Chapter 26

When Aunt Eloise saw Sidonie’s bruised face and blackened eye, she wanted to go to the gendarmes. When she saw the condition of Fabien, she said she would go into the forest herself, with a sword.

‘He did not intend us harm,’ Sidonie explained, wincing at the pain in her eye. ‘He thought he was protecting Léo.’

‘How can you say that?’ Fabien admonished. ‘The man’s a monster!’

On the ride home, she had had plenty of time to think about the feel of Gilles’s hand on her face, the sound of his furious voice and the sickening crash when Fabien hit the floor.

‘He’s no monster,’ Sidonie pleaded, for she had seen the panic in the giant man’s eyes – like a wolf defending its young. ‘He’s a man. His mind is not as it should be. He’s formed a bond with Léo. Aunt Eloise, you should have seen him. He only fought as he did to protect the boy.’

‘Monster or man, we have to get Léo back!’ Fabien insisted. ‘We can’t leave him there.’

‘I’ll send for Capitaine Vasseur at once,’ Aunt Eloise said.

‘No!’ Sidonie thought of the men who had already been to the hermitage, who might still return. To send the gendarmes would only invite more violence. She could not risk the safety of Léo or Apolline, let alone that of the gendarmes themselves. ‘Apolline told me that her husband will soon be leaving. He will be gone for several months.’

‘Will he take Léo with him?’ Fabien asked.

‘I cannot say,’ Sidonie said. ‘I don’t believe so. Apolline said she would find a way to send Léo back to us. I trust her.’

‘I don’t,’ Fabien said. ‘And I don’t know why you do. What’s she to you, anyway?’

Sidonie found it hard to put into words. She’d never had a friend or a sister. All she knew was that what she felt was real . It was alive. It was a pull from her heart. When she was with Apolline, she felt grounded and settled in a way she had not felt in a long time. The why of it she could not explain. She knew only that what she felt was honest and true.

‘I trust her,’ Sidonie repeated.

‘Let us pray your trust is not misplaced. Your Apolline has one day to make good on her word,’ Aunt Eloise said. ‘If Léo isn’t returned to us by dawn tomorrow, I’ll rouse the entire conciergerie if I must. Sidonie, you understand that it’s not your life that could be at risk here?’

Sidonie swallowed. ‘I do.’

Sidonie awoke to a rattling at her window. Dawn had not yet broken, and her room was bathed in shades of grey. No light came from the hearth, which was little more than glowing coals. Throwing back the bed coverings and picking her way carefully to the window, she drew apart the curtains and looked down. She saw Apolline holding a handful of pebbles. The woman gestured for her to come to her.

Sidonie quickly threw a warm woollen wrap over the top of her chemise and donned a pair of slippers. She did not tarry to pin her hair, so it hung in a long braid down her back.

The pre-dawn air was sharp as she stepped outside, cold enough to sting her lips and nip the tip of her nose. It held a heaviness, a promise that snow would fall soon.

Apolline stood under a small pine tree just within sight of the house, its dark trunk and branches twisted and its deep-green leaves – the same shade as her eyes – swaying gently in the breeze.

‘What is wrong? Why are you here so early?’ Sidonie asked.

Apolline assessed her face, taking in the split skin above her eyebrow and the purple and black bruising around her eye. ‘You should wash your eye in colewort. I’ll bring you some.’

Sidonie touched her eye. ‘Thank you. But that’s not why you came. Why are you here? Why didn’t you come to the door? Did something happen to Léo?’

Apolline furrowed her brow and pulled her cloak in more tightly. ‘Something is wrong. I feel it in my bones, although I have no cause for it. While I was holding Gilles back – giving you and Fabien time to flee – Léo ran off. I didn’t notice, not until Gilles had calmed. Seeing the boy gone set him off again. He was in such a rage that I just let him go. He’s a good tracker, the best. I thought he’d find Léo and bring him home—’

‘But they did not return,’ Sidonie finished.

‘I searched the forest all night, but I couldn’t find either of them.’

The air suddenly felt even cooler and Sidonie pulled her arms in tight. ‘You said he would never hurt Léo.’

‘He wouldn’t, I’m certain of it. He’d sooner die than harm that boy, or any child. But the forest holds dangers of its own. There are wolves about, as well as poachers, and mobs hunting that werewolf, most likely. I know I’m asking a lot after what he did to you, but I have no one else to ask.’ Apolline turned her head away as if the act of asking for help pained her. ‘You said if I needed anything, I should come to you. Well, I need help, so here I am.’

She didn’t relish the thought of seeing Gilles again. Not when she still wore the marks from their previous confrontation. But Léo was innocent in all of this. He could be hurt – or worse. And Apolline was desperately worried, she could see it. That alone was enough to send a bolt of panic through her, stirring her to immediate action.

‘I’ll come.’

She raced back to her room to dress.

Sidonie and Apolline returned to the hermitage to better track Gilles and Léo from the place where they had last been seen. They walked from the estate as Sidonie didn’t want to risk waking Fabien by saddling Kelpie. By the time they arrived at the cottage, the sun had fully risen and the layer of frost that had gently settled on the trees and bushes had begun to melt. They didn’t have much time. Before leaving the estate, Sidonie had quickly penned a note to Aunt Eloise and left it on her pillow so as not to worry her. Although once she knew that Léo was no longer at the hermitage, her aunt would summon the gendarmes with all haste. She had thought of keeping this information from Apolline, but it did not seem fair. They were both in a race against time.

