Forever Young The Beginning (89 page)

Young Marc Beaumont awakened and saw
that it was not yet sunrise. He thought of the things that he
wanted to do today. He would be hauling stones. There was an
enclosure for their chickens to be started also

His wife next to him stirred and
opened her eyes, smiling sleepily. He pulled her to him then and
she pillowed her head on his chest. They murmured then about
mundane things then as a husband and wife will often do upon
awakening. He absently stroked her hair from time to time as she
talked about what she would do in their garden that day. She rubbed
one hand across his chest absently as she talked and he chuckled at
her, saying “Behave now cheri or you can never tell what ideas I
might get.”

She stretched luxuriously and then
looked up at him impishly saying “Mmmm. Why don’t you show
me?”

“
We’ll have to be quiet lest
little Simone be awakened.” he cautioned. Then he continued “In
case you forgot, this is the sort of thing that happened before she
arrived.”

“
Mmmm.” Chuckling then, she
said “Would it be so bad if she had a little brother then? She
slept all night. Let’s leave well enough alone, cheri, and start
our day the best way that we know how.”

They made love then, in a sleepy and
unhurried way.

Later, her red shawl across her
shoulders, she approached the door and opened it. Her husband then
heard the most awful screaming and ran to her as fast as he could.
She stood with both hands pressed to her cheeks, moaning, leaning
on the door frame. He shouldered past her to look upon a scene of
absolute carnage.

There were seven chickens with their
heads missing, ripped open, scattered about with feathers
everywhere. The remaining eight sat huddled in one corner of the
coop, clucking rapidly and nervously, afraid to come down from
their perch.

Both of them heard little Simone
crying to be fed. She had finally awakened. In a minute the young
mother was cooing and nursing her baby in her rocking chair, as her
husband disposed of the grisly remains of their slaughtered
chickens by feeding them to their pigs.

***

Miles to the south, the creature ran
at a frighteningly swift pace through the dense, lush forestlands
of the Rhone Valley. It knew where it was going. It knew where it
was supposed to be. It had a purpose, and that purpose was not
related to fulfilling its hunger or survival. As it ran powerfully
it felt its strength returning. Its hair had returned to its former
length. Exulting in its power, it reveled in being so familiar to
it. It was going home. Southward it ran, ever southward, toward its
home.

***

Ian stood near the bow of the packet
ship bound for Dover, savoring the cool Atlantic air and its salt
smell. The sounds of the waves against the hull of the ship, the
creaking of its spars and fittings, and the wind singing in the
rigging were a soothing balm to his troubled and sorrowful spirit.
He thought then of the many times he had enjoyed being at sea with
a woman whom he had loved.

And now as he thought along those
lines, his thoughts turned to those loved ones in Geneva. How
fortunate and blessed he had been to have his life saved by
Cosette, and to be taken in like a son by Henri and Marie. The
growth of the family since then had been a source of unending
pleasure for him. He truly loved every one of them as he did his
human family. No matter what America had to offer, he would return
to his family. For the first time since Alandra’s death, he truly
missed them with a palpable ache. But he resolved to make the best
of this opportunity for their sakes as well as his own.

He knew that in the end, his family in
Geneva would move to America and that he would help to make that
move far easier for them by what he’d do in the New World. Being
alone now, he was the logical one to blaze a trail for the others
in a manner of speaking. He had thought it through many times since
Alandra’s death, and it always came down to him going to America
alone. There was no way that Marie and Henri could spare anyone to
be gone for who knew how long. Mustafa, Li, Louis, and Andre were
there to take over what he had done before, and with the
generational move coming, Henri and Marie could have a need for all
of them. This was best for them, and he truly believed it was best
for him too. He supposed that the anticipation of a long-term
separation from his two families was making him have second
thoughts.

Thomas and Caryn joined him at the
bow. She had a blanket wrapped about her shoulders and stood very
close to both men, between them. Thomas had both arms around her
and she leaned her head back on his chest. Ian was pleased, and he
felt the ache receding.

“
You two are very good for
each other. You’re both making me happy on a day that I didn’t
think I could feel that way. Thank you for coming.”

Caryn said “It’s me who should be
thanking you, Ian. I know that you were at the core of finding
Celeste when she was taken. I know that I’d never have enjoyed
seeing her grow up to be the wonderful person that she is if not
for you and the Lafayettes. Not to mention that I’d just be working
on another job this day had you not asked Thomas to come with you.
Don’t think badly of her, but Alyssa has told me that you saved her
life too. Ian, she was so hurt to hear of your loss. I’ve seldom
seen grief like that. I wonder if you know how much she thinks of
you.”

“
Alyssa is a fine person and
a fine friend. I think the world of her. No one deserves happiness
more than she does. I didn’t want to burden her with the
thing.”

Thomas said “Jennifer is alive and
well today in a large part because of you. And partly because of
you I met Caryn. Thank you again, Ian.” He gently turned her head
to face him and kissed her tenderly.

“
You two are letting my sad
eyes see happiness. They’ve seen too much sadness, so thank you
both again.” After a silence of several minutes, Caryn said “Come
with us to take some hot tea, Ian.” The two left him then and made
their way back to the aft deck and the entrance to the
cabins.

Dover was clearly in view now and his
reverie was reluctantly taken to remembrance of the times he had
seen those cliffs and showed them for the first time to a woman
whom he loved. Little Aimee’s first innocent reaction to them
impinged on his memories. It was bittersweet, but in the end, it
became painful. He now found himself wishing to be off to London as
quickly as he could change ships in Dover. He would force himself
to not hurry Thomas or Caryn though. Why should their trip to
Britain be marred by his pain?

