Jacob's ladder
Chapter 14: In the mine

“My God!” exclaimed Luis, handlingJacob’s ladder among his fingers. “Help me! Do something! I need you!”

“Follow me! We haven’t got muchtime.”

Luis turned, surprised at hearing awoman’s voice at his back. What he saw jolted him: exotically beautiful,clothed with immaculate white fitting trousers and blouse, of a material which didnot seem to be made of any textile fiber he had ever seen, the woman and herattire were outside his experience. She did not seem from this world. Hisfeeling was confirmed by her sudden appearance where nobody had been a momentbefore. He wondered whether God had sent an angel to help them, in answer tohis desperate plea. He felt shy, fearful, and dropped his eyes, not daring to lookat her directly.

“Don’t be afraid,” she said. “Comewith me.”

Taking his hand, while the cannonshots made the castle tremble, she drew him toward the stairs of the tower, up tothe third level and to Charles’s room. Having exhausted his capacity forsurprise, Luis left everything to her. If she was really an angel, the best hecould do was trust her blindly.

The woman went in the room without knocking.Charles was sitting on his bed with his head in his hands. Pierre, who had beenwalking like a lion in a cage, stopped suddenly when the door opened.

“Charles Houy, comte de Philippe,”exclaimed the woman with a dominant voice. “What are you doing there, sunk inhopelessness? Stand up and fight!”

“Whatever for?” replied the man,without raising his eyes or his voice. “One cannot fight who cannot die.”

“Will you let your son fall in thehands of his mortal enemy without fighting?”

Unwillingly, dumbfounded, Charlesgazed at the woman. Luis felt the impulse to shout that she had made a mistake:Charles was only his tutor; his father had died when he was a child. But lookingat her he felt incapable of speaking. If she was an angel, she could not be mistaken.Then he remembered that Charles had a secret, which Pierre and Lady Borlandseemed to know, which all had refused to tell him in spite of his insistence. Wasthis the secret? He wanted to ask, but it was not the proper time.

Charles seemed galvanized by thewoman’s pep-talk. He stood up, took the rifle which Pierre had brought with himto the room and went toward the door, but she did not turn aside to let him pass.

“We shan’t fight Blatsov yet. We mustleave the castle.”

“But we are surrounded!”

“There is a secret way. Follow me.”

Going down the stairs, Luis conqueredhis shyness and plucked at her sleeve. She looked at him with an indefinableexpression and asked:

“What do you want?”

“There are other men in the castle.Will they come with us?”

“They are ill,” protested Pierre. “Ifwe take them, they’ll slow us and prevent our escaping.”

The woman meditated, wrinkling herbrow, before answering:

“We’ll leave them here. They are notin danger. Blatsov only wants Luis and the villagers just want to plunder thecastle.”

“How can she know?” wondered Luis.

The woman led them to the dungeons,whose doors had been left open when Luis and Pierre freed the prisoners. Shewalked unhesitatingly to the end of the deepest corridor, as though she knewthe castle perfectly. After groping for some time on the opposite wall, sheturned around and let them see a slab of stone moving by itself and opening themouth of a dark passage. Pierre, who had provided himself with a torch, wentfirst, followed by Luis and Charles, while the woman closed the secret door.While they were walking, the count of Philippe turned and asked:

“Who are you?”

“My name is Lydia.”

“Is that all?”

“It’s enough.”

“I’m at a disadvantage. I know nothingabout you, but you seem to know everything about us.”

“You’ll have to accept it, Charles,and trust me. I’ve come to help you.”

“How do we know that you aren’tBlatsov’s accomplice and are taking us to a trap, to put us in his hands?”

“Use your intelligence. If I hadn’ttaken you from the castle, in your situation, how long would you’ve been out ofhis power?”

“That’s true.”

Luis noticed that Charles spoke atLydia more ceremoniously than she at him, but the situation did not seemdiscordant. The woman was obviously in a higher plane than any of them, althoughshe did not speak as a superior, but with such love that he was irresistiblyreminded of his childish fantasies about a mother he had never known. Hewondered whether Lydia could be his mother, sent by God in his help, butrejected the idea, for in such case Charles would have recognized her.

The secret passage was changing. Atthe light of the torch, they saw that the ceiling was now supported by thickwooden beams, while the walls were perforated by holes sinking toward thedepths of the Earth. Empty sacks and forgotten tools showed that the excavationhad been used sometime to extract minerals, but the deep dust covering thefloor, unaltered by footprints, proved that the mine had been abandoned for along time, perhaps centuries.

Pierre stopped in doubt at the first branchof the way, but Lydia instructed him how to go on, and did the same wheneverthe disposition of the mine was confusing. While they walked, Luis observedthat the general direction of their walk did not change much: they were clearlygoing down. Once out of the mine, they would replace themselves much lower thanthe castle and the village of Montsegur.

After walking over an hour, at theentrance of a bigger space, Lydia told them to stop. At the other side theycould see a little natural light, indicating that the exit was near. Many batsfluttered around them, their sleep interrupted by the invasion of their daylightrefuge. The floor was covered by old and recent whitish excrement.

“We’d better rest here,” said Lydia,sitting on a reasonably clean place, with her back to the wall. “It’s almostsix, we are near the sunset. At full night, it will be easier to escape withoutbeing seen. Try to sleep a little, you need it. Last night you didn’t closeyour eyes.”

