I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 357 Jean Barr's Night

  The priest immediately pricked up his ears and listened. The movement of his hands did not stop, but from taking them out to putting them back. Baal also stood up, holstered his holster silently, and the priest shook his head at him, pointing to the stairs leading to the second floor.

After seeing that Baal was hidden, the priest went to open the door. There was no moonlight outside the door, and the starlight was dim, almost invisible, but the lamp he lit in the small hall immediately cast a golden red light on the person who knocked on the door— Even if it was partially covered by the priest's huge body, he immediately recognized that the person was the sister-in-law of his cousin's cousin's daughter - this town is too small, almost everyone has a relationship, this child still accepts his blessing.

But for a few seconds, the priest almost screamed, because although the person who came was still recognizable, it looked like a ghoul just crawled out of the grave, with a yellow complexion—that was the It's a grayish-yellow inside, disheveled hair, covered in mud, and so on! As a half pirate, the priest smelled the blood from her body, so those ticking things were not water, but blood?

   "Eva?" The priest grabbed the dagger with his hand behind his back.

   "It's me, my lord, save me," said the woman named Eva, and fell headfirst in front of the priest.

The priest jumped up at a speed totally out of proportion to his fat frame, over Eva's body, craned his neck (if he had one) and looked out into the silent street—he lived in the chapel, and the town was small. , but this chapel is still in accordance with the requirements of the doctrine. It is not only tall and large, strong and beautiful, located on the edge of the square, but also at a distance from any house in the town. Eva and he did not make any big noise. , did not alarm anyone.

He stood at the door and waited for a while before dragging Eva back to the chapel. At this time, Barr had also come out. Under the disapproving eyes of the priest, he lifted the woman's head, and the priest had to lift the woman's feet. , put her on the inner rug, instead of continuing to lie on the cold stone floor, and seriously, thanks to Baal's help, a person who passed out completely, as heavy as a corpse, a priest hasn't done this in a long time 's hard work.

Then, as if they had a tacit understanding, the priest took a dry sponge (the kind that was fished out of the sea and dried in the sun), carried a bucket of water, and swept along the way Eva had come, etc. When he came back, there were still bright waves in the barrel, but Baal, who was used to seeing his father and brother doing things like this, knew at a glance that he had just refilled the well in the square—when they were pirates, Some people have made this mistake - in the era of no running water, ordinary people would have a little water at home for those who woke up in the morning. When the soldiers searched the village, there would be shrewd guys to check the bucket. If the bucket is empty, it is very difficult. It may have been used to clean wounds or remove marks left by injured people.

The priest put the bucket back in its place, the chapel had been wiped clean by Baal, the fire in the fireplace was back on fire, and the contents were still crackling—the dry sponge used to wipe the wound, stained with blood Clothes, etc., Eva was lying face up on the floor, and now a wound could be seen extending from her left shoulder to her right chest.

Baal and the priest glanced at each other. This kind of wound was all too familiar to them. It was as if they had seen someone who might be slightly higher than Eva, raised a short sword or a long knife to her, and wanted to cut it. She broke her neck, but I don't know if his hands softened, or if Eva avoided vigilantly, no, it should have been because of her sudden avoidance and backing, this wound would not be fatal.

This clever girl was covered in mud, not just because she was in a hurry to escape, she also put some wet mud on the wound to stop the bleeding, otherwise, but if she ran from the place the priest knew Come, this journey is enough for her to drain the blood from her body.

   The priest lit a candle and leaned over to look at the wound. The wound didn't look so hideous anymore. After a simple wipe, it was sprinkled with medicinal powder. The priest snorted, nothing else, this is the king's medicine. When it was first made, it spread very fast among pirates who had to rely on irregular trading. He also sold this kind of medicine. The medicine in the little brown bottle, which for a time was worth the same volume of gemstones, is now worth the same volume of gold, though not so scary.

   But as long as there are sellers, there will always be buyers. This is not a medicine, but a life.

His nephew used the "gold" to gilt his Virgin Mary, and the priest smacked his lips regretfully as he watched Baal take out another small bottle of potion, which It may be more precious than the previous medicine powder, and it is also equipped with a rubber dropper. He pushed aside Eva's lips, put a drop in it, and put it away.

This potion was really immediate, Eva woke up immediately, her eyes still had the horror from before, especially when she saw Baal, but the priest immediately squeezed over, and she felt at ease, "Who is it? ?" The priest asked simply, "What happened?"

"My husband, my husband... uncle..." Eva said in a low voice and eagerly, she even wanted to sit up and hold the priest's hand, but she was seriously injured and weak, the more anxious she wanted to say something, The more she couldn't say it, her face even contorted.

   And at this moment, someone knocked on the door again.