Unbidden, a thought that he
had suppressed crept to the forefront of his mind. What if he’d
never married Alandra? What if he’d never even gone to Spain?
Wouldn’t she be alive this day? She wouldn’t have been at that
intersection on that day for sure.
Alyssa
loved me and if she’d wanted to be brought over, likely I’d never
have sought out Alandra. In time I would likely have asked Alyssa
to marry me.
From deep in his inner being
came a warning
this way lies madness! Turn
your thoughts elsewhere lest you lose your mind!

He resolved to not stay at the estate
in London or at the summer estate. Too many ghosts from happier
times awaited him there. The impersonal neutrality of a rented room
was a welcome thing for once. He dreaded telling his family in
Edinburg what had happened, but knew that he should say his good
byes to them before going to America being that he was here in
Britain anyway. Could he even bear to stay in the same room that he
had shared with both Cosette and Alandra? He ached to see both of
his families and at the same time he longed to be at sea in the
Atlantic heading to the New World, to places that he’d never before
seen.

G
rief is a strange and dreaded companion …a dark and sorrowful
traveler accompanying me now wherever I go.

The Chief Minister of King’s
Gendarmerie of all of France contemplated the sealed and
confidential letter he’d just received. It had the now-familiar
symbol of the Lefevre crest on it. Although it was most carefully
worded, it confirmed that his retirement would be allowed. But that
was only if Claude Rousseau was named to be chief of King’s
Gendarmerie for all of France. He knew that the money promised was
in the account at the Banque de Fellman in Lausanne and had even
withdrawn some money from it recently. His retirement would be next
year, and he would count himself one lucky man to have been
recruited by the Lefevres. He couldn’t help but wonder if there
were other senior ministers like him who were at retirement age now
and naming a younger successor. Looking back at how far he had come
with their help and his wonderful family and their security, he was
content to let that remain a mystery.

He summoned Rousseau to his office and
told him that he intended to retire, but would not do so until
Rousseau had been named and confirmed as his successor. Claude was
surprised at the timing, and couldn’t wait to tell his wife the
good news. He knew that the Laforges were behind this move and was
grateful. His account at Banque de Fellman had grown steadily as
promised. His future was assured and he was thankful that the
Laforges had picked him that day some years ago in Marseille. He
wondered if any other middle-aged assistant ministers were being
promoted. Little did he know that eight others near to his age
would be promoted to chief of their administrative posts within the
next seven years.

***

Ian sat across from Robert in his
study at his home in London. Robert had a sad and worried look on
his face. Ian hadn’t ever seen him that way before excepting when
Aimee had been kidnapped. "Ian, I’m so sorry to hear of this
tragedy. Margaret is going to be devastated. Both of us thought the
world of Alandra. She has been after me to take time away from the
bank to take her to Marseille and visit all of you. We were going
to do that when I had to attend our next court in Liechtenstein.
After seeing your family and being with them, we both want to see
more of our friends. We’ve been in an isolated rut too long. I’m
surprised that you came here now instead of going to be with the
others of your family.”

“
I’m the only one now
unattached. It seems that Andre and Jennifer are becoming quite
fond of each other. It’s the best solution for our family, and
it’ll help take my mind off of what has happened. Besides that,
I’ve always wanted to see America. I’d like to have a
suitable
Adept
assigned to help me with this endeavor. He should be one who
would be able to watch over the bank when we get it running. One of
us can return here if the other is there. As you and Henri
discussed, we eventually would want two more to help
us.”

“
I have one in mind. You met
him at that raid on the coven. I will approach him today or
tomorrow about it.

“
They were all good men.
What is his best
blood-fast
span?”

“
Four days I
think.”

“
Good. We are going to be
out to sea for a good while, so I want to be sure of that. Be sure
to tell him we may be rationing ourselves somewhat. I want no
misunderstanding about that.”

“
I will. He works as an
officer in this bank and knows the business. You’ll benefit from
his talent as he is especially good at grasping and understanding
commodities and market trends. He is an adventurous sort, and he
really looks up to you. You’ll like him.”

“
I’m sure that whoever you
choose will be up to the task.”

“
It would be a shaky thing
to me to be the only one of our kind over there, that far away from
everything I know.”

“
I look forward to it,
Robert. It will help me not to dwell on my misfortune. I’d like to
go to Scotland to see my family and say my goodbyes. They don’t
know about Alandra’s death yet. Can you meet the special needs for
my ship? I brought Thomas with me. He can do the work while I’m
gone, and he’ll keep quiet about it. Best that no one else knows of
it.”

“
Yes, yes. It’s a good idea
not to use local labor. I’ll have him do the work. I have just the
ship. It is coming out of dry dock now and will be ready when you
return. She is a three-mast galleon of four hundred and fifty tons.
We want to get her working and she’s built for trade with the
colonies. We have a cargo for her already. That can be modified for
accommodating a herd of goats too.”

“
Good. How big of a
commitment do you think we should make?”

“
Well, don’t you think that
we should only start a very small bank and be limited in what and
who we loan to? The situation there is uncertain, so Henri and I
hesitate to risk a large startup.”

“
I agree. With
another
Adept
there
to help me, we have better odds of getting our funds to where they
can’t be confiscated if it comes to that. We’ll be watchful for
that possibility.”

“
Confiscation?
Really?”

“
It’s turning into a war
over there. Who knows what might happen? The crown does want
financial stability there as of now, in spite of their stupid trade
policies and taxes. Should there be a war and the crown feels like
it is losing, they might well want to destabilize the economy of
the colonies. That is something we have to consider. We’ll need
several more
Adepts
if that happens. Who could spot counterfeit money better than
one of us?”