Forever Young The Beginning (71 page)

They desired to talk to her afterward
so Caryn arranged for that with Marie there of course. Little Aimee
was absolutely impeccable in her diction, courtesy, and the tone of
her voice. The four women were stunned at her maturity and
refinement. Soon all of the wealthy elite of Paris would hear of
Caryn Rochelle’s stunning child model.

The
Supreme Council
closed session
meeting was gaveled to order by Heinrich Von Steuben. “I believe
that Henri has a report from Paris. Henri?”

“
Yes, Heini I do. Esteemed
colleagues we had an incident in Paris recently in which thirteen
rogue vampires were successfully killed without a report even being
made to the King’s Gendarmes.”

“
Thirteen you say? Good Lord
Henri, that sounds like it was a real fright!” The assembled judges
murmured among themselves, shaking their heads.

“
Well, it had the potential
to be a real flare up, but thanks to my team, it was contained. We
don’t know how many were killed before we learned of them. There
had not been a report made on any activity in that part of the
city. It is a very poor and dangerous area. A young protégé who we
recently brought over stumbled onto it, by happening along just in
time to drive away one who tried to attack some people who had
gotten lost.” He thought
will they believe
this version?
And then he resumed “Luckily
it was just the one and it was well after dark. No one in the
carriage saw anything.”

“
That was a stroke of
luck!”

He then filled them in on the raid,
leaving out any reference to Aimee, and concluding with Ian
sticking his pistol halfway down the throat of one before blowing
his brains out.

Some laughter followed then. “Ian is
one resourceful fellow. He has become quite an asset and we want
you to be sure to thank him for all of us, Henri.”

“
I’ll be sure to do
so.”

“
Did anyone in the carriage
ever try to contact the fellow or try to find out what had
happened?”

“
No. They saw nothing and it
was very dark. My new protégé had just finished his imprinting and
had gone that way as a shortcut to somewhere he wanted to be. I
think he was on his way to see some young tart.” He thought
another lie, and a good one if I do say so
myself. They’ll believe it.

Much laughter erupted around the
tables. Since there was no one called to testify, the Council had
just pushed the two tables together and were all seated around
them. “It was pure luck that he was there at all when it happened.
He never even asked their names, but he did direct them how to get
to their destination.”

Vassily, the Russian judge quipped “If
not for Henri, Paris would be as bad as the Balkans.” Everyone
laughed as Judge Nikola good-naturedly laughed at his own
predicament. They discussed an incident in Poland then and finally
Heinrich asked Nikola Saigat about events in the
Balkans.

“
Oh Heini, I knew you’d get
to me!” There was a little scattered but sympathetic laughter. “I
think that those bastards are having a territorial dispute right
now. That’s good because they are killing each other for once.”
There was more laughter this time. “I’d like to keep our assets
there, but I know that there is the Polish question and that I’ve
kept the assets we have for too long now. I yield to the majority
of the
Council
on
this matter. Esteemed colleagues, you may pull our assets out if
you like for now. I take it that Ian was approached about going to
the Balkans then and refused?”

Henri said “No, Niki. He now lives in
Spain and has to literally live there in order to secure our
banking initiative with at least one bank in Spain and one in
Portugal. It is impossible for him now. You know, if it builds up
again to where we have to put assets back in the Balkans, we might
just all think about contributing to a purse and using bounty
hunters for the problem.”

Heinrich said “I like that well
enough, but only if we can get good assets and not sloppy killers.
I move we table it until and if it flares up again. We can all
contribute to a list of possible assets for this thing and that way
if it again becomes a problem we will at least have a pool to draw
from. For my money though, if he should become available, I would
want Ian McCloud to lead the thing. I’m not going to quibble about
paying him whatever he wants either for my part of it. That gang of
wild Balkan blood suckers is on my bad side from now on, and I mean
that! If Ian leads a raid on that bunch, I’ll be a part of it
myself, so help me!” Most of the other judges knocked repeatedly on
the table top and said “Hear-hear!”

They adjourned then and Wilhelm came
over to Henri and handed him a package. Henri raised his eyebrows
questioningly. “There are shares here for you and Ian from a
lucrative thing in Prussia that Heini revealed to me. I took the
liberty of buying in for you and Ian as well as myself.”

“
Why thank you, Willy. I’ll
settle with you before we part company. I know that there was talk
of an industrial improvement at the seaports, but I thought it was
far from settled.”

“
Heini was the one who
brought me in on it and he asked that you and Ian be brought in
too.” Henri nodded his understanding as Willy continued. “It is
settled as to who is doing it and who will be doing the lion’s
share of improvements for the Prussian Navy as well. This is a
really good opportunity and I would hold it for a while. In no more
than three months there will be a rush of investors wanting to be
involved in this. That will be a good time for two or three
foreigners to sell out.” he said with a wink.

***

Celeste had just finished a
performance at Paris and all were standing and applauding including
little Aimee. She was thrilled at the singing and at being allowed
to accompany her new family to this event. She’d never been in a
place with so many people present. The time since her imprinting
had passed in a seeming whirlwind of new activities and
sights.

Marie had shown her how to catch small
game animals and how to drain them for nourishment. She also had
taught her how to use her sense of smell as she identified the
rabbit scent, and then sniffed about for it in the forest until she
could find it on the ground. Aimee settled in to her place in her
new family with joy at the love, praise, and acceptance she
received.

Soaking up the accumulated knowledge
of her family like a sponge she became acquainted with terms of
finance, government, politics, and a host of other subjects. She’d
learned to speak five languages and to read three of them. Marie
had told her to expect to be tutored on a regular schedule when
they returned to the chateau.

