Soldier of Fortune (30 page)

While
darkness made it easier for Daniel Rawson to hide, it also intensified the
hunt. More people were involved in the search and the Bavarians had been joined
by French soldiers. Carrying torches, they went down every road, street and
alleyway, banging on doors, storming into taverns and respecting nobody's
privacy. Even the brothels were invaded and inspected. It took all of Daniel's
speed and agility to keep ahead of the pack. When he was not diving into dark
corners or lying flat behind a water trough, he was taking evasive action of
another kind. At one point, with soldiers approaching him from both ends of a
street, his only means of escape was to climb up the side of a house and
spread-eagle himself on the roof.

It
turned out to be his salvation. When the soldiers had finally marched past and
the acrid smell of their torches had been dissipated by the cool night air,
Daniel was able to take a cautious look across the city. Blazing light told him
that he was surrounded by search parties but they all seemed to be moving away
from him. The street below was deserted. Before he could climb down, however,
he heard the clatter of hooves and saw a rider coming out of the gloom. Daniel
obeyed instinct. As the soldier arrived below him, he hurled himself down the
roof and landed on the man's back, knocking him from the saddle and staying on
top of him as they dropped to the ground.

The
soldier was stunned by force of the impact. Though he tried to defend himself,
he was no match for Daniel, who pinned him down and got both hands to his neck.
Life was slowly squeezed out of the man and he went limp. It was only when he
had throttled him that Daniel realised he had killed a French soldier. Of equal
importance was the fact that he had just acquired a horse. Startled by the
attack, the animal had been too well-trained to bolt and had simply trotted a
little way along the street. Daniel soon retrieved it. When he had tethered the
horse, he dragged the corpse into a lane and began to strip it of the uniform.
He was glad to possess a sword once more.

He
could have wished for a bigger man but he took what he had with gratitude.
Shedding his own rough garb, he put on the coat, hat and breeches of a soldier
in a French cavalry regiment, using the sacking to cover part of the dead body.
As he mounted the horse, he realised how tight the uniform was on him but
nobody would observe sartorial deficiencies in the dark. Anxious to be out of
the city before the dead body was discovered, Daniel headed for the main gate.
By the light of the torches, he saw to his relief that Bavarians were on guard
duty. Talking his way past French soldiers, while wearing an ill-fitting
uniform, might have posed more problems.

Digging
in his heels, he cantered along the road to give a sense of urgency then drew
the horse in a semi-circle as he came to a halt.

'Open
the gates!' he said, speaking in German.

'Why?'
asked one of the guards.

'I
have despatches for Versailles and must leave post haste.'

'Show
us your pass.'

'I'm
acting on the authority of General Salignac,' said Daniel impatiently. 'If you
insist on holding me up, you'll answer to him.' The guards hesitated. 'Very
well,' he went on, turning his horse, 'I'll fetch the general in person and
he'll have you all flogged.'

'Wait!'
called the guard.

'You
are obstructing a royal courier.'

'I
am sorry, my friend. We were told to stop everyone. There's a fugitive in the
city and nobody must be allowed to leave.'

'The
fellow has been caught,' said Daniel. 'When you Bavarians failed to capture
him, some sharp-eyed French carabiniers tracked him down. I saw the man being
dragged off to General Salignac. Well?' he challenged. 'Do you want to suffer
the same fate as the fugitive?'

'Open
the gate,' said the guard and two men rushed to obey. 'I owe you an apology, my
friend. Take your despatches to Versailles.'

'I
will,' said Daniel. 'I bid you all good night!'

Without
waiting to hear their farewells, he kicked his horse and went swiftly out
through the half-open gate. The city of Augsburg remained full of noise and
intrusion as the search continued but the fugitive was never found. Daniel
Rawson was riding hell for leather through the night.

Having
crossed the Danube, the Confederate army established a camp from which it could
range into the whole of Bavaria. British soldiers were now further away from
home than they had ever been during the war and one of them in particular found
it irksome. Henry Welbeck had been drilling his men under the watchful eye of
Charles, Lord Churchill. When it was all over, the sergeant sought information.

