The byplay between the
two of them had not gone unnoticed by Phillip. He was torn once again
– he couldn't be jealous because she was off limits, but he was not
happy with the situation.
Mostly, he was unhappy
that she seemed interested in Carlisle. He wasn't bothered by
Carlisle's reciprocation: he simply felt she should not be so easily
caught.
So he was already
unhappy when he approached her. Within a few minutes the stress
between the two of them rose to unanticipated, previously
inexperienced heights. Melissa was still on a high from her reaction
to Francis – Frank – and her few moments with Phillip were a
shocking pull down to earth. She resented it and made her
disapprobation of his attitude clear, although she was utterly
unaware of what could possibly be causing it.
He attempted to man
handle her onto the floor and she responded by seizing his wrist and
forcing him to move away from her. She had been embedded into the
local culture long enough that her urge to force him away was not
enough to overwhelm her urge to refrain from making a scene. He,
likewise, was grimly quiet, although his whitening lips and rigid jaw
indicated the depth of control it required. She hissed through her
teeth and a smile plastered on her face: “You will never attempt
any such action again.”
She dropped his wrist
and wiped her fingers disdainfully on her skirt. As she turned to
walk away, the man behind her dropped into a bow and adjusted his
position to cradle his bruised wrist in the other hand.
Sir Francis had been
watching from the other side of the room – like Phillip he was
intrigued by the Walking contradiction that Melissa illustrated and
had been on the verge of assuming that her familiarity with the other
man indicated a more intimate relationship. Their recent interaction,
however, proved it was anything but. That or they had just had the
most horrendous lover's quarrel.
Not being one to let an
opportunity slip by and being quite interested in investigating his
response around her (similar to but less intense than Melissa's own
reaction) he followed her onto the balcony she escaped to and moved
towards her as she leaned upon a balustrade. He was only halfway
there when he realised that another gentleman had reached her first.
Paul had seen Melissa
and, concerned for her, he had guessed she would seek a quiet spot.
Therefore he was waiting on the balcony for her. They spoke in low
undertones and it was impossible for Francis to hear anything from
his position near the doors with the music spilling out into the
garden. Having observed her being distressed shortly after the death
of Andy, he was aware she preferred to bury her emotions under a wall
of work and other distractions.
He had not known the
full extent of the plan and she related it. The two others were going
in France to the meeting point specified by Phillip as a safe house.
There, they would wait for a day or two, acting as immature and drunk
as James had on his previous journey. After a few days, it was
anticipated that the official assassins would have relaxed around
them enough to start talking about their failed attempts. All three
young men had absolute unshakable belief that her pronouncement that
the attempts would fail was absolutely cast iron, and therefore
bought into the concept wholeheartedly.
It would only take a
few days or a week at most before the two of them had enough
knowledge of the surrounding areas and the attempts of the other men
to target their own research. At that point, they would take a
sojourn or two in the general vicinity. Once all the local inns had
been located and a preferred option chosen, they would gradually
widen their field until they could disappear overnight without
raising too many eyebrows. At that point they would use the feedback
from the assassins to make their way into the area where this Andy
was being held and find his device. From his comments, Melissa knew
the French were using it, and based on his inability to escape early
on, she knew they must have taken it from him. Finding the device and
returning it to Andy was the most guaranteed method of extracting the
man.
Once he had it, he
would flee and James and Michael would need to escape alone.
She had batted around
the idea of using her own version of the device to participate in
some way, but Andy had discovered on his first trip that when in
Paris the device ceased to work. She had thought about it many times
before realising that the comments made by the older Andy about him
not being able to exist in the same area as himself held true for the
device. Her Andy had been a different person, so was able to meet the
other Andy, but the devices were identical and so one stopped working
– possibly even existing – in the vicinity of the other.
It was half way through
relating this story to Paul that she made the mental connection –
the device wouldn't be with Andy. It was in Paris. Presumably it was
kept by Napoleon as a treasure or secret weapon.
She clenched her hand
and stared out into the darkness. It took a few minutes to regain her
composure but it was an endeavour worth engaging in. Beyond the
initial tense realisation that the plan they were currently engaged
in was unachievable, she also faced the fact that James and Michael
could be in significant danger.
She had to get to
Paris, retrieve the device, supply it to Andy and leave.
But how?