“What if we are followed?” askedPierre.

“Don’t worry, they won’t replace thesecret passage. And I’ll be watching.”

“I can’t let a woman watch while Isleep,” protested Charles.

“I don’t need to sleep,” answeredLydia. “I’m giving the orders here. Please obey.”

Her voice had such a ring ofauthority that none dared defy it. Luis, however, who had lain near Charles, hadto dispel his doubts before sleeping. Putting his lips near his tutor’s ears,he whispered:

“What Lydia said: is it true?”

“What do you mean?”

“That you are my father. Is this thesecret that you didn’t want me to know?”

Charles took his time beforeanswering. When he did, his voice was tired and almost inaudible, as though itcost him a hard effort to speak.

“Pardon me; I was only trying toprotect you. I knew that sooner or later I’d be in danger, and didn’t want todrag you into it. In 1791 I left France, flying from the Revolution. Yearslater, in Salamanca, I met María Teresa de Guzmán, countess of la Mata, andfell in love with her. We were married and had a son, but she died at yourbirth. Mad with woe, I went away and left you under the care of some people Itrusted. I came back in 1802, when you were three years old. Then I decided todo my duty, but let everybody think that I was your tutor, because it seemed saferfor you. Things haven’t gone as I expected, you’ve been involved anyway. Onecan’t fight fate.”

“Then my name is not Luis García.”

“No, I invented that name. You shouldbe called Luis Houy, heir of the count of Philippe, but I don’t think that ourtitle will endure. Winds of change are blowing in Europe since the revolution.”

“You should have told me. I have livedwithout a father.”

“You are right. I’m sorry. We havelost that special relation between father and son. If we could go back, I’d dothings differently, but we can’t.”

His voice became blurred, eitherbecause he was speaking softer or because Luis was too tired and passing intothe world of dreams. Soon later, the three men were sleeping fitfully, whileLydia, whose body in the first echelon was fictitious and need not rest, kept acareful watch.

At ten o’clock, after about fourhours, Lydia awoke them.

“We should take advantage of thedark,” she said. “The moon is full and will light us, if the clouds don’t hideit. At least, we’ll be less visible than by daylight. We’ll go to Spain and putthe longest possible distance between us and Blatsov.”

“Who is he?” asked Luis, who seemedto have conquered his shyness. “Pierre put a shot through him, but didn’t harmhim. He is tireless; he has followed me all around Europe. Although he could neverseize me, I couldn’t make him lose my trail. Is he a fiend, or one of thoseliving dead that they are talking about? Will this chase never end?”

“I can’t answer that, Luis, for thereare things I don’t know, and what I do know, you wouldn’t understand. I canonly say that I’m trying to help you. This is what I came here for.”

“Do you come from the same place as Blatsov?”

“To some extent, yes, but there, evenas here, we are enemies. It’s difficult to explain, but I’ll try. I’ve come,because Blatsov and Nikomakos are trying to destroy our work, and I want toprevent it, but don’t know if that’s possible.”

“I’m sure that you’ll win.”

“Thanks for your trust. If I had it,my work would be far easier.”

“You aren’t alone, are you? You havespoken in plural.”

“True. We are a team.”

“Blatsov and Nikomakos are together.Are they also a team?”

“I know very little about them,except that they are here. I’ll try to replace more, to prevent them disturbing usin the future.”

“Are you in danger, or are youinvulnerable like Blatsov?”

“I don’t know. I’d prefer not to put itto the test.”

“But you came. Thanks for wanting tohelp us.”

“I couldn’t do less. It wasn’t easy,some of my mates were against it, but I had to accept this responsibility.Don’t thank me; I’ve just done my duty. In fact, it is I who should thank you. You’vehelped me a lot. After speaking with you, I’m sure that I haven’t made amistake coming here.”

While Lydia and Luis were talking,they had walked toward the entrance of the mine. Darkness was complete. It wasnight, and the full moon was veiled by cotton-like clouds which did notthreaten rain. Before getting out, Lydia watched carefully, but did notdiscover any signs of danger. Raising her arm, she asked her companions tofollow.

Just when they all came outside, theclouds opened and the landscape was suddenly lighted. They were in the FrenchPyrenees, on one side of the mountain of Montsegur. At their feet, the slopedescended steeply, and rose again at the outskirts of the impressive peak ofSaint Bartholomew, over two thousand meter high, which dominated the area. Thesilvery light of the moon gave the ground an almost magic appearance. Luiswouldn’t have been surprised if a goblin had started running among the bushes dottingthe slope.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, an awful noiserumbled among the mountains. A rain of dust, earth and plant detritus fell overthem.

“What’s happened?” cried Luis, not knowingwhere to look.

“A cannon shot,” answered Charles.“They’ve fired upon us. We have been seen.”

“Let’s get again in the mine,”advised Lydia, walking in that direction. ”There is another entrance. It may makethem lose our trail.”

“I doubt it,” whispered Charles, buthe obeyed, followed by Pierre.

Luis was about to get in, when a newcannon shot made him lose his balance. When he stood up, he saw that the shothad impacted fully on the top of the mine entrance, which had collapsed,blocking it completely and separating him from his companions.