The Pulptress (15 page)

Pascal nodded as he climbed
into the driver’s seat and locked the door. The car rumbled, a deep
throaty sound, as it lurched forward. “There are many strange
things happening here in Paris.”

“
Like what?” I leaned
forward, resting in the space between Pascal and Paulette; I could
feel the uneasiness between them against my cheeks.

“
Just like Amaury told you.”
Pascal glanced around, “Strange people appearing.”

“
Strange? Look, that’s not
much help, you two are strange, but I know that’s not what Amaury
meant.” I was getting testy; these two were dancing around the
problem, afraid to say it.

“
The Chiffonnier,” Paulette
said again, “They are men not of this world, summoned out of bone
and rag as servants. They appear over all the city, and then they
disappear. There are many now.”

“
How can you know that?”
Pascal asked, “You don’t know that’s what those people are. That is
an old maid’s tale, not truth.”

I saw Paulette’s lip twitch
with annoyance, flashing teeth at her brother, “Because when you
kill a man there is a body, when you kill Chiffonnier there is just
bone and rag, not man!”

“
But where do they come
from? Someone would notice graves being robbed in the city right?”
The thin bone I had found at Amaury's apartment made my heart race
with sudden dread.

“
I do not know. They come
from everywhere. There are many very old graveyards in Paris, many
bones to find.”

“
But someone couldn’t just
go in and steal bones without anyone noticing?” I pressed, “And why
would they?”

“
Why does a bird lay eggs?”
Paulette sneered, “Because it is what it does.”

“
That is enough!” Pascal's
grip on the steering wheel was white knuckled and I decided to not
push for any more information. There would be time for that later.
After some sleep and breakfast.

The two siblings began
bickering in rapid French and I just closed my eyes, sleeping
anywhere was one of my favorite talents, and now, not even the
twins screaming could keep my eyes open. I dozed off with the flow
of French in my ears.

“
Ma Cherie, it is time to
wake now.” Paulette was softly shaking me, “It is time for the
breakfast.”

“
What time is it?” My mind
was still foggy. Apparently I was not immune to jet lag.

“
It is after 9 in the
morning,” Pascal spoke up. He was still in the driver’s seat though
the car was pulled over parked half on a sidewalk. He had the
window cracked and was blowing smoke from his cigarette towards the
window.

“
Where are we?” I rolled my
shoulders and Paulette jumped as my neck popped.

“
We are at the Gare du Nord.
The North Train Station.” Pascal let out one last puff of smoke
before stubbing his cigarette out, “I will get breakfast and bring
it to you. Stay here.” he glanced at his sister, then to me before
stepping out of the car.

“
He is protective you know.”
Paulette smoothed the ends of her sleeves, the fabric was obviously
faded from years of use, “Amaury was like our brother. Pascal is
sick with worry.”

“
Where do you think he was
taken?” I asked.

Paulette sighed, “I do not
know where the bone men come from. There are many graveyards in
Paris, and many more places to hide. The bone men appear in the
night time and are gone before the sun rises.”

“
Maybe a mausoleum or an
underground graveyard?” I couldn't stop the growing sense of dread
in my chest. There was something very wrong going on in Paris,
something bad enough that one of the men who had helped train me
knew he needed help. It was not like Amaury to call for help, he
was as stubborn and independent as I was.

“
Countless. There are
countless places to hide. Paris has much blood and bone in her.”
Paulette's gaze was out the window, looking across the city as
locals and tourists intermingled on the streets.

“
Paulette, how did you hear
about these Chiffonniers?”

“
Many years ago, a gypsy
told me the story of the bone men and their queen. That was before
these strange men were appearing so frequently. The woman told me
about a young girl from ages ago who sold her soul so that she
might bring back her murdered tribe. The devil granted her wish,
but she could only summon the dead from their bones, so she wanders
the earth seeking the bones of her tribesmen. The gypsy woman told
me that the bone queen would be here soon and that the city of
lights would burn.”

“
You think these bone men
and their queen are behind Amaury disappearing?” I tried to wrap my
head around this; I hadn’t guessed that I would be dealing with
something out of a horror movie when I had received that call for
help.

“
I feel it in my
heart.”

“
We should go back to
Amaury's apartment and see if we can find any clues about who was
there, where they went. They had to have left something behind.
There were two men there last night trying to kill me; they must
have left something behind.”

“
Pascal suggested the same
thing,” Paulette nodded as her brother appeared, fighting through
the crowds and returning to the car.

“
Breakfast.” He announced as
he opened the car door. The scent of sugar, and fresh baked bread
followed him as he passed out pastries.

We ate in silence in the
car, and for that moment, I let myself focus on nothing but the
taste of the warm bread melting on my tongue. This bread was one of
my favorites,
pain au chocolat
, a fresh baked pastry wrapped
around thin strips of dark chocolate. A sweet and savory bliss
exploded across my tongue.

“
We will go to Amaury's home
now.” Pascal announced as he started the car back up, “We will find
where he has been taken and we will return him here.”

I used the back of my hand
to wipe the chocolate from my mouth, “Sounds like a plan
Pascal.”

“
You have weapons?” Pascal
asked.

“
Amaury said to not bring
any, that he had everything I’d need.” I shrugged my shoulders. I
had a few small blades on me, but nothing substantial.

“
Well, this is all I can
offer.” he passed a wrapped package back to me. Inside was a small
pistol. “There is no extra ammo for it. Is very hard to get
here.”

“
Thank you,” I tucked the
gun against my hip.

“
Consider it a welcome to
Paris gift.” he smiled, “She is one hell of a city!”

