Jacob's ladder
Chapter 3: At the inn

The man in black greeted thenewcomers with a slight bow, but did not say a word. He stared at them, especiallyat Luis, who cowered in a chair as far as possible. Charles looked puzzled. Whenthe supper was ready, the three sat around the table in the most silent mealLuis had ever partaken. As soon as the last serve was finished, they tookcandles and retired to their rooms. Charles and Luis shared one with two beds. Whenthey were alone, the boy opened his mouth to speak, but his tutor put a finger beforehis mouth in warning.

“Just a moment,” he said. He went tothe window, which looked at a rear yard, opened it, leaned out, closed it andwhispered: “If necessary, it would be possible to jump down.” They were in thesecond level of the inn. Then he went to the door, opened it carefully,verified that nobody was listening, looked long at the door where the man inblack had entered, shut their own door, and checked the walls for hidden holes.Finally reassured, he sat on one of the beds and said, in a softer voice than usual:

“We can speak.”

“That man! Did you notice?” exclaimedLuis.

“Yes, we saw him when we were leavingSalamanca.”

“He has followed us!”

“It could be chance.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“Neither do I. He seems too muchinterested in us.”

“What can we do?”

“For now, go to bed. Tomorrow, beforesunrise, we’ll get on.”

“If he lets us…”

“What can he do? He is alone, theinnkeeper would back us… unless he’s been bought, but I don’t think so, I wouldhave noticed it in his behavior. That man won’t be able to use force.”

“I hope you are right,” sighed Luis,unconvinced. The cadaverous face of the man in black had affected him deeply.

He wanted to speak on, but something attractedhis attention to the window. Charles rose, opened it and leaned out. Luisfollowed, but could just see a few red sparks up high, which disappeared in afew seconds.

“What was that? A shooting star?” heasked.

“No, it was a rocket. It came fromthis house. From the next window, I think.”

“Are you sure?”

“I think so.”

“The man in black?”

“Obviously, to warn someone or to askfor help.”

“Shouldn’t we leave immediately?”

“We cannot go further tonight, our horsesare exhausted. Also, we wouldn’t be able to leave without attracting hisattention, and he would follow us. Let’s go to bed. We need rest.”

“I can’t rest.”

“Try,” advised Charles, starting toundress. Luis followed his example. Soon later, they were in their beds withthe candles extinguished, but it was not so easy to extinguish their thoughts.

When Charles shook Luis to awake him,he had the impression that he had just closed his eyes, but instantly rememberedtheir situation and got up without complaining. Not daring to light a candle,they dressed in the dark, took their backpacks, left the room in silence andwent down the stairs. In the hall they found two men near the outer door, whilea third was snoring sitting on an armchair. Seeing them arrive, one of the twowinked while the other whistled softly to awake the sleeper. The man arose,rubbed his eyes, looked at them with insolence and said in bad Spanish with astrong French accent:

“Sorry, gentlemen; can’t leave.”

Luis was about to protest, butCharles nudged him and whispered:

“Let’s get back to our room.”

Once there, Charles went to thewindow, but didn’t open it, just pointed at the dark shadow of a man leaning ona tree, who was looking up, directly at them.

“We are trapped,” he said.

“But who are these men? When did theycome?”

“Obviously during the night, inanswer to our neighbor’s call.”

“We should have left as soon as wesaw the rocket.”

“We’d have been overtaken in theopen. Here, at least, the innkeeper may protect us. They won’t dare to act beforewitnesses.”

Charles’s voice did not sound convincingand Luis saw that he was more worried than he wanted to show. He sat on thebed, closed his eyes and tried to stop his fear, while his tutor remainedstanding, grappling with a violent inner struggle. A little later, he seemed tohave reached a decision, sat on the bed near Luis and put a hand on hisshoulder. His other hand was inside his shirt, groping with something whichseemed to have got stuck.

“You may be able to escape where Iwon’t. Those men must be well acquainted with my description, but not with yours.This must not fall into Bonaparte’s hands, so you must take care of it.”

While he spoke, he took an objectfrom inside his clothes and showed it. It was golden, about one inch long, inthe shape of a hand ladder, with two poles and four unevenly distributed echelons,separated by growing distances, more clustered at one side. After keeping it afew instants in sight, he closed his hand, disengaged from his throat thestring linking the object and gave it to Luis, who received it without speaking.

“This is Jacob’s ladder.” Charlessaid solemnly. “I hope that you’ll keep it well.”

Luis wetted his lips, coughedslightly and said:

“Is this the amulet?”

“Some call it that, but I think it’smore.”

“What more?”

“I wish I had time to explain, but Imust tell you something more important. If you escape, go on to Lisbon and tryto replace lady Borland, an English lady; she is my friend and will help you.”

“How do you know that she is inLisbon?”

“What did you think I was doing thesedays, preparing for our flight? Don’t worry, she’s there.”

“But Lisbon is larger than Salamanca,how will I replace her?”

“You’ll manage. Or maybe she’ll replaceyou.”

“What must I do when I meet her?”

“Follow her instructions, she’ll keepyou safe.”

“Does she know about Jacob’s ladder?”

“She knows that I’ve got somethingthat Bonaparte covets, and will act to prevent its falling into his hands.”

Luis put the string carefully aroundhis neck and hid Jacob’s ladder among his clothes.

“I’ll try to be worthy of your trust,although I mistrust myself,” he said. “I wish I were older.”

Charles smiled.