'How
much farther do we have to go, my lord?' asked Henry Welbeck, his face a study
in displeasure. 'We've been marching for months now.'

'We
may have to continue for a few months more yet,' replied Churchill. 'This is a
long campaign, Sergeant. It will be autumn before we can think of returning to
England.'

'Some
will never return.'

'That's
true, alas. Our losses have been severe and the one prediction we can make is
that several other names will be added to the list before we're done.'

'At
least,
she
won't be there to see it happen.'

'Who?'

'Miss
Abigail Piper,' said Welbeck. 'The young lady is on her way back home and I,
for one, was glad to see her go.'

'I
suspect that most of us were,' said Churchill evenly. 'Miss Piper was a
charming addition to the camp but an army on the march has no need of such
charm and beauty. Most of us would prefer to meet someone like Miss Piper at a
ball in London.'

'Not
me, my lord.'

'Are
you not a dancing man, Sergeant?'

'Only
when I have to dodge the enemy's fire,' said Welbeck. 'I can dance like a
dervish then. As for female company, I shun it in and outside the army. It
always leads to mishap.'

'That's
not true at all.'

'I
speak as I find, my lord.'

'Then
you have clearly never found the right woman to grace your life. I daresay that
you have never even looked for one but most of our troops have been fortunate
in that regard. Marriage can be a great comfort, even when you are apart from
your wife.'

'I
get my comfort from staying apart from
all
women.'

Churchill
laughed. 'Then you are a real oddity.'

'I've
seen the harm they can bring,' said Welbeck soulfully. 'Take that Miss Piper,
my lord. She caused a real stir when she first arrived in camp. There was crude
gossip about her among my men and the flash of her skirt will have brought out
the jokers in other regiments as well. Worst of all, she distracted Captain
Rawson.'

'Yes,'
said Churchill sorrowfully. 'That was a bad business.'

'I
rode with him when the young lady was held hostage. I felt as if I was taking
him to the scaffold. It's not right, my lord.'

'Captain
Rawson is a brave man. He saved her life.'

'And
lost his own in return,' snapped Welbeck, letting his anger show. 'I'm sorry,
my lord,' he continued, speaking more calmly, 'but I held the captain in the
highest respect. If there's fighting ahead, he's the sort of officer we need
most.'

'I
couldn't agree more,' said Churchill, 'but all may not be lost. I refuse to
believe that Daniel Rawson is dead until I have clear proof of the fact. He's
had amazing escapes before. Who knows? He may yet have survived this latest
crisis.'

Lips
pursed, Welbeck shook his head. 'He's gone, sir. Not even Captain Rawson will
come through this,' he decided. 'He surrendered to a man who'd already tried to
kill him twice - and he did so in order to save a silly young woman. That's not
bravery, my lord, it's sheer bloody madness.'

Daniel
Rawson did not slow down until he was well clear of Augsburg. If the dead
soldier was discovered, and if it transpired that someone had left by the main
gate in a uniform taken from the corpse, there would definitely be a chase.
Daniel was still deep behind enemy lines and he could not afford to relax. At
the same time, he could not over-tax his horse by pushing him too hard.
Stopping at the first village, he went into a tavern to take directions from
the landlord, knowing that he would be leaving a clue for any pursuit but
needing to ensure that he was on the right road. Once out of the village, he
proceeded due north at a steady canter.

Daniel
still had the best part of twenty miles to go through the Bavarian countryside.
Rain began to fall and he was soon drenched. His uniform felt tighter than
ever, pinching him under his arms and climbing a couple of inches above his
wrist. Yet he dared not discard it in case he met an enemy patrol. It was well
past midnight when he reached the next village and it was in total darkness.
Skirting the houses, he rejoined the road on the other side of the little
community. An hour later, when the rain had stopped, he felt able to stop in
order to rest his horse and allow the animal to drink from a stream and crop
some grass. Slipping off his hat and coat, Daniel scooped up handfuls of water
to wipe the dirt from his face.