We made it to Amaury’s
apartment in no time. “There should be a guy on the kitchen floor.
I knifed him when he started shooting at me.” I warned the two as I
unlocked the door and shoved it open. Amaury’s apartment was just
like I had left it the night before. It didn’t seem the police had
come by at all, I wondered if anyone had even heard the chaos
during the night. There were bullet holes in the walls, and knives
scattered on the floor, but there was no body on the
floor.

“
There's no way that guy got
up after that,” I mumbled, kneeling onto the floor.

I found the knives that I
had thrown at him on the floor, no blood on them, and found a
single vertebra sitting on the kitchen floor. It was an old bone,
chipped and rough around the edges. I picked it up and ran it over
my fingers before pulling the bone I'd found the night before out
to compare them. They both looked around the same age ,and both of
them were roughed up like they'd been thrown in a tumbler and
beaten. The planes of the bones were uneven and disfigured in a way
that didn’t seem natural.

“
The Chiffonniers. I told
you they have him.” Paulette crossed herself.

“
This is the second bone
I’ve found here. Last night I found this one in the bedroom. I
swear this wasn’t in the kitchen last night.”

Pascal took the bones from
me and looked them over, holding them up to the lights and
squinting at them.

“
When a bone man is killed
all that he leaves behind is the bone that was used to summon him.
Amaury must have killed one before he was taken. And then the man
that you killed last night must have left the other bone. Pascal
you have to see now it is not crazy talk.”

“
What? That skeletons are
being summoned to kill, rob and kidnap people by an ancient girl
looking for her tribe? That's not crazy talk?” Pascal snorted,
“More than likely someone is using that old fool's tale as a cover.
You said two men were here, oui?” he looked at me, “More than
likely his companion took the body of the man you knifed, cleaned
up then dropped off the bone.”

“
Je n'y crois pas a ces
conneries
!” Paulette fumed, storming past me to go check out
the bedroom. “
Fils de pute
!”

“
She's your mother too
Paulette!” Pascal shook his head and passed the bones back to me,
“Sorry, she just gets these crazy ideas in her head and won’t let
them go.”

“
I've had stranger things
happen to me. You really think that this bone man story is
bogus?”

“
Not you too!” he groaned,
“Yes, I think the story is an old legend that gypsies tell to get a
piece of coin. I know that Amaury has his share of enemies. Paris
has been getting dangerous and Amaury was well known among the
criminals in the city.”

I nodded and put the bones
in my pocket, I hoped it was only my imagination that made them
feel hot against the fabric of my suit.

Paulette paced the room,
still ranting in French when I made my way into the bedroom. She
looked up at me, “I am sorry for yelling. He just makes me
crazy.”

“
It's alright, I didn’t
understand what you were saying anyway,” I smiled, “Amaury didn’t
teach me any good swear words in French.”

Paulette laughed, “Oh, we
French are good with the insults. I think my mother was a master of
all the curse words.”

“
Any hints on where Amaury
was taken?”

She sighed, “I have found
nothing but broken furniture.”

I nodded and went to look
out the window at the street below, even during the day it was
quiet, only a few people making their way around.

I almost missed it, but for
some reason my eyes were drawn to the old black car as it circled
the block. After a few seconds I realized that was the car that had
picked me up from the airport, the one I had abandoned to escape
from the apartment the night before. And now someone, in a grey
patchwork suit was driving around the area. The car pulled over and
parked and I saw a group of four men step outside and begin heading
for the stairs.

“
Pascal! Paulette, we've got
company!” I yelled.

I heard Pascal shut and
lock the main entryway, pulling the dining room table in front of
the door to block it. Paulette and I made our way out of the
bedroom and back to the living room.

“
Let's hide,” Paulette
suggested, “See what they do, where they go. It’s our best chance
to find out where they are coming from.”

I glanced at Pascal; he
seemed to be struggling with the idea of not trying to rip these
goons limb from limb. “Let's give hiding a shot, but be ready for a
fight if they spot us.” I proposed.

Pascal grumbled but agreed,
and we split up, Paulette hid in a pantry in the kitchen, Pascal
hid in the hall bathroom and I ducked inside the busted
entertainment center. The wood was so busted that I could see out
into the apartment with no problems.

The door was soon being
kicked in and the four men hurried inside. Three of them spoke in
the strange French that I couldn’t understand, the words and
accents familiar but different from what I had studied, maybe a
different dialect from a different part of the country?

The fourth man seemed to
have just as hard a time understanding the others as I did. “Will
you all speak properly? I cannot understand a word,” he grumbled,
and I was surprised to hear the British accent flavoring his
words.

The other three men tutted
at him before the group separated and moved through the apartment.
The British man headed my way and I held my breath as he paused in
front of the entertainment center. For a moment I was sure our eyes
had met and that he knew I was in there, but then he just sat on
top of the busted piece of furniture. It groaned under his weight
and I pressed my back against the bottom piece of support wood,
trying to bolster it and keep the battered thing from caving in on
me.

“
Stupid gits don’t even
speak proper French,” His legs swung idly, crashing into the side
of the entertainment center echoing a dull thudding heartbeat all
around me.

“
Hurry it up, we need to be
back to base!” he yelled down the hallway, and there was a jumbled
yelling response in the same strange French.

Then I heard Pascal's
voice, and a struggle before he was being dragged down the hall,
thrown down on the floor in front of the entertainment center. I
stopped breathing for a moment and let my hands wrap around the
small gun that he had given me.

“
Well hello there guv, what
are you doing hiding out here?” the entertainment center creaked as
the British man stood.