Joan Wolf - White Horses

Leo couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm.

They had reached the town limits of Amiens and within a few minutes they pulled up in front of a stone building with a sign outside reading Hôtel de Champs.

“Here we are,” Gabrielle said to Leo. “It’s not fancy but it’s clean and the beds are good.”

Leo turned to Gabrielle to help her down, but all he saw of her was her back. A second later she had jumped to the ground unassisted.

She turned to look back at him. “Can you hand me my bag, Leo?” she asked.

He picked up the canvas bag that contained her clothes and handed it down to her. She continued to surprise him, he thought. Certainly she was nothing like any woman he’d ever known.

“Give me yours, too,” she said.

He shook his head. “It’s too heavy, I’ll lift it down.” He jumped to the ground himself and lifted down his leather portmanteau.

“The landlady will have supper for us,” Gabrielle told him. “I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.”

Leo looked down into her delicately lovely face. She looked as if she existed on champagne and strawberries. “Food sounds good,” he said.

They all trooped inside the old hotel and settled around three tables in a large, shabby-looking dining room. Leo looked at the landscapes that hung on the wall. They were terrible.

A short, portly woman in a blue apron came bustling into the room. “Bon soir, Mademoiselle Robichon,” she said. “It is good to see you again.”

“Bon soir, Madame Gare,” Gabrielle responded. “It is good to be here. What do you have to feed us with tonight?”

“Lamb stew,” the landlady replied.

“Wonderful,” Gabrielle said.

“I will serve it immediately,” the woman said, and bustled out of the room.

“I thought you were Madame Rieux,” Leo said to Gabrielle. “Have you kept your own name for the circus?”

“Yes. Robichon is a well-known name in the areas we travel. Even when André was alive I was Mademoiselle Robichon in the circus.”

“Gabrielle is famous,” Albert said with pride. “Papa always said that of all the horsemen he had trained, she was the best.”

Leo raised an eyebrow. “That is quite a compliment.”

Gabrielle smiled modestly. “My father was prejudiced,” she said.

“That’s not true,” Mathieu put in. “She has my father’s touch.”

Leo remembered Gabrielle had said that also. “What do you mean by ‘touch’?” he asked curiously.

“She knows what a horse is thinking,” Mathieu said.

“Horses can’t really think,” Leo scoffed.

“Perhaps not, but they feel,” she insisted, “and they communicate what they are feeling through the reins. Unfortunately, few riders care to listen.”

Something about Gabrielle’s words and the certainty in her voice silenced Leo’s argument. He thought about her theory as he ate his lamb stew, confounded again by her unusual ways.

The conversation at the table had gone on without him, and when he turned his attention back they were talking about the brutal conscription that was going on in France.

“A soldier came to the farm over the winter,” Mathieu was saying. “Albert and I had to hide in the hayloft so he wouldn’t find us.”

“We had a scare, too,” Carlotta said. “Henri and Franz had to bribe the conscripting officer to get off.”

“Yes, it cost me a bundle,” Henri said. “The peasants don’t have the cash to hand over, though. Poor bastards. They’re pushed into the army and they don’t know the first thing about military matters.”

“Napoléon lost a huge number of men in Russia,” Leo said neutrally.

“Yes, and the rest of the army is tied up in Spain by the English,” Henri said. “It’s time Napoléon made a deal with the Allies and agreed to give back all his conquered territory and rule within the boundaries of France.”

“Do you think he would be content with that?” Leo asked curiously.

“No,” answered Emma flatly. “That man will never give up his territories. The Allies will have to beat him on the battlefield. He will never give up voluntarily.”

“Unfortunately, I think Emma is right,” Franz said.

“Do you think that France would be content for Napoléon to rule it?” Leo asked.

“If he ruled in peace, yes,” said Henri.

“After all, what’s the alternative?” Carlotta asked. “The return of the king? Did we go through all that we have gone through just to see the Bourbons back on the throne again?”

“I hope not!” Henri said.

Gabrielle spoke up. “If the king ruled with a parliament, like in England, that would be all right, Henri.”

“Perhaps,” Henri said grudgingly. “But the history of the Bourbons doesn’t suggest that they would be willing to do that.”

“I think the Revolution changed things in France forever,” Gabrielle said gravely. “No king will ever again have the power of Louis XVI.”

“Napoléon has that kind of power,” Henri pointed out.

“Napoléon is on his last legs,” Gabrielle insisted. “The English are beating him in the Iberian Peninsula, and if he is going to march against Germany again, it will be with an army of raw recruits. I think we are in the days of a dying regime.”

“I think so, too,” said Franz soberly.

Leo was careful not to contribute much in case he inadvertently gave away clues to his real identity. He looked down now at his empty plate. Madame Gare came out of the kitchen. “How are we doing, eh? Finished? I have apple tart for dessert.”

Gabrielle jumped up. “I’ll help you clear, Madame Gare.”

“Such a good girl,” the landlady beamed.

Emma also got up and quietly went to the next table and began to collect plates. The two other women in the company, Carlotta and Jeanne Maheu, a band member, remained in their seats.

After dessert was finished, Gabrielle went into the kitchen and came out carrying a large bag. “Supper for Cesar and Jean,” she said to Leo, referring to the two grooms who stayed behind to guard the horses. “I’ll take it out to them tonight. It’s the first night on the road for the horses and I want to make sure everything is all right.”

Leo said, “Will they remain with the horses all night?”

“Yes,” Gabrielle said. “Cesar has his two Alsatian dogs with him. They will sound an alarm if anyone tries to get near the horses.”

“Are Cesar and Jean armed?” Leo asked.

“Yes,” Gabrielle replied.

Leo nodded his approval.

“Shall I go with you, Gabrielle?” Luc asked.

Leo gave the equestrian a long, hard stare. “I will accompany my wife,” he said.

My wife. The words sounded so strange rolling off his lips.

Gabrielle patted Luc on his sleeve. “Thank you, anyway, Luc.”

Luc’s handsome face looked grim.

“Come along, Leo,” Gabrielle said, and without even glancing at him, she began to walk toward the door leaving him, along with her dog, to follow.

This has got to stop, Leo thought. I am not her servant! He wondered if she had treated André this way. I pity the poor bastard if she did.

Leo drove out to the field while Gabrielle held the food on her lap. Colette lay sprawled across her feet for the twenty-minute drive. Leo was silent and Gabrielle made no attempt to engage him in conversation. When they arrived they were greeted by two large black Alsatian dogs, which barked excitedly.

“Yes, yes,” Gabrielle soothed them. “I am bringing your dinner, too.”

Cesar approached them.

“Is everything quiet?” Gabrielle asked.

“Yes. The horses are all tired from the day’s journey. No one has acted up.”

“Good. I have lamb stew for you and Jean and the dogs.”