It
was only now that he was free at last that he realised how weary he was. From
the moment when he had been taken captive, he had not had a wink of sleep and
had been in a state of continuous tension. Daniel had to fight to stay awake.
Looking to the future, he hoped that Abigail Piper would have departed from the
camp. Though he had rescued her from the clutches of her captors, he did not
relish the prospect of being showered with her apologies and overwhelmed by her
gratitude. Daniel yearned for a long passage of time before he and Abigail ever
met again.

In
spite of his efforts to keep his eyes open, he eventually dozed off for a
while, waking with a start and scolding himself for falling asleep. He put on
his hat and coat again and untied his horse. Resuming his ride, he kept to the
road as it meandered through a thick forest before straightening when it met
open country. A first finger of light pointed to the approach of dawn. Daniel
found the silence comforting and, after a period of captivity in a boisterous
city, the sense of being completely alone was a positive tonic.

It
did not last long. From somewhere ahead of him came the sound of many hooves
clacking on the surface of the road. Daniel turned his own mount off the track
and hid behind a stand of trees nearby. Minutes later, a troop of cavalry went
past in the direction of Augsburg. He could not see the colour of their
uniforms but they were clearly going to reinforce the garrison. Daniel's
immediate fear was that, on the way, they might meet riders pursuing the
fugitive and join in the chase. It made him urge his horse into a gallop.

The
blanket of darkness gradually lifted to reveal a beautiful landscape that
Daniel had no time to enjoy. Intent on putting as much distance as possible
between himself and any pursuit, he pressed on until he reached a range of
hills. The peak of the first hill commanded a view that stretched back for
miles. Nobody was following him and he was, in any case, well over halfway to
his destination. Daniel allowed himself and his horse a longer rest this time
before pressing on. His dash for freedom had succeeded and he could maintain a
less frantic pace from now on. He was even able to notice the rural splendour
of his surroundings. Arriving at a hamlet, he chose to ride straight through
it, wondering what the inhabitants would make of a French trooper in a uniform
that was visibly too small for him.

The
miles rolled steadily by. When he stopped to speak to a farmer, he was offered
food and drink in return for news of what was happening in the war. His horse
appreciated a mouthful of hay and the chance to dip his nose in the water
trough. Donauworth was now less than five miles away and he guessed that the
camp would be even closer than that by now. Daniel continued on his way until
he came to a wooded rise that looked tranquil in the sunshine. It was an
illusion. Almost as soon as he entered the trees, a shot was fired and his
horse buckled underneath him.

Daniel's
reactions were swift. Jerking his feet from the stirrups, he rolled clear of
the animal as it hit the ground with a thud and neighed in distress. He then
darted for the nearest cover, pulling out his sword as he did so. He could hear
muffled voices approaching. Seeing some large bushes behind him, he plunged
deeper into the undergrowth and hid behind them, straining his ears for
telltale sounds. The snap of bracken warned him that someone was close and the
first thing that came into view was a musket. With one swish of the sword,
Daniel knocked it to the ground, jumping out to confront the soldier who had
been holding it, only to find that he was face to face with a corporal from his
own regiment.

'What
the devil are you doing, Reynolds?' he demanded.

The
corporal blinked. 'Is that
you
, Captain Rawson?'

'Of
course, it is, man!'

'We
took you for a French soldier, sir.'

'Then
you should have tried to capture me. All you've done is to lose us a valuable
cavalry horse.' Sheathing his word, Daniel picked up the musket. 'Listen to the
poor animal. Let's put him out of his misery - and call off the others.'

'Hold
your fire!' yelled the corporal. 'It's Captain Rawson!'

Daniel
went back to the road where the horse was still convulsed in pain. The musket
ball had shattered a hind leg and it was unable to stand. Its head was flailing
about and its eyes rolling fearfully. Daniel put the musket to its head and
fired the ball into its brain. After quivering violently for a few moments, it
lay dead. The other members of the foraging party came out of the trees to
stare in wonder at their captain. The corporal spoke for all of them.

'Why
are you dressed like that, sir?' he asked.