Spook's Gold (36 page)

He returned to Lemele who, despite her earlier statement about the lack of need for money, was making a careful inventory of the few notes and coins that remained in her purse. “I don’t see a car or vehicle in there; is it stashed in the other barn perhaps?” he asked.

“I don’t know if he even has one,” she responded ingenuously, intently studying the contents of her bag and studiously avoiding his eye. “Why do you ask?”

Marner scrutinised her averted face, opened and closed his mouth twice, beginning and then deciding against the question or statement that was forming. Then realisation dawned in his mind. “On
horses
?  You have got to be joking!” he yelped in a high voice, coughed and consciously brought it back down a few octaves, “I thought that you had arranged for a car or .... or…something! You cannot seriously think that we can continue on horseback.”  Now it was Marner’s turn to wave his arms.

“Of course we can!” countered Lemele in a reassuring, reasoning tone. “If you think about it, it is the only logical option.”

“Now just...”

“Listen to me!” she shouted, a tone of voice that was becoming increasingly familiar to him. “The Germans are very active and alert at the moment. As I told you last night, they are setting up checkpoints on all main roads. We will not get far in a car without permits and we have too much distance still to cover to consider going cross-country on foot, even if we were equipped and fit enough to do so.”  She paused for breath and also to let the logic of what she was saying sink into his stubborn head. “Going by horse offers us the chance to keep off of the roads and also to cover a decent distance each day. It also means that we can carry provisions with us, rather than having to constantly stop and risk contact with people to obtain food.”

Marner was silent, nodding his head as he conceded the sense of each of her points, although the unconvinced look remained on his face. “Where are we going to sleep?” he asked, knowing already the answer.

“We camp. Loic has the basics that we need.”

“But I’ve never been on horse in my life. I have got absolutely no idea how to ride one.”  And no desire to, he thought.

Lemele gave him a disappointed look. “Riding a horse is hardly difficult. Just sit up there and don’t fall off. Anyway, I had never been in a plane before and I got over that, didn’t I?  Not forgetting, it is less distance to fall off a horse than out of the sky.”

Marner nodded but his tone conveyed the sarcasm, “Oh, that reassures me.”

Chapter Thirty Seven

The horses were saddled and ready an hour later. Lemele pitched in to help, expertly brushing and checking hooves for stones, saddling and fitting the reins.

By contrast, Marner discovered that he was completely useless. He made an effort to fetch and carry a few items at Lemele’s behest but, after returning from the stable yet again with the wrong item, he was left alone. She had changed into a pair of breeches, boots and shirt provided by Loic. Marner had to admit that she looked rather fetching in the tight-fitting trousers and she caught him staring at her as soon as she emerged from the barn after changing. A small debate had ensued over whether Marner should also change into civilian clothing. Lemele and Loic had ruled in the end with the argument that any able-bodied civilian male would stand out as not having been interned or conscripted for STO. Also, there might be an advantage in having Marner remain in uniform; it would at least give him a chance of talking them out of any encounter with German troops or the militia.

“Besides, my clothes won’t fit ‘im.”  Spit. Subject concluded.

Marner spent the hour watching the swallows swooping and darting around the yard. They were already busy at this early hour harvesting insects for the hungry mouths in their nests under the barn eaves. He much preferred the musical French name for the bird – Hirondelle – rather than the clunky German
Schwalbe
with its lack of vowels. He had first seen and learnt about these creatures just a few weeks ago on his previous investigation. That had also been in the French countryside. However, on that occasion he had been master of the situation, not a near-helpless passenger and fugitive. It was genuinely difficult for him to believe that it had only been three weeks, another life, and a different world ago. He was most impressed by the ability of the Hirondelles to dart at full velocity into the dark barn. It amazed him that they could manoeuvre and turn in that restricted space and then return out to the light, jinking and flicking back up to their nests. How could they possibly belong to the same species as the fat, filthy pigeons of Paris and Berlin?

