“At the executions. But he’ll know that I’ve run home to warn you. We can’t lose any time; we must go at once.”
“Sophie.” André put a hand to her arm.
“What? Why are you just standing there? Fetch your things; we must go!” Sensing something in his immobility, she ceased her packing and turned to him. “What is it?”
“Sophie, you must go.”
“And you as well.”
“No.”
“What is it? Gather your things; we must leave at once!”
André shook his head. “He expects me to run. He wants me to run. He hopes to chase me.”
Now she stopped, a frown tightening her features. “What?”
“Of course he knows you will warn me. He expects us to flee together. I won’t allow him to chase us down, as if we were animals to be hunted for sport.”
“But we can’t stay here. We can’t just give in.”
“It’s me he wants, Sophie. I must stay back. That will give you time to escape.”
“That’s madness. Of course I’m not going to leave without—”
“Sophie, I want you to get out.”
“But I’m not leaving without you.”
“I’ll meet you,” André said.
But she looked at him, unbelieving. “I couldn’t get out even if I wanted. I don’t have papers to pass the barriers.”
André had an idea. “Remy will take you. In a military baggage train. Anything. We’ll find a way to hide you and get you past the wall.”
“Why can’t you take me?” Sophie clung to him now, her hands trembling in his.
“If I take you, your uncle will hunt us both. He’d accuse me of desertion and he would be correct in doing so. No, our best chance is for you to get out while you still can.”
—
They wove through the crowds on the island. Even though he had been dead for a day, the ghost of Kellermann lingered over Paris, and the men and women seethed now as various factions began to face off in the streets. Crossing the bridge at a run, André and Sophie arrived at Remy’s rooms on the Left Bank and found him sitting alone. His hair was disheveled and his eyes were drawn from lack of sleep, or tears. Probably both.
“What happened to your hand?” André asked, when he hugged his brother and noticed a bruise. But then he saw the hole in the wall of the room. “Never mind,” André said. “Remy, thank God you are here.”
“Why? What’s happened? You two look like hell.”
André’s chest ached from the run across town. “Remy, can you clear the barrier tonight?”
“Tonight?” Remy thought about this, his brow creasing. “Well, I don’t have the papers to do it on my own. But I suppose I could make up some reason, try my luck, if I needed to. Why?”
“You must take Sophie out of the city.” André’s voice left no room for Remy’s typical humor. The younger brother looked from André to Sophie.
“Why?” Remy’s entire frame went stiff, his facial features locking into stern focus. “What’s happened?”
They acquainted Remy with the events of the past hour, and their decision that André stay back to give Sophie a chance to shake off her uncle.
“Can you hide her in one of the artillery wagons?”
“I’ve heard of it being done, to be sure.” Remy leaned on his desk, folding his arms before his chest. “I’ve never tried.” Snapping his fingers, he looked up, determination lighting his features. “But you know, now that you mention it, I imagine the federal guard units garrisoned out at Versailles might need a resupply of powder. My division is responsible for getting it to them from the city. I’ll need to load up one of our transport carts and move it this very night. You’re a captain.” Remy’s face broke out in a wry smile. “I’ll write up the orders; you can sign them.”
“LaSalle will sign it; within a few hours Murat will have my name on a watch list for arrest. I’m in trouble,” André said, resting a hand on his brother’s shoulder.
Remy noticed the pleading looks coming from his brother and Sophie, finally grasping the true urgency that drove them. “Dear God, brother, what have you done?” Remy looked at Sophie, then back toward his brother. “Never mind that. We’ll go right now.”
André nodded. “Where are these carts?”
“The carts are loaded with the stores from the Montgolfier factory and taken out via the western gate.”
“I had better get back to the apartment,” André said. “When he comes, I should be there. Otherwise he’ll guess that we’ve both fled, and he’ll race you to the barrier.”