Royal Flash fp-2

by George MacDonald Fraser

  Somehow I kept afloat while the agony in my chest subsided and my senses came back enough for me to realise that the water was freezing cold, and threatening to suck me down once more. Sobbing and belching water, I paddled feebly with my hands, and looked about me; to my right the lake stretched away forever, but there on my left, looming upwards, was the great rock of Jotun. berg with its beautiful, welcoming, splendid castle. It was a bare twenty yards away; I struggled with all my strength, kicking out against the water, and by the grace of God the rock when I reached it was shelving. I got my head and shoulders on to it and clawed my way out, and then I lay, helpless as a baby, with my face on that blessed cold wet stone, and went into a dead faint.

  I think I must have lain there only a few minutes; perhaps the mental shock of the ghastly experience I had endured was greater than the physical one, for the next thing I remember is stumbling slowly over the rocks by the waterside, without knowing where or who I was. I sat down, and gradually it all came back, like a terrible nightmare; it took some moments before I could assure myself that I was alive again.

  Looking back, of course, I realise that from the moment I slipped into the funnel in the dungeon until I clambered ashore again on the Jotunberg, can hardly have been more than two minutes. My initial plunge must have taken me to within a foot or two of the pipe's outlet; I had scrambled out by sheer panicky good luck, and floated to the surface. It was a miracle, no doubt, but a truly horrifying one. If I'm a coward, haven't I cause to be? Only those who know what it is to die can really fear death, I think, and by God I knew. It haunts me still; any time I have a bellyful of cheese or lobster I try to stay awake all night, for if I drop off, sure as fate, there I am again in that hellish sewer beneath Jotunberg, drowning upside down.

  However, at the time, when I realised that I wasn't dead yet, but that I would be if I sat there much longer, of cold and exhaustion, I took stock of the situation. At the point where I had left the scene of the action so abruptly, it had sounded as though help had arrived. Presumably Kraftstein and his cronies had been overcome, and with any luck Rudi had met a well-deserved end into the bargain. Happy thought! maybe they had slung him down the pipe after me. I couldn't think of anyone I would rather have had it happen to. Anyway, they were probably getting Carl Gustaf out of his fetters by now, and all would be jollity. How would they respond to my reappearance? It would be a bit of a blow to them, after I had appeared to die so conveniently—would they be tempted to do the job properly this time? No, surely not—not after all I'd done for them, much against my will though it had been.

  Anyway, it was settled for me. If I stayed there any longer I would certainly freeze to death. I must just go into the castle and take my chance.

  From where I stood I could see the causeway, about a hundred yards ahead, and as I stumbled round the base of the island the drawbridge came into view. There were figures in the castle gateway, and they looked like Volsungs; sure enough, as I came closer, I saw that they were, so I hallooed and scrambled up the little rocky path that ended at the bridge's foot.

  Three gaping, sturdy peasants, they helped me up and led me through the debris-strewn archway into the hall. God, what a mess it was. Kraftstein lay beside the wheel, with his skull split and his great hands crooked like talons; I remembered their grip and shuddered. Nearby were half a dozen other bodies—Sapten had kept his word, then; there would be no survivors of the Jotunberg garrison. There was a pool of blood in the very centre of the hall, and lying in it was the fellow who had complained to Kraftstein of boredom; well, ennui wouldn't trouble him any longer. The smell of powder was harsh in my nostrils, and a faint cloud of it still hung in the shadows overhead.

  The peasants pushed me down on to a bench, and while one helped me strip my sodden clothes—the second time that night—another washed the stinging gash in my arm and bandaged it round. The third, practical fellow, realising that I had to be clad in something, was pulling the garments off one of the corpses—he chose one who had been neatly shot in the head, and had been considerate enough not to bleed much—and I can't say that I felt any revulsion at all about wearing dead men's weeds. In fact, they fitted uncommon well.

  Then they presented me with a flask of schnapps, and I sent half of it down my throat at once, and felt the fiery warmth running back along my limbs, I poured a little into my palm and rubbed it on my face and neck—a trick Mackenzie taught me in Afghanistan; nothing like it for the cold, if you can spare the liquor.