‘Every time I try to follow them, I go in circles and find myself back here again,’ Apolline said. ‘I’m hoping you might see something I missed.’

Sidonie looked at the cottage, imagining she could hear Gilles within. His shouting, his rage when they’d tried to take Léo away. She shivered and pulled her cloak close around her shoulders. She had never tracked anything or anyone before, so she doubted she could offer any real help. Especially when she did not wish to confront Gilles again. It was easy enough to track his passage out of the clearing, though. Apolline led the way into the forest, with Sidonie hurrying to match her pace and struggling to get her bearings while the other woman confidently pointed out the distinct trail of broken branches and heavy boot impressions. But it wasn’t long before Apolline slowed, her voice becoming less confident, until she finally stopped.

‘This is where I lost them. I followed that path.’ She pointed north at what, to Sidonie’s untrained eyes, looked like a deer path. ‘It led me back to the cottage. We should try this other way.’

The alternative path headed east. Sidonie could see no discernible difference between the two, so she simply nodded. After a short distance, Apolline came to a sudden stop by the rough trunk of a pine tree. A branch was broken, which was nothing unusual based on what they had seen so far, except this time there was something marring the pale splintered wood.

‘What is it?’ Sidonie asked.

‘Blood,’ Apolline said, plucking something from the branch and rubbing it between her fingers. ‘And fur.’

Sidonie could not help the thoughts that washed over her. Thoughts of broken skin, the dying girl, her brother holding her hand, Léo with shadows across his eyes. The werewolf.

‘We have to hurry,’ Apolline said.

She broke into a run. Where before Apolline had been directionless, now she seemed to know exactly where she was going. Sidonie tried to keep up but found herself falling further and further behind. The trees began to thin as they neared the edge of the forest. Apolline’s dress disappeared between two trunks, and Sidonie hurried to keep her in sight.

Apolline had stopped a few yards from the edge of the forest. She gazed across the expanse of grass that seemed too green for the season, beneath a blue sky that held no trace of warmth. Only a few yards away was a pear tree, now devoid of its fruit. A hunched, strange figure sat beneath the tree. Streaks of blood covered his exposed arms and his face. His trousers were torn, exposing bloodied flesh beneath.

It was a horror.

It was Gilles Garnier.

Sidonie recoiled, but Apolline moved forward. He held a body in his arms. A body that hung limp, like a doll made from rags.

‘No!’ Gilles cried. ‘Broken, broken boy. I’ll fix him. Put him back together. Make him whole,’ he said, pulling at Léo’s limp arms and legs.

Apolline approached him and his eyes fixed on her. At first they were blank and uncomprehending, and then, once understanding dawned, he began to sob.

‘Apolline? The boy, the boy is broken. You can help? You can fix the boy?’

‘Gilles,’ Apolline said, her voice choked, thick with unshed tears. She placed a hand on his arm. ‘Put the boy down. We have to go. We have to leave here now.’

The man held Léo even tighter, cradling him to his chest. ‘No. Fix him. Please, Apolline?’

In the distance, not far beyond the pear tree, Sidonie could see a group of men crossing the grassy field. Her breath caught in her throat when she noticed what they carried in their hands. The benign farming equipment took on a new meaning when accompanied by pistols and long knives. She prayed they would not see Gilles. Prayed they would not come closer. Prayed harder than she ever had in her life.

One of the men raised his hand.

‘Apolline!’ Sidonie shouted. ‘Someone’s coming!’

‘Hie!’ the man called. ‘What goes there?’

‘Apolline!’ She dared not come any closer, dared not leave the tree line. ‘You have to go, or they’ll take you too.’

Apolline looked like a deer trapped between two hunters. Her eyes met Sidonie’s and for one horrible moment, Sidonie thought she would stay. She wrapped her arms around her body, holding herself tight.

‘I’m sorry,’ Apolline said, letting Gilles’s arm fall. Glancing over her shoulder at Sidonie, she ran back into the forest and disappeared amongst the trees.

‘What’s going on here?’ One of the men approached Gilles, a pitchfork clutched in his hand. ‘That’s a boy he’s holding. He’s killed him! Men, he’s killed him. It’s the werewolf! Stay back!’

The men began to circle Gilles from a distance, brandishing hoes, pickaxes and pistols, but he took no notice of them. He continued rocking Léo’s lifeless body back and forth in his arms, keening as he did so.

‘He’s calling to other wolves. Stop him!’

‘No,’ Sidonie cried, stepping forward and revealing herself. ‘He’s grieving! Can’t you see his pain?’ But other than a few strange looks in her direction, the men paid her no heed. They could see nothing other than a beast. And they would be the ones to bring him in.

One of the men began to count to three. On two, they raised their weapons.

Gilles turned to the man nearest him. His voice was full of pain, misery and sorrow. ‘Help me?’

On three, they attacked.

Sidonie screamed.