Christopher Buehlman - Between Two Fires

He rose.

“With your permission.”

“Of course.”

He was nearly out the door when she tapped her ring three times on the bench.

Bull.

Fox.

Lamb.

He stopped and swallowed hard.

He smiled despite himself, his eyes moistening.

He tapped his bowl on the wall three times.

And then the old Franciscan left the castle of Arpentel, and made for Amiens, where his daughter even now tended the convent garden, eyeing the sorrel she would pick for him in the morning.

I wish to extend my deepest thanks to those who helped midwife this novel: First, to Michelle Brower at Folio, whose positivity, energy, and arcane agenting alchemy never fail to astound me. Next, and posthumously, to Barbara Tuchman, without whose masterpiece A Distant Mirror , fourteenth-century France would be much more distant indeed. Somewhat less posthumous thanks are due to Michael J. E. Reilly, whose knowledge of things ecclesiastical proved indispensable to this effort. Paul Dubro of Legacy Forge answered questions about armor, and, if you visit YouTube, you can watch longbow experts Nick Birmingham and Martin Harvey of the Company of Holyrood show how English archers used hundred-pound war bows to punch holes in that armor; these two also read and commented usefully on the chapter concerning the battle of Crécy. Allen Hutton, who knows more about the late-medieval sword than a living man has the right to, helped choreograph the fight by the creek; and if the hunting scene seems credible, that’s because I know Bob Haeuser, who makes Eastern Louisiana unsafe for deer. Teresa DeWitt, high-school French-class neighbor, prom date, and now CSI investigator, turned me green with descriptions of what prolonged submersion does to the human body, and Professor Sylvie Lefevre of Columbia University graciously answered a stranger’s query about medieval French names. Michael Gartner of Volgemut and Owain Phyfe (whose voice sounds as hot blown glass looks) were two of the many musicians whose work accompanied my writing, and since I am lucky enough to call them friends, it is my pleasure to acknowledge their excellence here. The Cistercian garden would have been bare dirt without another good friend, “Plant Man” Terry Hollembaek, with whom I have stained my teeth purple more than once. Medievalist Christine Axen did a difficult thing and made Avignon even more charming during my research there. On the subject of travel, although it was composed on the road, in many places, I set down a good eighth of Between Two Fires at Rochambo coffeehouse on East Brady Street in Milwaukee, which is a hell of a good place to write a book. Thanks again, and always, to readers Allison Williams, Jamie Haeuser, Ciara Carinci, and to listeners Ron Scot Fry, Susan Fry, Damaris Wilcox, Roxanna Wilcox-Keller, Noelle Burk, and especially Kelly Cochran Davis. Lastly, thanks and adoration to Danielle Dupont, whose self-appointed position on this project was “Advocate for Good.” Her counsel on the nature of angels seems more like firsthand knowledge than supposition, and she is, in many ways, Delphine’s mentor and close cousin.

CHRISTOPHER BUEHLMAN is a writer and performer from St. Petersburg, Florida. The winner of the 2007 Bridport Prize for poetry, he is also the author of several plays and the acclaimed horror novel Those Across the River . He lives with his wife and his rescued dog, Duck.

THOSE ACROSS THE RIVER

BETWEEN TWO FIRES

Published by the Penguin Group

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Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) • Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) • Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

This is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Copyright © 2012 by Christopher Buehlman.

Endpapers copyright © by Shutterstock.

Cover engraving of Paradise Lost © Bridgeman Art Library.

Cover photographs: chain mail © Brandon Bourdages / Shutterstock; fire © Andrey Yurlov / Shutterstock.

Cover design by Richard Hasselberger.

Text design by Tiffany Estreicher.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

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FIRST EDITION: October 2012

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Buehlman, Christopher.

Between two fires / Christopher Buehlman. — 1st ed.

p. cm.

ISBN: 978-1-101-61161-6

1. Knights and knighthood—Fiction. 2. Angels—Fiction. 3. Devil—Fiction. 4. Good and evil—Fiction. 5. France—History—14th century—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3603.U3395B48 2012

813’.6—dc23

2012011957

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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