The priest suddenly stopped all movements, he looked at Eva, and Eva's eyes burst into extreme hatred and panic, he understood, and pointed to Baal, gestured to "Old Place", and shouted vaguely. A sound, indicating that he heard it, and then deliberately stepping out heavy footsteps, still yawning constantly, as if he just got up from the bed.

He walked for a while before reaching the door, and it took him several more minutes to unlatch the door. As soon as the door opened, the people outside rushed in eagerly. Who is it? In addition to weighing about three hundred pounds, when he was young, he was also a good hand on the ship. He had to walk freely on the swaying deck, sit, lie down, and stand without a pair of legs that looked like nails.

   So the man not only failed to push down the priest, but almost fell to the ground due to the reaction force, if not for his companions who caught him in time.

   failed to intimidate the priest in the chapel. Instead, he embarrassed himself. The man in the lead looked very bad. The priest held up the candle. "Oh," he said, "it's you, Jack."

The priest    recognized this man, Eva's husband. But he's not a Frenchman, he's an Englishman, and it's no surprise that Dunkirk was an English city when it wasn't sold to Louis XIV, both here and in the nearby towns. British, and they occasionally marry French. But this Englishman was different because he was a British stranded soldier in Dunkirk.

Speaking of which, this group of people is also pitiful and ridiculous - they once belonged to Cromwell, the protector who was only one step away from the British throne. After Cromwell's death, Charles II was not willing to redeem them. They were also unwilling to return to England, mainly for fear that Charles II would exile them for treason or put them to death, and they were unwilling to serve a king - so that in the end about 7,000 to 8,000 people were stranded in London. kirk.

However, soldiers and officers are different. The officers among these people are willing to enter the French army or military school after receiving the promise of Louis XIV. After losing the commander, these soldiers were completely at a loss for a while. They were overwhelmed, but soon, they ushered in the king's will and a new manager. They were scattered, separated and regrouped, and their weapons were collected. The beautiful red military uniforms on their bodies were also changed into dark brown sapper uniforms. It wasn't too ugly either, but the implications were profound, with some sensitive soldiers even refusing to put on new uniforms, and they were immediately arrested and executed.

Soldiers willing to submit, Louis XIV could not just stuff them into his army, and as sappers, they were asked to repair the fortifications and roads around Dunkirk - the spacious and flat road that Barr had passed before. The avenues have their credit.

After having an income and a fixed residence, the most basic human needs have also been put on the agenda. Some of them have made up their minds to be alone until they go to see God, while others have decided to stay here. Going on with their lives, they married French girls, and they started learning French, and maybe a few generations later, they would just consider themselves French.

   Of course, there are not many such people, because why don't the French marry their daughter to a French soldier, everyone knows how good Louis XIV was to his soldiers. These British soldiers, who may be better off and safer than their domestic counterparts, are nothing compared to the French soldiers.

But this Jack is an exception. First of all, he was an officer, or even a nobleman. He did not accept the invitation of the king of France, nor did he return to London. Even if his relatives came to find him, he seemed to decide to die in Dunkirk. Now, the priest's... relatives, there is nothing strange about a young girl falling in love with him. Although he is not confused in his age, he is strong in body, handsome in appearance, and calm and trustworthy that such a young man does not have. The head of the British.

The priest    was not very optimistic about this marriage, and now it seems that it may be a little bit worse than bad.

   "I'm here to find Eva," Jack said calmly. "Mr. Priest, we've encountered something very unfortunate."

   "What's the matter? Oh, my God, the Virgin," said the priest. "Have you encountered robbers?"

"No," said Jack, "it's me who met my misfortune, sir, and Eva fell in love with another young man, and she betrayed, and I found them tonight, but in the course of the fight, I may have I hurt Eva by mistake, I was about to apologize to her, look at her wound, and she ran away," he sighed: "I think she misunderstood that I was going to kill her, please tell her if I am not It will hurt her, ask her to come out, I brought the doctor, I am very worried about her, she still has my child."

  The priest stared at him, this guy! He thought to himself, if he hadn't done this job, if he hadn't been used to seeing the same kind and spies who were full of lies, he might really have believed it. After all, a woman who was discovered by her husband after adultery would say anything, even if What Eva said before can also be reasonably explained.

   He was very affectionate, and he also mentioned the child. Most people would probably think that even for the sake of the child, an angry husband would forgive his wife's sins.

But it couldn't be hidden from the priest: "It's too bad," he said, "but Eva didn't come to me," and he turned away, "wait, I'm going to get the horse out, and I'll go with you. Look, God, saint, what is going on, when we find her, I must scold her severely, by the way, who is that bastard?"

