“I suppose I did.”
“You did. But you did not mean what you said.”
“And how would you know that?”
“Look at me,” the man said, grabbing a tuft of his red hair. “If you had meant it, would I look like this?”
“I have no idea why you look like that.”
“Why must you be so dense today?”
The sound of cannon fire rang in the distance.
“Is that what I think it is?” asked Gerard.
“Yes. Those are the sounds of Guy’s ‘glorious victory’. The battle will be brief; Simon’s men are far overpowered.”
“Then it doesn’t matter anymore. Brazil will be French.”
“Not if you choose otherwise.”
“Me? What choice can a dying man make?”
“Who says you’re dying?”
Gerard looked down to see that his wounds had closed.
“What have you done?” he asked.
“Enough of your pointless questions. The only question that matters is: what will you do now?”
“My only concern is Oludara.”
“Saving him, you may save others.”
“I don’t care for the others.”
“Very well, then,” said the man. “Then Guy will conquer Brazil. He won’t be satisfied as a mere governor, though, he will eventually name himself king. Perhaps it won’t be so bad.”
Gerard scowled. “What would you have me do? I’m weak. I’m alone. I lost my gun and sword in the flight.”
“This sword?” The man placed Gerard’s rapier in his hands.
“Yes,” said Gerard. Just holding it made him feel better. “Do you have my gun as well?”
“Will you use it?” asked the man.
“Probably not,” said Gerard. “No matter what I decide, I won’t kill Guy or his men. I have no desire to become a murderer like him.”
“Then take this instead.” The man waved a rustic, four-piped bamboo flute in front of him. “Have you ever played?”
“You ask me to stop an invasion of hundreds with a sword and a pipe flute?”
“Empires have been won with less.”
“Have they?”
“Probably not,” the man replied. “This instrument may seem simple, but do you know that, if you don’t repeat a note, there are twenty-four ways to play these four notes in sets of three?”
“Thank you for the music lesson,” Gerard replied.
The man seemed unperturbed by Gerard’s sarcasm. “Those twenty-four three-note sets can be grouped into twelve pairs: each set and its opposite.”
“Fascinating,” said Gerard.
“So there are twelve calls, and twelve counters. Just make sure not to repeat a note. And never, ever, play all four notes in order.”
“Why not?”
“That will bring them all.”
“Bring who all?”
The man whacked Gerard across the bridge of the nose with the flute, then pressed it into his hand.
“Don’t be daft, Gerard. It is time to be wise.”
The man stood, and Gerard thought his features appeared blurry, even though his vision had returned almost to normal during their conversation. The man headed off.
“Where are you going?” asked Gerard. “I’m going to need all the help I can get.”
The man replied without turning back. “I’ve done too much already. The choice must be yours, van Oost.”
#
During the battle, Oludara and a half-dozen other prisoners had been left tied-up in the woods. The next morning, a group of French soldiers led them back to the city.
As they entered the gate, Oludara could spot little sign of battle. Cannon fire had left a few holes, and one building had been burned, but he didn’t see any bodies. The most conspicuous change were the blue French flags with the triple fleur-de-lis fluttering along the walls and the three galleons anchored in the bay. As he ascended the hill, Oludara spotted Simon, his soldiers, and some forty male colonists in a line at the top. They were bound at the wrists and guarded by Nicolas and a dozen French soldiers. Oludara reasoned that the city must have been taken by surprise.
Nicolas lined Oludara up with the other prisoners, where they waited in the hot sun for almost an hour, their only company a group of blue birds bouncing along the wall and chirping.
When Guy finally arrived, his men stood at attention and Nicolas stepped forward to speak: “Here are your prisoners, Governor.”
Guy walked along the line, sizing them up. Behind him, one of the prisoners mumbled, “Dirty pirate.”
