An Unlikely Savior

by Camille Oster

  He looked back and saw Virginie watching him as he climbed the stairs. He didn’t like leaving her, but it was the worse of two evils at the moment. He found the door he wanted and knocked. It took a long time before someone came to answer, but finally the door creaked open.

  “What do you want?”

  “I need to discuss getting passage on a ship,” Tomas said quietly so no one nearby could hear.

  “Where to?”

  “England,”

  “You a toff?”

  “No, but I need to get someone to England.”

  “Passages are hard to get your hands on these days. You have money?”

  “I have enough.”

  “Let me see.”

  “It’s not on me,” Tomas said getting annoyed at the direction the man was taking the conversation.

  “The port is out of bounds unless you have approval to travel,” the grey man with the weather beaten face said. His hair was long and stringy. Tomas could smell drink on the man’s breath. It was obvious this man hadn’t seen good health in a long time and it might be the reason that no one gave him the run of a ship anymore. “Do you have approval?”

  “No,” Tomas admitted after a moment of consideration. He didn’t trust this man, but he needed information and he had nowhere else to go.

  “That is most unfortunate. In that case, it will cost you dearly. You better come in,” the man said and looked suspiciously up and down the walkway. Tomas didn’t like stepping into the room and away from Virginie, but he had to.

  Virginie watched as Tomas disappeared into the building. She wanted to tell him not to go, but she also didn’t want to appear helpless and cowardly. For some reason, Tomas’ opinion of her had started to matter to her. He’d told her to stay in the alley and await his return and that was exactly what she intended on doing.

  Her attention was distracted by a noise down the street. There were people coming. Virginie felt her heart beat start to race and she felt herself assaulted with dread. When they came around the corner, they were only boys. Three of them with dirty clothes and faces. Virginie relaxed a little. She stood back against the wall to let them pass in the small alley.

  They eyed her suspiciously, then one of the smiled. Virginie smiled back non-commitally, wishing they would move along faster. One of them pushed her.

  “Hey!” she yelled and the boys laughed. She couldn’t believe that even the children were horrible in this place. One of the grabbed her satchel, but she refused to let it go.

  “Stop!” she yelled. “Let go of my satchel. Tomas!” She screamed as loudly as she could. The boy tugged on the satchel, but she still refuse to let it go. One of the other boys hit her in the face and she lost her grip. She started chasing them down the alley. They had her silver, she needed to get it back, but they were so fast.

  Tomas heard Virginie yelling and immediately ran outside. When he looked over the railing, he could see her running down the alley. He called after her, not wanting her to leave his sight. Then he saw some street urchins with the satchel. He shot down the stairs and after them. They split apart and he wasn’t sure which of them had the satchel. Virginie was running after one of them. He decided to follow her; he couldn’t lose sight of her. He couldn’t let anything happen to her as she moved further down the side alleys.

  When he got around the corner, she was deciding where to go.

  “I lost him,” she said, anxiety making her voice high pitched. “He stole my silver; we have to get it back.”

  “It’s gone; we will never find it now. I left you alone for one second,” he groaned. Their silver was gone, as was the deal for passage. He punched the wall and ignored the hurt that shot up his arm. “We needed that money. How are we going to secure you passage with no money?” He was pacing around the small alley, trying to think of what to do. He let out a string of curses.

  “I know, I’m sorry. They ripped it out of my hands. I tried to hold on, but there were three of them.” She looked like she was about to cry again, but he was too angry to care just at that moment. Then he noticed the bruise on the side of her cheek.

  “Did they hurt you?” he asked.

  “One of them hit me,” she said in quiet sobs.

  “Let me see,” he said and grabbed her gently around the head. He shifted her face until the light fell on the bruise. There was no cut and no risk for infection, but a slight swelling and discoloration. She let him examine her, and he could still feel the stress in her body. He stroked the bump gently feeling for any damage underneath, making her wince under the touch. Her smooth skin warm under his finger tips. He would hate to think that the incident would mar her soft, smooth skin, but there was no getting away from the bruise that would develop and worsen over the next day or two.

  “I still have my necklace,” she said as he examined her.

  “What necklace?”

  “My confirmation necklace, it’s in the hem of this dress.”

  “You hid it from me?” he asked with surprise. Her eyes were big and glossy with unshed tears as she looked at him. She tried to look away.

  “I didn’t know I could trust you.”

  He felt mixed emotions about it, about her hiding something from him. Then again, he would have dumped her in a heartbeat if he could have found some way of offloading the burden of taking her. On the other hand, it bothered him that she didn’t trust him.

  “Smart girl,” he said tentatively. “You always have to have a contingency. The bruise will heal, but I don’t think the necklace is going to be enough.” It certainly wouldn’t be to get the services of the captain the old sea dog up the alley recommended. Tomas had a bit of coin left to support them for a few more days, but they needed to get more money.