  I sipped the rest slowly, looking round. There were several Volsungs in the hall, staring curiously about them, and I could hear the voices of others in the upper rooms they seemed to have everything in hand. Of Sapten and Grundvig there was no sign.

  Well, this was fine, so far as it went. I was beginning to feel excellent, now that the shock—no, the series of hellish frights—of the evening were wearing off, and I was savouring the blissful knowledge that here I was, hale and whole, with drink in me, warm clothes, and nothing more to fear. With every moment, as I realised what I had endured and escaped, my spirits rose; I could contemplate the future, for the first time in months, without feeling my bowels drooping down into my legs.

  "Where's Major Sapten, then?" says I, and they told me he was down in the dungeon still; on no account, they said, was anyone to intrude. Well, I knew the prohibition wouldn't include me, so I brushed aside their protests with a show of princely authority—remarkable how habits stick, once learned—and marched across to the passage. I checked at the archway, though, and asked if they were sure all the defenders were dead, and they beamed and chorused "Jah, jah." I took a sabre along anyway—not for protection, but because I knew it would look well, and went down the staircase and into the cloister. Through the far archway I heard the murmur of voices, and as I came closer Sapten was say. ing:

  "—Hansen's body in the moat. I wish we had laid Starnberg by the heels, though; that's one overdue in hell."

  That was bad news; I took a hurried look round, and then cursed my nervousness. Wherever Rudi was, it wouldn't be here.

  "It all passes belief," said another voice, and I recognised it as Carl Gustaf's. "Can it be true? A man who could take my place … an English impostor … and yet he came here, alone with Hansen, to try to save me."

  "He didn't have much choice," growls Sapten. "It was that or a rope." Well, damn him; there was gratitude.

  "Nay, nay, you wrong him." It was Grundvig now, excellent chap. "He tried to make amends, Sapten; no man could have done more. Without him… ."

  "Do I not know it?" says Carl Gustaf. "I saw him fight; he saved me from that scoundrel. My God! what a death!"

  There was a pause, and then Sapten says:

  "Aye, well, give him the benefit of the doubt. But, I have to say it, in dying he performed you a service, highness, for alive he might have been a confounded embarrassment."

  Well, I wasn't standing for this—besides, I know a cut when I hear one. I stepped softly through the archway.

  "Sorry to be inconvenient, major," says I, "but embarrassment or not, I am still here to serve his highness."

  It produced a most satisfactory effect; Sapten spun round on his heel, his pipe clattering on the floor; Grundvig sprang up, staring in amazement; the Prince, who had been seated at the table, swore in astonishment; there were two others there, behind the Prince's chair, and doubtless they were suitably stricken, too.

  Well, there was a fine babble and cries of wonder and inquiry, I can tell you; they were certainly surprised to see me, even if they weren't exactly overjoyed. Of course, it was a difficult situation for them; heroes are so much less of a nuisance when they're dead. There was even a hint of resentment, I thought, in the questions they poured at me—how had I escaped, where had I come from; I'll swear Sapten was on the brink of demanding what the devil I meant by it.

  I answered fairly offhand, describing the plumbing system of Jotunberg briefly, and how I had escaped from the lake. Grundvig and the Prince agreed it was a
marvel; Sapten recovered his pipe and stuffed it with tobacco.

  "And so," says I, in conclusion, "I came back to offer my further services—if they are needed." And I laid my sabre gently on the table and stood back. This chap Irving has nothing on me.

  There was an awkward, very long silence. Sapten puffed—he wasn't going to break it; Grundvig fidgeted, and then the Prince, who had been frowning at the table, looked up. God, he was like me.

