanted us to ride on one side of the road only! She never wanted us to have any fun! No sir! No fun at all!

I sometimes wondered if Mama had a big rule book somewhere with all of the fun stuff to do marked out of it with big red X’s.

As a kid growin’ up in the country, ridin’ your bike seemed to bring with it a sense of freedom! No matter the rules, nobody was hollerin’ at you and nobody was makin’ you do somethin’ that you didn’t wanna do! Ridin’ on that smooth road with the wind blowin’ in your face made you feel glad to be alive!

My bike was red and it had a long white banana seat on it. It also had a
big spring
on the front of it to make it look like a real motorcycle! We called my bike the “
Chopper King
” and my sister’s bike we called the “
Blue Flame
”. Me and my sister made up those names ourselves!

“Hey Anna! Look! Scott’s comin’ out!” I said as I zigzagged just out of eyesight of Mama’s kitchen window. Scott was a boy who lived down the road. Not the one that had the creek. This was the other one that Anna liked.

“I see him.”

“You want me to tell him you LIKE him?” I said pickin’ on her.

“NO!” she said as she gestured at me to stop it and to quit bein’ so loud.

“I will if YOU WANT me too!” I teased again.

“NO I said!” She told me.

Anna was gettin’ mad at me now and I was smilin’ like a Cheshire cat! Scott was my age and my sister of course was a little bit younger. And it sure was embarrassin’ when you liked somebody and got teased about it! But it was one of the funniest things ever when you were the one that gotta do the teasin’!

“Well all right, but if you want me too, I’ll TELL HIM for you!” I told her.

“SHHHH!” She stated holdin’ her finger up to her mouth. “HERE HE COMES!”

“Hey Scott, how’s it goin’?” I asked.

I was ridin’ my bike around in circles now. I’d already forgotten about whether or not my mama could see me. The red barn blocked us mostly from Mama’s site, so that’s why we liked ridin’ close by it most of the time.

“Pretty good. How are y’all doing?” Scott said.

“Not bad.” I said lookin’ at my sister and smilin’. “Guess what Scott?”

“What?” he said.

“Anna’s got somethin’ to TELL YA.” I said.

The look on my little sister’s face could’ve knocked me plumb off of my bike if I wasn’t already laughin’ so hard! It was just some good natured ribbin’ was all! At least wise since I wasn’t the one gettin’ the ribbin’!

I had to stop ridin’ for a whole minute and just stand there on that road with the bike between my legs to catch my breath from laughing so hard!

“ANNA LIKES YOU SCOTT!” I said bustin’ out loud!

Anna became so embarrassed that she turned a bright red in the face!

She gave me the meanest old scowled look that you’d ever saw!

And then she rode her bike on up to the house!

I knew that I was gonna hear about it when I got home! Cause I knew that my mama would surely be standin’ by our mailbox tellin’ me to come home at any moment!

But as for right then, me and Scott just kind of looked at one another and laughed a bit.

Well, I laughed.

Anna was my sister after all and I didn’t let anybody else do no laughin’ at her!

Scott might have just snickered is all.

Laughin’ at sisters was somethin’ totally reserved for brothers only! It was an unwritten kid code or somethin’ like that. Cause if anybody was gonna do any laughin’ at her, well …it was gonna be me!

***

November 1793

In legislative assembly hidden beneath the streets of the
Place de la Concorde
, Paris, just as a young soldier of the Revolution reached his hand into the basket placed beneath the sharpened blade of the guillotine and produced the severed head of King Louis Philippe II and held it up to the roar of cheering crowds, the Grand Master of the Royal Order of the Wolf addressed the gathered congregation.

“Messieurs, désespérée est l’heure que nous nous réunissons ici aujourd’hui.” At-il déclaré: “La Révolution accentue à nos portes et le sang innocent tourne librement mais nos rues.” At-il poursuivi. “Le jour est venu, sinon ce jour où le ‘Sang de Pierre’ est plus sûr dans les mains des ‘Sang du Prince’! Il séjourne aujourd’hui dans nos pays voisins, comme des soldats de notre Ordre le protéger. Mais le jour est venu, sinon ce jour où il doit renoncer à la
pierre
pour nous et nous devons embrasser les moyens de l’émigré!”