As he trudged past, Loic introduced Marner to his assigned horse with an unceremonious wave of his hand towards it, “Le votre”. Yours.

Le Votre, as Marner would dub the horse, was a large, heavy, dirty-white beast with a flat square head and relatively short but sturdy legs. He considered that he should make an effort to go and say “hello” to it, form some sort of bond with the animal perhaps. On doing so, he discovered that this one liked to bite, causing him to retire sheepishly to a safe distance to look at it again. Marner was sufficiently dispirited and disappointed with the beast that he could not even summon the enthusiasm to enquire what its real name was. The most encouraging thing that he could find to say about Le Votre was that at least it had a leg at each corner.

The next horse was a calm, pretty mare called Polenzara, assigned to Lemele. To Marner, this was more like what a horse should look like; chestnut-brown with a white blaze down the centre of its fine nose, white feet and a glossy thick black mane and tail that swished constantly at the flies. Based on what he observed, it was also much gentler in nature than his own nag, although maybe that was just because Lemele had more confidence in the way she handled it.

The last horse to be readied was Loic’s, which was aptly christened Vesuvio. Even Marner could appreciate that this was a beast apart as Loic led it out of the barn, stamping, snorting and shaking its huge head, the sunlight picking up the sheen of its dappled grey coat. Marner and Lemele had to move aside as the horse now pulled and circled in the open. Loic dug his heels into the packed earth and leant back to take the strain on the rope, cooing to it as he swivelled on the spot whilst it pranced around him.

After a couple of minutes it was sufficiently calm for him to fit the saddle and reins. Loic being short and the stallion being a relative giant, he was required to lead it to a tree stump in the centre of the yard so that he could step up onto it and then into the stirrups. He had to let Vesuvio circle several times and even step patiently down and back up onto the stump before he had the horse sufficiently still and in position to mount. Immediately that he settled into the saddle the stallion began shaking its head, digging its hooves in as if to take off. Loic responded by pulling back on the reins, using them to slap it on the neck in a manner that Marner was sure would enrage it more, not calm it. This battle of wills took another full minute until Loic considered that he had once again reaffirmed with Vesuvio as to who was the master.

Lemele was sufficiently agile to raise her foot directly into the stirrup and so mount directly from the ground. Marner reluctantly dragged his stubborn horse across to the stump. He was reassured to find that it was at least docile and remained stationary whilst he stepped up, took a deep breath, put his left foot in the stirrup and swung his right leg over. He congratulated himself that at least he had got that right and had not fallen straight over the far side, nor ended up facing back to front. This manoeuvre completed, he was now unsure of how to set the animal in motion, stop it or steer it. He tried making ‘gee-up’ motions with his arms and feet; Le Votre made no response, only continued flapping its head from side to side to disperse the cloud of flies. Lemele burst out laughing and Marner glared at her. She stifled her amusement and advised him, “Let the reins out longer and looser; you are holding them in too short and she is confused, thinking that you actually want her to stop.”

“It’s a ‘she’?” he asked incredulously, having assumed that such a sturdy beast must be a male. Marner released his maniacal grip on the reins as instructed and rearranged his hands further back along them. Le Votre immediately dropped her head forward; even he could see that she was more relaxed.

Loic, who had returned from cantering his horse to let off some of its excess of energy, completed the elementary lesson. “Don’t worry about handling her. She will simply follow the other horses, turn when they do, stop when they do. If you need to stop in a hurry, just pull back on the reins as you were doing.”

Lemele swung a leg over the top of her saddle and dropped nimbly to the ground. She walked across to Marner and began fiddling with the straps holding his stirrups. “These need to be longer, you look like a race jockey about to take part in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.”  When she had finished he had to admit that it was much better. His thighs were now angled somewhat downwards instead of forward horizontally, meaning that he could now grip the saddle with his thighs for some extra stability.

Finally ready, Loic led off. As they clattered away from the dwelling the woman came out again, hurling insults in their direction between anguished sobs and entreaties to Loic to come back, stay home. Loic gave no indication if he heard or cared.