  “You can’t hide things from me anymore,” he said after they stepped out of the alley. “The situation is dire and I need to know everything. I promise you that I am not going to cheat you.”

  She nodded. “There is nothing else. What are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know,” he said honestly. They had nowhere to go, but they couldn’t stand in the alley for the whole day either. He needed time to think, he needed to formulate a plan. There would be no point going back to speak to the sea dog. He guided her back to the main street, not sure where he was taking her. She still looked completely miserable.

  “It wasn’t your fault; I shouldn’t have left you alone.” He fully saw his error in hindsight. At the time he had been worried that he was a bigger risk being knocked out by the retired captain and his potential associates if he turned up with a satchel of silver. They weren’t exactly trustworthy people and would much rather have a bag of silver for themselves than to get a small portion as a reward for recommending someone else to receive the bounty. He couldn’t fault the logic, but he also hadn’t foreseen that she would be attacked by street urchins. He cursed their bad luck.

  He put his arm around Virginie, it would not hurt if the people they saw dismissed them as just another couple walking down the street. He also wanted to sooth Virginie who looked devastated by the development.

  “Don’t worry, we will find a way,” he said and gave her shoulder a squeeze.

  Chapter 7

  Virginie felt wracked with worry. She had lost them almost all of their means, and now she didn’t know how they were going to manage. She knew he wanted her on a boat at the earliest opportunity and now that wasn’t going to happen. She wondered what she would do now that she couldn’t secure passage. She might be better off going back to the Aubesvines estate and just hiding from anyone who came near it.

  She wouldn’t have a lot of food, but she might be able to grow some. Perhaps she would just survive this period in hiding until things in France returned to normal. She wasn’t sure if Tomas’ insistence that he couldn’t go back to his life was entirely true. If so, he could stay at the house with her, and if they couldn’t stay in the house, they could live in one of the smaller houses on the estate to attract less attention.
If they dressed like they were at the moment, no one would assume that they were the original occupants of the big house.

  This madness had to die away eventually; it had to burn itself out over time. It had to. This could not be what everyone wanted, killings every day. It wasn’t just aristocrats they were killing, and they must be running out of those, it was people of their own class. Surely people did not want to live like this forever.

  “We could return to the house and hide in the countryside until things change,” she suggested. She was getting tired of walking; they didn’t seem to have any particular direction, just rambled around the streets without any purpose.

  “No, we are getting you on a ship,” he said. She saw the determination in his dark eyes.

  “How? We don’t have the means.”

  “We will just have to get the means.”

  “Where?”

  “Where the means reside these days,” he said cryptically. He seemed to have gotten some direction to where he was taking them, and Virignie could only follow.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “The people with the most means these days are the leaders of the Jacobins. They preach unity and equality, but they have more money than the church. In fact, I suspect they have taken all the church’s money as well. If we want money, that is where we should go.”

  “They are hardly going to give us any,” she said not quite understanding what he was suggesting.

  “No, we are going to have to liberate it.”

  Virginie didn’t argue this time. Their circumstances were dire, but it was a drastic step, with risks. Tomas was clearly going steal money from the leaders of the revolution. That meant they would be going to steal from the very people they have been trying to avoid being seen by. Virginie’s brow furrowed with worry. She did trust Tomas more than she thought possible, but this sounded foolhardy.

  “Won’t it be dangerous?”

  “The Jacobins are drunk on their own power; they wouldn’t think anyone dared to steal from them.”

  “Or we can just go back,” Virgnie suggested.

  “What are you talking about?” Tomas stopped and turned to her. His gaze pinned her to make sure she understood what he was saying. “You can’t go back.”

  “We can hide on the grounds of the house until things settle down.”

  “And what if they don’t? People in the area know you. You can’t trust any of them. You will be found and they will kill you.”

  “Or maybe reason will prevail before long.”

  “You are so sweet,” he said. “You believe the good in people in all things.”

  “I just don’t think people want to live like this, not for long.” She pleaded with him. She didn’t want him to risk himself stealing on her behalf.

  “Maybe not like this, but they want to live without you.”

  “I haven’t done anything.”

  “It isn’t what you’ve done, it’s what you represent. It is a nice idea, but it is too dangerous. We have to get you on a ship, we have no other option.” The idea of living in hiding with her had a strong appeal to something in him, but it wasn’t possible. Furthermore, Etienne would never forgive him if he failed to deliver her safely to England, even less likely if he ended up living with her for a period. But, he dismissed the thoughts, they were unrealistic and they were not serving them. She needed to go to England and he would find a way. If he ended up stealing the means from the people who cause them danger and harm in the first place, it was only poetic justice.

  He guided them toward where he knew one of the Jacobin leaders lived. The man was well known in the area and had an office on the same street and it was full of people petitioning for justice, food and all forms of assistance. This man was beyond a doubt drunk on power, he loved having people outside his home and office, clamoring for him to improve their lives. He was everything that was wrong with the revolution. These men had come in and they were serving themselves more than they truly cared about France. Tomas guessed that was the risk of any revolution, people with their own agendas would come in and corrupt the cause.