  "Sir," says he slowly, "these gentlemen have been telling me … what has happened in Strackenz of late. It—it defies understanding … mine at least. It seems you have been party to the most dastardly deception, the strangest plot, I ever heard of. Yet it seems it was against your will—is this not so?" He looked at the others, and Grundvig nodded and looked bewildered. "Perhaps I am not clear in my mind," the Prince went on, "after all this—" and he gestured about him, like a man in a fog, "—but at least 1 have the evidence of my eyes. Whoever you are, whatever the reasons for what you did …" he broke off, at a loss, and then pulled himself together. "You saved my life tonight, sir. That much I know. If there has been wrong on your side—well, that is for your soul. But it has been cancelled out, for me at least." He looked at the others, Grundvig still nodding, Sapten puffing grimly and staring at his boots. Then Carl Gustaf stood up, and held out his hand.

  I took it, very manly, and we shook and looked each other in the eye. It was not canny, that resemblance, and I know he felt the same eeriness as I did, for his hand fell away.

  "Indeed, I think I am in your debt," says he, a little shaky. "If there is anything I can do … I don't know."

  Well, to tell the truth, I hadn't been thinking of rewards, but he seemed to be hinting at something. However, I knew the best policy was to shut up, so I simply waited, and another uncomfortable silence fell. But this time it was Sapten who broke it.

  "There's no question of debt," says he, deliberately. "Mr Arnold may be said to have made amends. He's lucky to go off with his life."

  But at this Grundvig and the Prince cried out.

  "At lease we owe him civility," says the Prince. "Mr Arnold, you have had my thanks; understand it is the thanks of Strackenz and Denmark also."

  "Aye, very fine," sneers Sapten. "But with your highness's leave, a clear passage to our frontier is the most, I think, that Mr Arnold will expect." He was pretty angry, all right; I began to understand that if Carl Gustaf hadn't survived it would have been waltzing matilda for Flashy if Sapten had had his way. I didn't think it politic to mention his promise on behalf of little goldenheaded Amelia; the less said about her the better.

  "At least he must be allowed to rest first," says the Prince, "and then conveyed in safety to the border. We owe him that."

  "He can't stay here," croaked Sapten. "In God's name, look at his face! We'll have difficulty preventing a scandal as it is. If there are two men with the prince's figurehead in the state, we'll never keep it quiet."

  The Prince bit his lip, and I saw it was time for a diplomatic intervention.

  "If your highness pleases," says I, "Major Sapten is right. Every moment I continue in Strackenz is dangerous, for both of us, but especially for you. I must go, and quickly. Believe me, it is for the best. And as the major has remarked, there is no debt."

  Wasn't there, though! I kept my face smooth, but underneath I was beginning to smart with hurt and anger. I hadn't asked to be embroiled in the politics of their tin-pot little duchy, but I had been bloody near killed more times than I could count, cut and wounded and half-drowned, scared out of my wits—and all I was getting at the end of it was the sneers of Sapten and the handshake of his blasted highness. Ten minutes before I had been thankful to come out with a whole skin, but suddenly now I felt full of spite and anger towards them,

  There was a bit of mumbling and grumbling, but it was all hypocrisy; indeed, I don't doubt that if Carl Gustaf had been given an hour or two longer to recover from the scare he had had, and his consequent gratitude to me, he would have been ready to listen to a suggestion from Sapten that I should be slipped back down the pipe for a second time—with my hands tied this time. After all, his face was like mine, so his character might be, too.

  For the moment, though, he had the grace to look troubled; he probably thought he owed it to his princely dignity to do something for me. But he managed to fight it down—they usually do— and the upshot of it was that they agreed that I should ride out as quickly as possible. They would stay where they were for the night, so that his highness could rest and take counsel, and there was a broad hint that I had better be over the frontier by morning. Grundvig seemed the only one who was unhappy about my sudden dismissal; he was an odd one, that, and I gathered from what he said that he alone had come round to the view that I was more sinned against than sinning. He actually seemed rather sorry for me, and he was the one who eventually escorted me up from that dungeon, and ordered a horse to be found, and stood with me in the castle gateway while they went to the mainland for it.

  "I am a father, too, you see," says he, pacing up and down. "I understand what it must mean to a man, when his loved ones are torn from him, and used as hostages against him. Who knows? I, too, might have acted as you did. I trust I should have behaved as bravely when the time came."