Jack said a name, and the priest showed a mixture of anger and anger: "That's not right," he said, but he doubted where Jack had seen the name, but he probably heard it, because he had The priest of this name had done the sacrament of death for him not long ago.

   "Are you saying that Eva has never been here?" Jack said, with two people quietly blocking the priest's way: "But I don't think she will go anywhere else except here."

  The priest turned around with a half-smile, he had a simple and honest round face, and he really didn't look like a pirate: "Are you accusing me of lying?"

"I'm just worried that you're taking my wife's side and turning her occasional mistake into a real sin," Jack whispered, two of his subordinates already searching for the small chapel, although the chapel and the church The same is a cross structure, but the ear chambers on both sides are almost the same as the name. One is used by the priest as a storage room and confession room, and the other is used by the priest as his room. Eva was lying on the carpet of his room before. up, but now there's only one rug missing... oh, the priest stood behind those Englishmen, smiling, because the old rug was gone, but there was still a rug that was hanging on the wall— The places covered by the carpet for a long time must have different colors and textures from other places. Although it was getting late, it could only be lit by candles, but, fortunately, because Jack really looked down and touched it with his fingers.

Jack couldn't find anything. He sniffed the air, but he could only smell the familiar smell of seafood, mixed with the smell of inferior scented candles. This strange smell shrouded, even if someone bleed here, he Can't find it either.

"I'm more worried," Jack said. "If Eva isn't here, where is she?" He looked at the priest. "You mean to come with us? Then let's go to the stables. "

   The priest blinked. When things got here, he had no room to resist. They went to the stable together, and the priest immediately screamed bad in his heart!

   Next to his mule is Baal's good horse!

What the priest didn't even think about was to lower his head. This instinctive reaction saved his life, because as soon as Jack saw the horse, he drew his short sword without hesitation, which cut off the remaining dagger on the priest's head. A few hairs, but the priest didn't notice this at all. He rushed forward, grabbed the fence of the stable, jumped into it at once, and ran quickly to the mule's trough. Pitchfork with three teeth.

Pitchfork is a common agricultural tool, but looking at the light from the worn area of ​​the pitchfork, you can know that the craftsman who made it can use good steel that is not qualified for agricultural tools, so the role of this pitchfork is very good. It's hard to say, the priest is bloated, but his martial skills are not inferior to any soldier. He shouted, waved a pitchfork, and used the fence and the trough as a barrier, and he actually fought with the British outside.

   "Don't waste your time," said Jack, snatching the torch held by a man beside him.

  The priest swallowed: "Don't you want to hear what I have to say?"

"No need." Jack said, of course, maybe the horse was just booty or smuggling, maybe Eva met a beast or went somewhere else, or maybe the priest was playing some other role, But he and his business allow no mistakes. "That's a good horse indeed," he said regretfully, throwing the torch into the stable.

  The torch ignited fiercely as soon as it hit the ground.

The priest shouted, but it only took a minute or two and it was going to be a little purgatory, not enough time for people to come and save his life, he could jump out too, but the Englishmen were waiting, He had to choose between being burned to death or being stabbed to death, but this time—the bell rang.

The chapel has no bell tower, but a wooden frame on which hangs a large bell, which is used not only to call people to worship their God, but also to warn them of invading devils - truth be told, Dunkirk The surrounding villages and towns are not very clean. Smugglers, pirates and businessmen who sell stolen goods always have several footholds. When the bell rang when it should not be rang, those who have been alerted no longer hesitated, holding swords and muskets. It ran out with other harpoons, flails, iron nets and other things that were more like weapons than farming and fishing gear.

   "They're coming!" shouted an Englishman who might have been left outside, and rushed in.

  Jack hesitated, "Let's go!" He said, with him at the head, the British rolled out like a whirlwind, as fast as they came.

The fire wave was pressing, and the priest stabbed his mule hard, forcing it to be spaced between the flames and himself, the mule whined loudly, and the Sierra horse kicked and neighed uncomfortably, constantly shaking his head, trying to rush out. Stables - The clergyman was about to turn over the mule trough when he heard a horrible creak, no idea where the flames went, something collapsed, and then no idea what it was Down, the priest shouted, it was a blazing grass cover—seaside people like to use dried seagrass for their roofs, and the stables were no exception.

He felt a pain in his face, his hands involuntarily loosened, and he fell from the trough, and then his thigh was pressed down heavily by something, and he pushed the thing, only to realize that he was stabbed by him. The mule, inhaling a lot of smoke and dust, finally fainted, and the hundreds of pounds of flesh and fur weighed down the priest's legs.

   The priest was about to howl when he felt a sudden darkness in front of his eyes, wet water vapor and blood rushing towards his face, and then a pair of strong arms, "It's alright, uncle."

   (end of this chapter)