  They walked past the crowd waiting for this man and continued down the street and further along the next street over. An alley provided access to the roofs of the block. He would go over the roofs. They were sufficiently far away that no one would notice him and guess that he was robbing the Jacobin leader’s house. He would find some way into the house from the top where people, especially servants were more lax. Tomas was pretty certain this man had servants. He may preach equality and meaningful work for all, but Tomas was sure the man kept servants to tend to his needs. If there was one thing Tomas hated it was hypocracy.

  “Tomas, this is not a good idea.”

  “Leaving you in an alley is never a good idea it seems, but I must. Try not to engage with any street urchins this time.”

  “Tomas, please,” she urged. “Be careful.”

  “If something goes wrong, find your way back to the Aubesvine estate, I will find you there. Don’t try to find me. Promise,” he grabbed her by the shoulders to see for certain that she understood. “Promise.” She nodded.

  “If I am not back in half an hour, then go and don’t look back.”

  Virginie watched as Tomas climbed up a set of stairs then up a window sill onto the roof of the building. It looked very precarious and Virginie felt her stomach drop at one point, then he disappeared from sight. They were quite far from the house of the Jacobin leader, but the alleys were small and the houses were close and Virginie guessed that Tomas would jump from one to the next. The idea of him jumping chasms high up between houses made her stomach a riot of butterflies.

  There she was again, alone in an alley waiting for him to come back. She looked around the alley. It was dark and gloomy; the sun didn’t reach down to the ground and the stones on the side of the houses were mouldy with moisture and lack of sunshine. She tried not to look up to the roofline because it would look suspicious if someone saw her and she didn’t want to put Tomas at further risk. She knew he was taking some very real risks to help get her to England and she didn’t want him to get caught because of it. Thieves were executed in these times; fodder for the guillotines.

  They had walked past the square where the guillotine was. Tomas had turned her around as soon as it came into sight, but she could still see the blood stains on the wood of the structure as well as the guillotine itself. She’d wanted to throw up, or to cry, but she held her calm. She could not afford to attract attention. Tomas had held her even closer until they were well away from the awful town square.

  She couldn’t understand the hatred that had enveloped the country, or why anyone would purposefully go and watch people being murdered. It was sick and she couldn’t wrap her mind around it. It hurt her heart to think such a fate would meet Tomas because of the things he was doing for her.

  She felt jubilation when his head popped over the roofline. He climbed down quickly, jumping the last of it. He looked pleased. He had apparently achieved what he set out to do. Virginie was pleased as well.

  “You are a very bad influence on me,” he said with a smile. “Now let’s go eat.”

  They walked until they found a tavern. It was a different one from the one they’d been in yesterday, but the atmosphere was the same. It felt like complete chaos in there, just a more intensified version of the chaos on the streets.

  Tomas took a seat at the end of a large table. There were men down the other side of the table, but they didn’t bother them beyond a quick glance.

  “Will we be fine?” Virginie asked quietly after they were seated.

  “We are in a better position than we were a short while ago.” He ordered two bowls of broth from the tavern keeper with a large stained apron over his round belly. The man wasn’t friendly; he just appeared and took the order without saying a word.

  Virginie was happy to see that Tomas was in a better mood, it made the whole world seem a little lighter. The broth came withou
t much delay and it tasted of onions. It was completely different from the broth they’d had the day before, when they had been interrupted by soldiers. There were no soldiers riling up the patrons at the tavern which seemed to make things a bit calmer. The broth was hot and Virginie was too hungry to worry what it tasted like; anything was fine at the moment.

  “What are we going to do now?”

  “I think I have to go back to see that old Captain and get the name of the ship he knows.” Tomas was weary; he was constantly searching the tavern with glaces. Virginie only watch him because she didn’t see the things that he did, the signs of trouble. It all looked threatening to her and felt safer not making eye contact with anyone. Also, she found that he seemed to attract her gaze more than anything else.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “For what?” He turned his attention back to her. She felt the gaze of his dark eyes like a physical force.

  “For doing this for me. For taking me.”

  “I’m sorry it was necessary,” he said quietly.

  As scary as this had all been, she didn’t regret getting to know him. Underneath his rough exterior, he was an honorable man and she trusted him in every way.

  “It will be over soon and you will be safe.”

  “What will you do?”

  “I don’t know yet.”

  “You could come to England.”

  He laughed, “England is not for me. Besides, I should find Etienne.” Virginie realized that as much as he rejected his brother and their aristocratic roots, he still worried for his brother. Virginie grabbed his hand, and he seemed to react before relaxing and letting her hold his hand. It was warm and solid. Virginie wanted to give him as much support and assurance as she could.