Now, as the horse
beneath her pounded across the French countryside she mocked herself
for how simple it had all seemed. It hadn't come immediately, but she
had realised a solution fairly rapidly. It took a little convincing
ad some serious trust, but eventually she was able to demonstrate to
Paul that the travelling device really worked. She didn't mention the
time travel aspect, only the spatial travel. Additionally, she
glossed lightly over the history of Andy and the delivery of his
device into French hands. The story she gave him was accurate, in a
sense, but not truthful. The device, she told him, had been given to
her by an old friend at the start of her journey and she had been
warned that the French had its twin in their keeping. The two devices
were kept apart, but now she had to take the chance to retrieve the
version the French had. It had to be given back to Andy and enable
him to escape, in order for him to both relieve it from the French
and to ensure that he could take it out of their reach entirely.
Paul had required some
serious investment into this concept and so she had left the ball
with him and retired immediately to her home. Once again, she had
carried out a room hop, but she had engaged him in the hop
immediately rather than risk the confusion she had felt herself on
witnessing it for the first time.
Having convinced him,
the two formulated a plan. She would transport them to Paris then
they would seek out the device – she would monitor her own version
and when it began to fail completely they would split up and search
in that specific location.
So together they
gripped the device, and transported to his rooms to allow him to wear
something more practical. She returned to her own property to change
as well, and reappeared in his rooms an hour later. Soon they were
ready; Paul swilled a large glass of brandy, took hold of one device
handle and moments later they discovered themselves in the vicinity
of Paris.
It was only a short way
from their landing space into the city, but it was a long way from
civilisation. Melissa thought she had grown accustomed to everything
the world could offer her, but she had not yet seen a country ravaged
by war. Around her fields lay barren and buildings fallen ramshackle.
In the fields were patches of camping families, small clusters of
people driven from the city by lack of funds, but near enough to be
able to find work or even follow in the path of the French army.
She coaxed Paul to hold
the device and then transported the two of them a mile west.
Gradually, they leaped around the vicinity of Paris, drawing ever
nearer to the city. Each jump was supposed to be a consistent
distance, but gradually the readings of arrival point fell out of
sync with the anticipated point. Now, she began a large loop, looking
for the central point in the assumption that the interference of the
two devices would form a perfect circle.
After a few hours, the
two of them, exhausted, had determined that the device was stored in
a specific building. They retired for the night – both had been
conscious now for almost 20 hours and were exhausted. They simply
took a room in a small inn as a married couple. Paul had been a
little uncomfortable at first, but when she collapsed into bed fully
clad, he did the same. Both slept deeply and well.
The next morning he
awoke and immediately regretted his actions. His discomfort caused
him to writhe and disturbed her. As she awoke she stretched
luxuriantly and raised an enquiring brow.
“Was the mattress not
to your liking?”
“My corset,” he
grimaced, “it's turned in the night and it's devilish – oh, I beg
your pardon – dashed uncomfortable.”
She gazed at him with a
laugh lurking in her eyes that she dared not give voice to for fear
of hurting his feelings. “Perhaps, given the circumstances, we
should dispense with corsetry for this journey. I did not have my
maid when I dressed at home, so I am fortunately not in your
position, but I understand you may wish to remove yours. I shall
repair to the outhouse while you,” she gestured, almost randomly as
she sought out the word “adjust yourself.”
She escaped quite
smoothly and reached the outhouse – her excuse had not been
manufactured, the strains of the night had not been conducive to
bathroom stops and the champagne she had imbibed before setting off
was making itself known.
Once completed she
returned to the inn searching for water for a desperately needed
scrub down – the one thing she was having most trouble coming to
terms with was the unacceptable lack of cleanliness compared to the
standards she had grown up with. Paul as courteously vacated the room
as she had for him and the two of them reconvened after ten minutes,
after which time they ate breakfast and confirmed between them the
specific building they were interested in.
They returned to the
Rue on which the building was set. In the daylight, the building was
noticeably smarter than those around it – various of which had
suffered severe depredations in the not too distant past. One had
every window boarded over, whereas this building had shutters closed
over those windows which were likely to be broken. They repaired, in
a mutual moment of silent understanding, to the market around the
corner and, Melissa taking the lead, talked loudly about how
inspiring it was to be in the centre of Paris and how nice it was to
see that the good buildings of Paris were inhabited by the true
leaders of the state rather than aristos. Paul cringed inwardly,
convinced she was overplaying it significantly. She, however, had
grown up French and knew by heart the glorious addresses of the
Emperor.
Now she made free
quotes from those she knew had already occurred and it rapidly
brought the attention of the populace. Additionally, her fair
assumption of a country hick in the big city for the first time
(helped in no small way by the fact that she was still reeling from
the various experiences of the last few days) lulled them into the
attitude of patronising the bumpkins. In this guise they were given
every detail of who exactly was in that property and his known
movements.