“
Gentlemen, desperate is the hour that we gather here this day.
” He stated “
The Revolution heightens at our gates and innocent blood runs freely thoughout our streets.”
He continued.
“
The day has come, if not this day when the ‘Sang
Pierre
’ is no longer safe within the hands of the ‘Prince du Sang’! He sojourns now throughout our neighboring countries, as soldiers of our Order protect him. But the day has come, if not this day when he must relinquish the stone to us and we must
embrace the ways of the
émigré!”

“Mais ne sommes nous pas des émigrés maintenant? Même ici, au sein de nos propres terres?” Une voix audacieuse parlé de la foule.

“
But are we not émigrés now? Even here, within our own lands?” A bold voice spoke up from out of the crowd.

An
émigré is a refugee, usually a royalist who had fled the French Revolution to live in a foreign land. The émigrés comprised all classes, but were more usually made up of the privileged class.

After the fall of the Bastille in 1789, the exodus of the
‘Prince du Sang’ began, and waves of immigrations took place thereafter.

“D’accord!” A crié un autre. “
Paris
est notre ville! Pourquoi devrions-nous courir? Ces révolutionnaires, ils sont les véritables monstres! Ils marchent dans la lumière du jour où le monde entier entier peut voir!”

“Agreed!” Shouted yet another. “
Paris
is our city! Why should we run? These Revolutionaries, they are the true monsters! They walk in the daylight where the whole entire world may see!”

“Alors que nous devons nous cacher comme des rats dans les égouts!” At-il poursuivi. “Dites-moi où est-il encore pour nous de courir? Où y at-il quitté Grand maître? Qu'en dites-vous? Où est il nous reste à courir?”

“While we must hide ourselves like rats in the sewers!” He continued. “Tell me where is there left for us to run?
Where is there left Grand Master? What say you? Where is there left for us to run?”

The Grand Master
raised his hands to calm the growing murmur of the crowd as they spoke with much debate and passion.

“Messieurs s’il vous plaît, que le jour grandit courte et les soldats de la révolution sont presque à nos portes!” At-il dit.

“Gentlemen please, as the day grows short and the soldiers of the revolution are nearly upon our doorsteps!” he said.

The congregation’s temparment was appeased as the speakers tone intensified.

“L’Ordre a été brisée! Nous ne pouvons plus rester caché dans les limites de ces chambres, au sein du Palais de notre Roi ou à l’intérieur des frontières de notre bien-aimée à
Paris
!” Il a crié. “Ceux qui étaient autrefois en dehors de nous, maintenant sont contre nous!”

“The Order has been broken! We can no longer remain hidden within the confines of these chambers, within the Palace of our King or within the borders of our beloved
Paris
!” He shouted. “They who were once apart of us, now stand against us!”

Those in attendance rose to their feet as their roars climaxed!

They threw down their mortal masks to show the fury of the wolf, with a great snarling and gnashing of teeth!

The gavel was struck upon the
lecturn
as they sought to regain order within their assembly.

“La façon dont a été fixé!” Abdias déclaré fermement. “Notre grand passage sera bientôt fait! Ceux qui le souhaitent de rester à
Paris
peut le faire! Mais ceux d’entre vous qui sont prêts, ceux d’entre vous qui souhaitent faire le voyage avec nous doit se préparer à notre appel!”

“The way has been set!” He stated firmly. “Our great passage will soon be made! Those who wish to remain in
Paris
may do so! But those of you who are willing, those of you who wish to make the journey with us must prepare for our call!”

Werewolves growled in great tumult; howling themselves into frenzy!

“Le ‘Sang
Pierre
’ ne doit pas tomber entre les mains de nos ennemis! Il est de notre devoir! Non! Il notre destin et l’obligation solumn pour protéger la pierre, ordonné par Dieu!” Le Grand Maître des conférences que le marteau a été frappé encore et encore.

“The ‘Sang
Pierre
’ must not fall into the hands of our enemies! It is our duty! No! It our destiny and solumn obligation to protect the stone, ordained by God!”
The Grand Master
lectured as the gavel was struck again and again.

“Préparez-vous!”

“Prepare yourselves!”

“Pour notre appel va bientôt venir!”

“For our call will come soon!”

“Il viendra à n'importe quelle heure!”

“It will come at any hour!”