Guy, furious, turned and screamed, “I’m not a pirate!” Then, composing himself, he said, “From the look of this pathetic lot, I’m not sure it’s even worth asking, but are any of you worth anything? I will happily ship any gentlemen back to Portugal for ransom.”
Simon stepped forward and replied, “You won’t find any nobility here. Most of us were born in Brazil and most of us will die here.”
Guy strode up to Simon and said, “Most of you certainly will. Who are you?”
“I’m Simon, captain of the guard.”
Guy looked him up and down. “With a one-eyed, half-breed in command, no wonder no one of any worth lives here.”
Simon turned red and said, “This eye was the price I paid to drive the French out of Rio de Janeiro the first time.”
Guy ignored the comment and looked around. “What is that infernal noise?” he asked.
Duarte spoke, his voice thick from his broken nose, “Those tanagers are waiting for fruit. We give them some every day.”
Guy grabbed a harquebus from one of his men and shot at the birds, dispersing them. “I hate birds!” he said, sneering.
“Then you’ve probably come to the wrong place,” said Luis.
Guy turned to him, mouth wide to yell, when Gerard’s voice interrupted from the gate below.
“Shooting at songbirds, Guy? Finally found an opponent of your stature?”
“Who left that gate open?” yelled Guy. “Why is no one guarding the bastion?”
Below, Gerard waved the banner of the Elephant and Macaw, stitched roughly back together after their encounter with the bull. “Remember this, Guy. This symbol will mark the end of your plans for Brazil.”
Many of the Frenchmen, including Guy, pointed and laughed. Guy yelled down, “Your banner has me quivering in my boots, Gerard. Did a five-year-old draw that for you?”
“Hey,” shouted Gerard, his face turning red, “it’s just a rough idea!”
“Enough of this nonsense. Come up here, and I’ll show you how worthy an opponent I am.”
“In the Low Countries, we’re well aware of the French battle prowess.” Gerard broke into a song:
“Oh, the grand old King of France,
with forty thousand men,
marched them up to the top of a hill
and so came down again.”
Many of the prisoners snickered at this, and several received cuffs to the head or groin. The song so infuriated Guy that Oludara could see the veins in his neck.
Guy screamed down, “You will regret your words, frog!”
Oludara turned to Duarte and asked, “Why does he call Gerard a frog?”
“In Europe, they call the Dutch frogs because they live in a marshy land.”
Guy pointed at Gerard and said to Nicolas, “Shoot him.”
“Too far,” he replied.
Guy judged the shot and nodded. He shouted to everyone present.
“Whoever captures that man will receive a hundred ecus d’or.”
With a chorus of hollers, the French soldiers charged down the hill. Guy looked around to find himself alone with over fifty prisoners.
“Come back here, you fools!” he shouted.
#
Gerard sat high in the crook of a tree, watching as a group of six French soldiers searched for him below.
“I’m up here,” he said.
They turned to look up at him.
“I have an offer for you,” he said. “Leave Brazil and no harm will come to you.”
“Come down, imbecile,” one of them replied, “or we’ll shoot you down.”
“You don’t really care about Brazil, do you? And even less about Guy, anyone can see that. Just take your ships and return to France.”
The men grumbled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, until one of them raised his gun. “Last chance,” he said.
“All right,” replied Gerard, “I suppose I must. But please allow me to play you a tune first.” Under his breath, he mumbled, “Three notes, all different.”
He placed the flute to his mouth and played three notes.
The Frenchmen looked at each other and shrugged. The one who had spoken said, “Enough nonsense. Get down.”
“You might want to look behind you first.”
“No stupid tricks.”
One soldier, however, did turn around, alerted by a rattling noise behind them. Mouth open, gasping for air, he could only grab the sleeve of the one speaking and spin him around to face an alarming sight: a diamond-backed pit viper of enormous size.
One by one, the soldiers turned to see the danger. They backed away as the serpent lifted its head eight feet off the ground and stared down at them. Its rattle vibrated in anticipation.
