“Jean, hand me that rope, will you?”
She felt her hands being bound moments later. The man holding her had uncovered her mouth to do the job and she opened it to scream, but instead found a cloth being jammed into it. She was astonished to see that the person who had gagged her so expertly and now stood there grinning at her was a mere boy. In seconds, she was immobilized, her mouth gagged, her hands tied, and her feet and knees bound together. Suddenly, she remembered Percy’s ring. Working her fingers madly, she managed to move the top of the signet ring so that the tiny needle was exposed. Now if she only had a chance to-
“All right, Lady Blakeney, let’s see if we can’t sit you up and try to make you a bit more comfortable. At least, as comfortable as possible, under the circumstances.”
As she felt his hands on her, she gave a convulsive jerk and thrashed toward him, trying to swipe at him with her hands tied behind her back.
“What the… ow! Damn bitch scratched me. She…” The voice trailed off. Then her hands were seized and she felt the ring being wrenched off her finger.
For several moments, nothing happened. Then she heard a clearly audible sigh of relief.
“Christ, for a moment there, I thought I’d had it.”
She felt herself being turned over and she looked up at the face of her assailant. He was of medium height, not as tall as Percy, and he was dark-haired. He had the build of an athlete, he was clean-shaven, and he was good-looking in a menacing sort of way. He smiled and it was an amazingly charming smile. He held up the ring.
“You gave me quite a turn there,” Mongoose said. “It certainly would have been ironic if I’d had this thing turned against me. However, if he gave it to you, which I doubt, he did not show you how to load it. Fortunately for me, the cartridge has been spent.” He put the ring in his pocket. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you? I suppose it’s just as well. Jean, get over by the window there and let me know if you see anybody coming.”
The boy complied.
“You needn’t stare at me so malevolently,” he told her. “Believe it or not, I’m trying to save his life.”
“Three men approaching,” Jean said from the other side of the room.
“It’s getting awful crowded down there, isn’t it?” said Mongoose.
“They are coming inside.”
“I rather thought they would. This is beginning to get interesting.” He went over to the window. “I estimate that it should take the soldiers at least another half an hour, maybe a little less, to work their way through town. That’s if they’re efficient.”
Marguerite was looking around to see if there was anything that she could knock over or use to free herself when her gaze fell upon the door. The boy had shut and bolted it before and now something was burning its way through the wooden bolt from the other side! Her eyes widened as she saw the tiny wisps of smoke curling up from the bolt. It was as though someone was using a very fine saw on it, but she could see no blade and there was no sound whatsoever.
“More people coming,” Mongoose said. “It’s getting to be quite a-”
The door swung open silently, revealing a tall man holding a small metal tube in his right hand.
“Watch out! “ the boy said and, in the same instant, drew a slim knife from behind his neck and hurled it at the tall man holding the tube. It struck him in the chest and he fell, but whatever sound he made in striking the floor was drowned out by the noise of all the customers downstairs. There were two other men behind him, but all Marguerite saw was a thin, brilliant shaft of light that seemed to appear and disappear all in one second. She did not know how it happened, but suddenly the two other men were on the floor as well, having fallen out of her line of sight.
Mongoose closed the door quickly. He looked at Jean and grinned. “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” he said. “I didn’t even know you carried a knife.”
Jean bent down over the first man, the one he had killed. “I thought it was a pistol,” he said. “What is-”
“Don’t touch it!”
The boy froze.
“It’s all right, “ said Mongoose
Marguerite saw that the man held an identical tube in his right hand. He bent down and took the other tube from the dead man, then removed two others from the other men.
“What is it?” Jean said. “I have never seen a weapon like that before.” He stared at the tubes Mongoose held. “How can they kill so… so…”
“Never mind,” said Mongoose. “Here, take your blade back. And thanks. You saved my life.”
“You would have done the same for me,” Jean said, gallantly. He was obviously proud.
“Yes, but what you just did is a great deal more important. Much more important than you could possibly believe or understand. Here, help me drag these bodies out of the way. Over in the corner, there.”
“Who were these men?” said Jean, dragging one of them by the legs across the room.
“You might say that they were colleagues of mine, in a way,” Mongoose said, with a chuckle. “A very unusual way.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“They were not the same three men I saw enter the inn just now,” said Jean. “They are dressed differently. Besides, they would not have had the time to get upstairs so quickly.”
“You’re right,” said Mongoose. “You don’t miss a thing. These characters were already here. My guess is that they were coming upstairs to take up their positions and they overheard us in here. All this means that we have very little time. No time for any more questions. From now on, you just listen well and keep your eyes open and your mouth shut. Whatever happens next is going to happen very fast.”
He looked at Marguerite. “Lady Blakeney, you’ll excuse us, won’t you? Don’t try to get free; you won’t be able to. If you roll off the bed and onto the floor, you’ll only succeed in making yourself more uncomfortable and you might hurt yourself.”
He opened the door and stepped outside, with Jean following him. The door swung shut and Marguerite, finally succumbing to the shock of what she had just experienced and the effect of all the wine she had drunk, passed out.
They ran into Andrew Ffoulkes as they were approaching the inn. Ffoulkes had been out to Pere Blanchard’s cottage and, not having found them there, had hurried back to town as quickly as he could. He caught up to them when they were within a block of Brogard’s inn.
“Ffoulkes!” said Lucas. “Where are you coming from? What’s happened?”
“Thank God I’ve found you,” Ffoulkes said, dismounting from his horse. “I’ve just been out to the cottage and, not finding you there, I thought that all was lost! I came with Marguerite-”
“Marguerite!” said Finn. “Here? What the hell is she-”
“She’s waiting upstairs in the Chat Gris,” said Ffoulkes. “I told her not to venture forth from her room under any circumstances. We are all in great danger. We came to warn you.” He saw Cobra, registering his presence for the first time. “Who’s this?”
“It’s all right,” said Finn. “This is Collins. He’s one of us, one of our agents in France. Speak quickly, man, what danger? Warn us about what?”
“It’s Chauvelin,” said Ffoulkes.
“The French representative?” said Finn.
“The French spy. He knows everything. He knows you are the Scarlet Pimpernel. He has come to France to set a trap for you. He cannot be far behind.”
“Then we’ll have to move quickly,” Cobra said, taking over. “The Comte de Tournay and St. Just will be arriving any moment. Ffoulkes, you’d best get back to the cottage and wait for them. We’ll send them on to you. Meanwhile, we must go and take Lady Blakeney from the inn. It is a dangerous place for her to be.”
Ffoulkes glanced at Finn for confirmation. “Do as he says,” said Finn. “Quickly!”
Ffoulkes swung up into the saddle. “Good luck, Percy. God speed!”
As he galloped off, Finn turned to Cobra and said, “That was quick thinking.”