Jeff Higgins interrupted. His voice was urgent. "Mike-it's starting." Jeff's finger was pointing to the left.
Mike followed the finger. Hoffman's Protestant mercenaries, seeing the complete and unexpected destruction of their seemingly triumphant opponent, were rallying. Mike could see Ernst Hoffman himself, astride his horse, waving his saber. The mercenary captain pointed the sword to the north. Onward.
Mike did not bother to squint into that distance. He knew what Hoffman was pointing to. The Catholic camp, now unprotected and ripe for the picking. Hoffman's mercenaries hadn't been worth a damn in a fight, but Mike didn't doubt for a moment that they would prove to be experts at plunder, pillage and rapine.
Mackay and Lennox had predicted this scenario, in the event the Americans won. Mike had shaped his plans accordingly.
The battle was won, but the fight wasn't over. He intended to liberate Badenburg. From all its enemies.
"Okay, Jeff," he said. "You and your buddies get over there. Right now. If you can, warn off Hoffman's men. But they probably won't listen to you, and I don't want you taking any chances. Don't do anything else until the reinforcements arrive."
As he straddled his bike, Jeff nodded. His three friends were already peeling off, their engines racketing.
Mike shouted after the rapidly receding boys: "Remember, dammit-wait!"
"Fat chance," muttered Frank. "You're looking at four knights in shining armor. Fucking D D paladins, no less."
Mike turned to him, grinning. "Well, then, let's back 'em up. Call out the armor."
Chapter 17
Gretchen knew the battle was lost as soon as she heard the machine gun start to fire. She had no idea what could be making that bizarre staccato sound, but it was nothing produced by Tilly's thugs. At the age of twenty, Gretchen had already learned life's basic lesson. Expect the worst.
She felt a moment's fear and anguish for her brother. Hans, poor little Hans, was somewhere up there. Near the very front he would be, too, since Ludwig's men were considered part of the "elite," as mercenaries gauged such things.
But Gretchen thrust that concern aside. There was nothing she could do for Hans, and she had other members of her family to protect. Quickly, she scanned the area, looking for a place to hide. The enemy would be here soon, rampaging in their victory.
Her first thought was for the woods, perhaps a mile distant.
Too far. Gretchen herself would be able to make it, before the beasts arrived. Annalise, too, perhaps. But they would have to abandon most of the family. Gramma, the children, the baby, the older girl with her bad leg, the new girl with her vacant mind…
No. What else?
They had pitched camp near a half-burned farmhouse. Gretchen had inspected it the evening before, as a possible sleeping quarters. She had chosen the open ground, instead. The farmhouse had been long abandoned, and she did not trust the condition of the half-collapsed ceiling.
No. The monsters will look there first. What else?
Her eyes fell on a small structure, dismissed it without thought, moved on. Stopped. Came back.
Her mind shrank in her skull, like a mouse huddling in a hole. A spike of horror ran down her spine.
Still…
Long abandoned. Maybe…
She strode over to the outhouse. The thin walls were rickety. Several planks had fallen away. The door hung loose on leather hinges. She pried the door aside and peered in.
She checked the smell, first. Not so bad. Not used in some time.
Then, the seat. It was just as described by one of the other girls in the family, the evening before when Gretchen had sent her to investigate. The wood, with the carved hole in the center, was half-rotted away. That was why they had not used the structure. Someone might fall in.
Gretchen almost tittered a laugh. Might fall in!
Horror and nausea steeled her will. She seized the plank and heaved it up. Looked down. Sighed with relief.
Almost empty. Drained away, the most of it. The stench is horrible, but there would be enough air now.
The hole was dark, but not so dark that Gretchen couldn't see the spiders perched here and there on the walls. She recognized one of them as dangerously venomous.
There are worse things than spiders. Much worse.
Her decision made, Gretchen turned away and stuck her head out the door. A moment later she was shouting orders. The family was confused, but they obeyed instantly. Within seconds, they were clustering around the outhouse, hauling the family's possessions.
As they were handed to her, Gretchen shoved the family's tattered bedding into the hole. It would provide some protection for bare feet. For a while, anyway.
That done, she made her triage. She thought there would be room for the girls old enough to be in danger. She started with her sister Annalise, taking Wilhelm from Gramma's arms and thrusting him into her younger sister's arms.
"Take him and hide in the latrine. Now!"
Annalise turned pale. But Gretchen's scowl was not to be argued with, and she obeyed from long habit. In less than ten seconds, she was being lowered into the pit by her strong older sister. Then, reaching up her hands, she took the baby handed down to her.
She flinched from a spider, whimpering.
"Be still!" hissed Gretchen. "They won't bother you if you don't move. And don't breathe deeply."
Annalise was very pale now, obviously fighting to control her stomach. The stench was truly horrendous. But Gretchen did no more than hold her breath. She was too concerned with gauging the size of the pit to worry about anything else.
Big enough for three more, she decided. Turning away, she called out for Elisabet and Mathilde, the two girls in the group of the same age as Annalise. They squealed and shrieked but, again, Gretchen's will was not to be thwarted.
Who else?
Her eyes fell on the young farm girl who had recently been forced into the camp. The girl was not pretty, not in the least. Her face was so plain it was almost ugly, and her figure was like a sack of potatoes. But she was young-not more than sixteen-and that would be enough.
Gretchen gauged the girl, for a moment. The dazed, half-vacant look on her face convinced her. She will not survive another one. Not her mind, at least. Not this soon.
"Get in," she ordered, pointing into the latrine. The girl stared at her, uncomprehending. "Get in," Gretchen repeated. She extended her hand.
The girl finally understood. Her mouth dropped open.
"Get in." Gretchen's voice was iron with command. "It's just filth, woman. Nasty, but it won't kill you."
The girl was still gaping. "Idiot!" hissed Gretchen. "It's the only place they won't look for women."
Comprehension came, and with it terror. Trembling, the girl came into the outhouse. Her legs were barely holding her up. Gretchen was a big woman, and very strong. She took the girl under the armpits, picked her up, and lowered her into the mess. Soon enough, the task was done.
Gretchen nodded with satisfaction. "If anyone starts to raise the lid," she commanded the four girls, "lower your heads and press against the sides, as far out of sight as possible. Never mind the spiders."
To Annalise: "And make sure you cover the baby's mouth if he starts to cry or scream."
Annalise's eyes were wide. "What if…?" She took a little breath through pinched nostrils. "I can't cover his face for very long. He'll suffocate."
Gretchen shook her head. "If they open the lid, it won't be for more than a second or two. Not as stinky as that is. As for the other-"
Gretchen's face was blank. "There will be so much noise up here that no one will hear a baby."