Not one of them daring to open fire, they broke and ran. Two of them even dropped their guns in their haste.
From his perch in the tree, Gerard chuckled.
#
Guy grabbed a soldier and pointed down to the bay, where only two of his galleons remained.
“Where’s my other ship?” he shouted.
“Some hundred men set off in the middle of the night.”
“And no one told me?”
“They said they had orders from you.”
Guy wailed in frustration and searched out Nicolas, who he practically dragged back to the office he had set up in one of the houses.
“A group of men stole one of my ships during the night. I want them hanged. Any and all deserters will be shot.”
Nicolas took a deep breath and replied. “This place is cursed, Governor. There seems to be no end to the creatures Gerard can call down with that flute. Every day morale gets worse. Why don’t we move on to some other port, before more men desert?”
“Coward!” yelled Guy. “Why don’t you try fighting those monsters instead of running from them?”
“Most of them we can’t even wound.”
“Why does Gerard plague me so? Why does he care so much about this town?”
“Perhaps it is because of his companion?”
“What companion?” asked Guy, puzzled.
“The nago.”
“The slave? Ha! Don’t make such jests. An educated man like Gerard make all this fuss over him? Nonsense.” Guy scratched his hair. “But there is something here he wants. Perhaps that slave might know. Bring him to me.”
Five minutes later, Nicolas returned with Oludara. Guy looked him up and down and had to admire his proud stature, better than many of his soldiers.
“Help me capture your old master, Gerard,” said Guy, “and I’ll give you your freedom.”
“I am a free man already.”
“Really? Then why do you travel with Gerard?”
Oludara seemed about to say something, then stopped.
“If you won’t tell me that, at least tell me of his flute.”
“Flute?”
“The one he plays to call monsters upon my men. Don’t pretend you’ve never seen it.”
Once again, Oludara remained silent. Guy was impressed by the man’s dedication. Perhaps Nicolas was right, after all. If so, he would use it to his advantage. He chanced a test.
“Tell me anything that will help me capture Gerard, and I will set you free. Otherwise, you hang at dawn.”
Oludara hesitated, then spoke. “I must ask your forgiveness. I lied to you not because of my loyalty to Gerard, but rather my fear of him. My people have a saying, ‘When the shin bone is not hurt, it says it has no flesh to protect it.’ ”
“Um...I’m not sure I understand. Perhaps it is an error of translation?”
“It means I will never know what I can do unless I try. I will overcome my fear of Gerard and stop him for you. Give me back my knife and I will go into the woods to call on him, pretend to negotiate in your name. He will trust me enough to come out, and I will kill him. If I succeed, I want fifty of the gold coins you promised to your men.”
A poorly told lie, mused Guy, and everything I needed to know.
“A tempting offer,” he said. “Let me sleep on it.”
#
The precarious, clay building which served as the brig contained just two cells, both of them packed with exhausted prisoners who didn’t even have room to sit. Even with the cell crowded beyond capacity, however, Oludara stood alone. Since he had returned from his meeting with Guy, the others looked upon him with open suspicion. They had shoved him to the back of the cell and isolated him, not even daring to speak where he could hear. Oludara could do nothing but worry as the long hours passed.
In the middle of the night, a commotion began. Some of the prisoners gasped, others hissed, and still others spit loudly. He could heard Simon say, somewhere from the front of the cell, “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to free you,” replied Gerard’s voice, “and take back Rio de Janeiro from Guy.”
Oludara pushed forward through the crowd, his fellow prisoners not easing his passage in any way.
“It is a trap,” said Oludara. “Guy knew you would come back for me.”
“Nonsense,” said Gerard, unlocking the cells. “He thinks of you as nothing but a slave.”
“Then how did you get in here so easily?”
“I came through that hole in the wall the bull made.”
Gerard tossed Oludara his enchanted ivory knife, which tingled in his hands as he held it. He noticed Gerard had recovered his own weapons as well.