When she did get to speak around adult
humans, they were always impressed with her ability to carry on a
conversation if included and impressed with her manners if she was
not included. She had learned when to remain silent and to take her
cue from her family on that. The only thing she had not been
allowed to do yet was to interact with other children. Marie had
told her that would be the hardest thing for her to master. She
relished the thought of doing well at that too and being praised
for it. The horrors of her previous life had begun to
fade.

After saying their goodbyes, including
an especially long and tender goodbye to Aimee, Ian and Alandra had
departed for Barcelona.

Upon arriving, Ian and
Alandra caught up with all of the news in Barcelona.
Barcelona House
had added
more cattle and a barn, and had now become known as a school for
orphaned children as well as a hospital for them.

There were stories of how
merciful and generous the chief prosecutor for the Crown had
become. It seemed he had come with a generous gift for
Barcelona House
when he
came to visit his son’s grave. People talked of the man as if he
had undergone a miraculous change in his person and behavior. The
king’s prisons now had fewer people in them than anyone could
remember. Many who had languished in them for years were released.
There was speculation about the cause for it, but no one seemed to
really know why he was such a changed man

At last, the family arrived. Word had
come that Celeste could come to Madrid to perform when she wanted
to. Aimee loved the playground that Ian had installed there near
the stream and spent a lot of time there when they weren’t all out
sightseeing. He taught her to swim in that place and it only took a
part of one day. She was shown that she didn’t need to breathe and
could stay underwater as long as she wanted to. By day’s end, she
could swim like a little dolphin and was jumping from the top of
the waterfall. She had begun to be instructed how to play Ian’s
violin too.

She was introduced to some
of the children at
Barcelona
House
. With Marie and Sophia watching, she
played with them without incident. Afterward when they were alone,
Aimee was greatly praised by all including Ian for how well she did
with the children. She basked in the praise and it made her want to
please her family all the more. After seeing all of the sick
children she was actually grateful that she wasn’t human and could
never be sick or hurt.

The mayor of Barcelona was persuaded
by Alandra’s mother to arrange for an outdoor concert featuring
Celeste and Aimee. He ordered a very small raised stage built just
for the purpose and within four days there was an evening
performance scheduled. By then she was quite good at playing Ian’s
violin.

The two performed their four songs and
were warmly applauded. Little Aimee tucked the violin under one arm
and held hands with Celeste and they both bowed to the audience and
both blew kisses to the exuberant crowd. They had succeeded in
winning the hearts of the people of Barcelona, and while they were
at it, they had polished their performance. They were ready to go
to Madrid.

***

Arnaud Moreau sat in the outer office,
waiting to see Clifford Edwards, senior partner of Edwards and
Milliken Bank of London. He was patient, waiting for two hours.
Shortly before lunch time, he was given five minutes. He introduced
himself as a journalist who wanted to write about banking
partnerships and the newer development of international honoring of
drafts by member banks. Edwards knew of it, but said that his
junior partner was handling all of that, and that his bank was
partnering with the Lafayette banks to do that at Edwards &
Milliken. He gave the name of the junior partner as Robert Milliken
and said for Moreau to make an appointment with the assistant to
see him.

Moreau did that before leaving, and
learned that Milliken was out of the country at that time. He later
followed Clifford Edwards and saw him meet with a younger man who
looked like him. They went to dine and eventually Moreau got to
where he could hear them speaking. He learned that this younger man
was Clifford Edwards’ younger brother, and that his name was Miles.
With nothing else to do, he followed Miles after he left the inn
that night. Clifford had left with a sizeable group so he would be
impossible to approach privately.

He noticed that the man became furtive
later on, waiting outside of a local playhouse in a dark place. His
curiosity was aroused then so he waited to see what Edwards would
do.

A group of people came out the side
doors later after the performance was over. They spoke briefly and
separated. Miles began to follow one then and Moreau followed him.
When the woman he was following got near to an underpass, Miles ran
into the darkened place and shortly emerged, carrying the
struggling woman. He carried her easily to a cemetery a block away
and there he raped her as Moreau watched. Afterward he left her
lying there, beaten and violated.

Moreau followed him to his home then,
and within minutes was inside of the place with Edwards. He walked
into the parlor as Edwards was pouring a drink.

“
Who the hell are you and
what are you doing here?”

“
Someone who knows when a
man needs help to get what he wants.”

Miles sized up the man and saw that he
was seemingly evenly matched. But this was his home, so he moved
aggressively toward the stranger. He was suddenly thrown down and
found himself in an iron grip, the stranger’s face inches from his
own.

The stranger spoke then, saying “I saw
you rape a woman tonight, Miles. I could go and tell the Constables
what you’ve done. Or, I could easily kill you.” he said as he began
to tighten his grip on Edwards’ throat. Just as Edwards thought he
had breathed his last, the vampire relented. Edwards coughed and
sucked air in noisily. Moreau waited until he was composed somewhat
and then helped him to stand up.

“
I’ve decided not to kill
you, Edwards. If you’re co-operative with me, I’ll keep your
secret.”

“
What…what do you
want?”

“
Information is what I want,
and you are going to get it for me, or you are going to prison for
rape.”

“
Prison? Rape in England is
a capital crime.”

“
All the more reason to
cooperate, don’t you agree?” Then he bit him on the neck, faster
than a viper could strike, easily holding him down in spite of his
vigorous efforts to free himself.