“That will come. Take this purse; it hasmoney, enough to take you to Lisbon. Now you must leave. Get out of the room, godown the stairs and walk into the kitchen. With luck, they’ll think you are oneof the servants. The innkeeper may help you. Use your judgment and takeadvantage of the opportunities when they come.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll wait for Gérard here. When hecomes, which won’t be long, he won’t replace the amulet. By then, you should be far.Let me hug you, Luis! Go. God be with you.”

Dawn had come. At the light of therising sun, Luis saw tears in his tutor’s eyes, felt his own getting wetagainst his will, hugged Charles, opened the door and went out. The corridorwas empty.

Trying to imitate the lazy way ofwalking of the servants of the inn, he went down the stairs and opened thefirst door he found, without looking at the watchers, who followed him withtheir eyes but did nothing to stop him. His ruse seemed to have worked.

In the kitchen he found theinnkeeper, his wife and two of the servants, alarmed and worried. The former wastelling the others that three men he had never met before had forbidden him toopen the door of his own house. The back door was similarly watched by anotherman in the yard, who had not allowed him to get out. When Luis came in, theinnkeeper recognized him as one of the travelers who had arrived the previousevening, and asked for explanations. Luis feigned ignorance and said that heand his companion had tried to leave early, but the men at the door hadn’tallowed them. The innkeeper cursed the strangers and said that the man in blackhad probably something to do with what was happening. Luis took advantage ofthe opportunity to ask who he was, but the answer was that he had arrived justone hour before them. It was the first time the innkeeper had seen him, and hehad not given his name when he took a room for the night.

Suddenly they heard the gallop ofmany horses, which stopped before the house. The innkeeper and the servants ranto the dining-room, where the windows gave a good sight of the front, but Luisdid not dare to show himself and remained in the kitchen. Soon later thenewcomers entered the inn. As they were men in arms, the innkeeper had hoped tobeg their protection against the bandits who had invaded his house, but when hesaw them greeting as old friends, knew that they were all together, that theirsituation, rather than improving, was getting worse.

When the newcomers went in thedining-room, Luis recognized major Gérard, who was wearing the same uniform as whenthey met near the roman bridge in Salamanca. Careful not to be seen, he put hisear to the door, to listen what they would say. They were speaking French, obviouslythinking that the innkeeper or the servants would not be able to understand.

“Bring the prisoner,” said Gérard.

One of the soldiers went out and cameback with another person. For some time nobody spoke, then Gérard said:

“My friend, your ruse has beenuseless. We have overtaken them. Now you’ll pay for your treason.”

“The only traitor to France isBonaparte,” said the prisoner. Luis recognized Pierre’s voice.

At that point, another person enteredthe room. When he spoke, Luis felt his hair stand on end. The voice was highand squeaky, like the noise produced by a finger rubbing a wet glass.Redoubling his precautions, he put one eye near the narrow separation betweenthe door and the doorpost and saw the man in black, who had opened his lips forthe first time.

“Major Gérard, I have fulfilled mypart of the agreement. You have count Philippe. Now I hope you’ll fulfill yours.”

“As soon as Citizen Charles Houygives me what I want, you will do whatever you like with the boy, MonsieurBlatsov, but not before. I need him, to make the count surrender Jacob’sladder. He may not have it on himself, he may have hidden it somewhere, but ifI threaten him with hurting the boy, he’ll give it to me.”

“I hope so. I wouldn’t like to be inyour shoes if you try to deceive me.”

“Are you threatening me, MonsieurBlatsov? I have twenty men and you are alone!”

Blatsov’s laugh was sinister, totallydevoid of joy.

“Alone?” he exclaimed. “Nikomakos backsme! Compared with him, your admired emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, is adilettante.”

Gérard did not look impressed.

“I have never heard of thisNikomakos. Who is he? Where is he? His name looks Greek. Greece is a conqueredcountry, Monsieur Blatsov, a part of the Turkish Empire. Your Nikomakos cannoteven free his countrymen, and you would confront him with the best army inEurope?”

“When Nikomakos moves his armies, noone will be able to stop him, either Turkish or French.”

“We have stopped Czar Alexander’sarmy. Perhaps Nikomakos is better than the Russians. You should know, aren’tyou a Russian?”

“Nikomakos’s army is irresistible,for his soldiers cannot die.”

Gérard pursed his mouth in a contemptuoussmile.

“That would certainly be a wondroussecret weapon, if possible, which it isn’t. Every man must die.”

“A man who is not alive cannot die,”answered Blatsov. Luis shuddered.

“Don’t be an idiot,” protestedGérard. “Perhaps this Nikomakos is able to raise the dead?”

“I won’t say another word. I’ll wait untiltonight, and then you’ll put the boy in my hands. Finish with him before thesunset. At that time, I will take him, with or without your consent.”

Turning around, he left thedining-room.

Interlude in the second echelon

“Have you heard what he said?”

“Who is this Nikomakos?”

“No, who is this Blatsov? Heshouldn’t be there!”

“What about this tale of the army ofzombies? Where did he get it from?”

“Things aren’t going as foreseen.”

“What’s happened?”

“Have we made a mistake with theexperiment?”

“No, friends, we have taken all thepossible precautions.”

“Then what is this?”

“Someone is trying to sabotage theexperiment.”

“Who would do that? Who could dothat?”

“We should wait and see. Nothing irreparablehas happened yet.”

“That’s true. Let’s wait. We arestill far from the bifurcation.”

“That’s what worries me. If thisimportant discrepancy has been detected so long before the bifurcation, what mayhappen later?”

“We’ll see.”

“All right, we’ll see; but we mustwatch carefully. Remember what I said, this can be sabotage.”

“We’ll keep our eyes open andconsider all the possibilities. Let’s keep watching.”