“And after that?” asked Olduara. “Why do you think there are no guards here? How did you get those keys and our weapons? As we say, ‘When the spider intends to attack you, it encircles you with its web.’ ”
That made Gerard pause, but he shook it off and cut the bonds of those around him with his knife. Oludara joined in with his own.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Gerard, “this is our only chance. Over half of Guy’s men have fled, and the others are panicked. There’s not one among them who doesn’t hate the man. If we capture him, the others will desist. We can avoid bloodshed if we take him quickly.”
“All right,” said Simon. “What’s your plan?”
“You and your men create a distraction down by the bay while Oludara and I surprise Guy in his quarters.”
“Only if you take Duarte and Luis with you.”
“Agreed.”
Oludara shook his head. He knew he hadn’t convinced Guy during their meeting. Quite the contrary, he was sure Guy had realized the bond between the two, but nothing he could say now would convince Gerard.
“You lead the way?” requested Gerard.
Oludara agreed reluctantly. Trap or no trap, they had no choice but to go forward.
He pushed the brig door open to peek out, and found himself face to face with a half-dozen harquebus barrels.
#
Gerard lost all hope as he spotted the mass of French soldiers just outside the brig. He had fallen into the very trap that Oludara had predicted.
Guy’s voice called out from beyond the soldiers. “Bring them out.”
Dejected, the men walked single file from the jail and formed a line in the moonlight.
Guy pointed toward Gerard, “Take his weapons, and find that cursed flute.”
One soldier took Gerard’s rapier and harquebus, and three others searched him roughly until they found the flute hidden in his shirt. A soldier carried it to Guy, who turned it over in his hands, studying it. He held it up bef
ore his men.
“Is this toy what caused you all so much fear?”
Guy dropped the flute to the ground and crushed it beneath his boot.
“Cowards,” he said, eliciting reactions from his men which ranged from embarrassment to anger.
“Your ridiculous plan is finished, Gerard. Did you think you could take me unawares?”
A crow landed on a wall near Guy and cocked its head. Only Gerard seemed to notice it.
“Don’t ignore me, Gerard!” screamed Guy.
His hand trembling in anger, he pulled his double-barreled pistol from his belt and aimed it between Gerard’s eyes.
“You should listen when someone better than you is speaking.”
At that moment, a long note whistled through the air. To Gerard, it sounded reminiscent of the flute. The French soldiers who had heard Gerard’s perilous melodies cringed at the sound. All heads turned in unison toward the source: the crow.
“I’ve never heard a crow sing like that,” commented Luis.
The crow whistled three more notes.
“Four notes?” Gerard mumbled under his breath.
“Someone shut that thing up!” yelled Guy.
The crow repeated the four notes. They were, unmistakably, the same notes as the pipe flute.
“Four notes...” said Gerard, this time louder.
Guy turned the pistol away from Gerard and shot at the bird. With a flutter of wings, the crow leapt just before the shot went off and flew away. In the distance, a thunderous crack sounded and a tree fell.
“Four notes,” shouted Gerard. “Take cover!”
A crash echoed below them and a section of the perimeter wall collapsed. Through the gap rushed a menagerie of enormous creatures. Gerard recognized the bull, snake, pig and several others he had summoned with the flute, accompanied by many he had never seen before.
A general panic ensued. Guy berated his men, but most of them ignored his insults and fled for the docks. One of them dropped Gerard’s weapons and he ran to recover them.
Simon shouted orders, and most of his men shook off their panic and obeyed. He began organizing a defense against the invading monsters.
“Look to the bay!” yelled one of the Frenchmen.
Down below, a galleon pulled anchor and raised sail. Gerard could just make out Nicolas on the deck, waving a cheeky goodbye to Guy. The remaining French soldiers redoubled their speed toward the last ship.
A Tumultuous Convergence (The Elephant and Macaw Banner - Novelette Series Book 6) Page 3