  Silly bastard, I thought, that's all you know. I asked him what had happened to Rudi, and he said he didn't know. They had seen him vanish through a side door in the outer cell, and had given chase, but had lost him in the castle. Presumably he knew its bolt-holes, and had got away. I didn't care for the sound of this, but it was long odds I wouldn't run into him again, anyway. I wasn't planning on lingering—just long enough for the notion that was beginning to form in my mind.

  Then one of the peasants returned with a horse, and a cloak for me. I asked a few directions of Grundvig, accepted a flask and a pouch of bread and cheese, and swung into the saddle. Just the feel of the horse moving under me was heartening; I could hardly wait to be away from that beastly place and everything in it.

  Grundvig didn't shake hands, but he waved solemnly, and then I turned the horse's head, touched her with my heel, and clattered away across the bridge, out of the lives of Carl Gustaf, the Sons of the Volsungs, Old Uncle Tom Cobley, and all. I took the Strackenz City road, and never looked back at the cold pile of Jotunberg. I hope they all caught pneumonia.

  9

  You would think, no doubt, that after what I had gone through, I would have no thought but to go out of Strackenz and Germany as fast as a clean pair of heels could take me. Looking back, I wonder that I had any other notion, but the truth is that I did. It's a queer thing; while I'm the sorriest coward in moments of danger, there is no doubt that escape produces an exhilaration in me. Perhaps it is simple reaction; perhaps I become light-headed; perhaps it is that in my many aftermaths I have usually had the opportunity of some strong drink—as I had now—and that all three combine to produce a spirit of folly. God knows it isn't courage, but I wish I had a guinea for every time I've come through some hellish crisis, babbling thankfully to be still alive—and then committed some idiocy which I wouldn't dare to contemplate in a rational moment.

  And in this case I was angry, too. To be harried and bullied and exposed to awful danger—and then just cut adrift with hardly a thank-you-damn-your-eyes from a man who, but for me, would have been feeding the fishes—God, I found myself hating that shilly-shally Carl Gustaf, and that sour-faced old turd Sapten— aye, and that mealy Grundvig, with his pious maundering. I'd pay them out, by gum, would I. And it would be poetic justice, too, in a way—Bismarck had promised me a grand reward; well, I'd come out of Strackenz with something for my pains.

  And, of course, it was really safe enough. There was hardly any risk at all, for I had a certain start of several hours, and I'd know how to cover my tracks. By God, I'd show them; they'd learn that a little gratitude would have been starvation cheap. I could do their dirty work for them, and then I could just piss off, could I? They'd learn to think a
little more of Harry Flashman than that, the mean bastards.

  So I reasoned, in my logical way. But the main thing was, I was sure there was no danger in what I intended. And what is there, I ask you, that a man will not dare, so long as he has a fast horse and a clear road out of town?

  The night sky was just beginning to lighten when I came to Strackenz City, with the dawn wind rustling the trees along the landstrasse. The suburbs were quiet as I cantered through, my hooves ringing on the cobbles; I skirted the old city to come to the ducal palace, where two sleepy sentries stared open-mouthed at me through the railings.

  "Oeffnen!" says I, and while one tried to present arms and dropped his musket, the other made haste to swing open the gates. I clattered through, leaving them to marvel at the sight of their new prince, whose absence must have been the talk of the duchy, arriving unkempt and unshaven at this hour of the day.

  There were more guards at the door, to whom I gave sharp orders to have a strong horse saddled and ready for me within ten minutes. I issued further instructions that no one was on any account to be allowed to leave the palace, nor was anyone to be admitted without reference to me. They saluted and stamped and fell over themselves in their hurry to obey; one flung open the doors for me, and I strode masterfully into the hall—this was going to be easy, thinks I.

  A sleepy major-domo or night porter came starting out of the chair where he had been dozing; he cried out at the sight of me, and would have roused the place, but I hushed him with a word.

  "Send someone to the kitchens," says I. "Get them to put together such cold foods as will go into a saddle-bag, and bring it here. Also some wine and a flask of spirits. Oh, and some money— bring a purse. Now, go."