Chapter Thirty Eight

The first day was spent skirting open fields and farmland around the northern limits of Rennes. They kept a good distance from the city and its suburbs, Loic leading them through plantations of spruce trees where possible. Spruce was popular with the local industries, being relatively fast growing and of great value for paper manufacture or as timber for construction. The advantage for the group was that the trees were in straight symmetrical lines and so they were able to move through them at an uninterrupted pace. It was not perfect cover, but once immersed in the centre of these artificial forests they were well hidden from view. Outside of these, they followed routes that kept them close up to the high hedges that bordered the fields, as well as natural woodland that was difficult to penetrate and traverse.

Loic’s local knowledge ensured that they crossed roads well away from checkpoints established by the Germans and militia. Occasionally he would gallop off ahead to scout and permit Vesuvio to let off steam. Marner was more of the opinion that it gave Loic the opportunity to show off his horsemanship, although Marner had to admit the man seemed to be a very expert rider. On the ground Loic moved awkwardly with his damaged leg, whereas on horseback he was natural and comfortable. It was easy to see why this man had gravitated towards his chosen profession.

During Loic’s absences Lemele had explained that she had hit upon the idea of using horses from a comment by Doctor Corneille, who had mentioned that horse breeders and traders were enjoying a thriving trade during these years of privation of fuel for vehicles. Therefore, at the tavern the previous evening, she had enquired if there might be any horses to purchase and been directed to Loic’s farm. He was only a minor breeder of horses, with none for sale. When she had enquired if they might instead rent two he had refused, on the grounds that he had no assurance that he would see the horses again, especially when Lemele had revealed how far away their destination was. She had been about to turn away when he had suggested that a way around the problem was if they hired him as guide.

As they plodded along, Marner gradually relaxed as he became accustomed to the rhythm of Le Votre. It was more of a side-to-side than up-and-down movement. From the position at the rear that was to become habitually his, watching Lemele’s hips shifting loosely and naturally with the cadence of Polenzara’s footsteps, he observed that the rocking motion came from the alternating rise and fall of the rear haunches of the horse. When he tried to mimic Lemele’s movements he had only limited success. It became clear to him that it was something obtained through prolonged practice, not something that could be instantly mimicked. After a few hours of experimentation Marner finally conceded that he would just have to be content with an ungainly rocking that was entirely out of step with Le Votre’ own rhythm. At least he had become accustomed to the impression of being precariously perched on the saddle and was now confident that he would not easily fall off. By alternating the tension in his thighs he was also able to relieve some of the aches that were beginning to set into his backside.

During one of Loic’s absences Marner asked Lemele where she had learned her equestrian skills. She laughed, “I would not call them skills. I learned to ride when I was young. My mother insisted that her three girls should learn essential ladylike social skills such as this. Then I picked it up again when I married my husband. His family are wealthy landowners from the Dijon area and have horses that we would ride during our weekends and vacations at their estate.”

Marner recalled the photograph in her apartment of the handsome young man astride the expensive horse.

----

If Marner had been disappointed with the quality of his previous night’s lodgings, it was as nothing compared to the difficulty of trying to get comfortable on the bare earth that first night. What had appeared to be a reasonably flat piece of ground to his eye was revealed to be uneven and hard by his supine body. No matter whether he lay on his back or side, he was unable to find a position that did not leave at least one invisible lump pressing uncomfortably into him.

Added to this was the high-pitched whining of the squadrons of mosquitoes buzzing around his head and the rustlings of unseen creatures in the undergrowth nearby. All of which convinced him that he would be entirely unable to sleep for the duration of this journey.

He pulled the sheet up above his ears so that it was almost covering his head, an attempt to restrict as much as possible the parts of his body that were exposed to the infernal bugs. In fact, fatigue from perching on Le Votre and lack of sleep from the previous night quickly overtook him. He fell asleep whilst plotting a rebellion against this equine insanity, fantasies of a fast comfortable Daimler lulling him into oblivion.