I Am Louis XIV

The priest immediately pricked up his ears and listened. The movement of his hand did not stop, but changed from taking it out to putting it back. Barr also stood up and unholstered his gun silently. The priest shook his head at him and pointed to the stairs leading to the second floor.

After seeing that Bal was hidden, the priest went to open the door. There was no moonlight outside the door, the starlight was dim, and he could hardly see his hands and fingers. However, he lit the lamp in the small hall and cast a golden-red light on the person who knocked on the door - - Even though part of it was obscured by the priest's huge body, he immediately recognized that the person was the sister-in-law of his cousin's daughter - this town is really too small, almost everyone has connections, this child I even received his blessing.

But for a few seconds, the priest almost screamed, because although the visitor could still recognize his original appearance, he looked like a ghoul who had just climbed out of the grave, with a yellow complexion - yes The kind with grayish yellow inside, disheveled hair, covered in mud, and so on! As a half-pirate, the priest smelled the smell of blood coming from her body. So, those dripping things were not water, but blood?

"Eva?" The priest's hand behind his back grabbed the dagger.

"It's me, my lord, help me," said the woman named Eva, and then she fell down in front of the priest.

The priest jumped up with a speed totally out of proportion to his fat body, crossed Eva's body, craned his neck (if he had one) and looked towards the silent street - he lived in the chapel, although the town Although small, this chapel still complied with the doctrinal requirements. Not only was it built tall and large, strong and beautiful, it was located on the edge of the square, and it was also some distance away from any house in the town. Eva and he did not create any big problems. There was no movement, but no one was alarmed.

He stood at the door and waited for a while before dragging Eva back to the chapel. By this time, Barr had also come out. Under the disapproving gaze of the priest, he lifted the woman's head, and the priest had to lift the woman's feet. , put her on the carpet in the inner room instead of continuing to lie on the cold stone floor. To be honest, fortunately with the help of Barr, a person who completely fainted was as heavy as a corpse. The priest had not done this for a long time. It's hard work.

Then, as if they had a tacit understanding, the priest took a bunch of dry sponges (the kind that are taken out of the sea and dried in the sun), carried a bucket of water, and swept Eva along the way she came. After he came back, there were still bright water ripples in the barrel, but Barr, who was used to seeing his father and brother doing this kind of thing, could tell at a glance that he had just refilled the water from the well in the square-when they were still pirates, Some people have made this mistake - in the era when there was no running water, most people would store a little water at home for people who got up in the morning. When soldiers searched the village, a shrewd guy would check the bucket. If the bucket was empty , it is very likely that it was used to clean wounds or remove traces left by injured people.

The priest returned the bucket to its original position, and the chapel had been wiped clean by Barr. The fire in the fireplace was rekindled, and the contents inside were still crackling - the dry sponge used to wipe the wounds, stained Bloody clothes, etc. Eva was lying face down on the floor, and a wound could now be seen extending from her left shoulder to her right chest.

Barr and the priest looked at each other. This kind of wound was very familiar to them. They seemed to have seen someone who might be slightly taller than Eva. They raised a short sword or a long knife towards her and wanted to cut her. He broke her neck, but I don't know whether it was his weakness or Eva's caution in avoiding it. No, it was probably her sudden avoidance and retreat at that moment that prevented the wound from being fatal.

This smart girl was covered in mud, not just because she panicked when escaping, she also made some wet mud and applied it to the wound to stop the bleeding, otherwise, but if she ran from the place known by the priest Come, this journey is enough to drain the blood from her body.

The priest lit a candle and leaned over to look at the wound. The wound no longer looked so hideous. After a simple wipe, it was sprinkled with medicinal powder. The priest clicked his tongue and said, "Nothing else. This is the king's medicine. When it was first created, it spread very quickly among pirates who relied on irregular trading to survive. He also resold this kind of medicine." The medicine in the small brown bottle, for a while, cost the same as the same volume of gems, but now the price is no longer so scary, but it is also the same as the same volume of gold.

But as long as there are sellers, there will always be buyers. This is not a medicine, it is a life.

As soon as his nephew took action, the "gold" he used could be used to gild his statue of the Virgin Mary. The priest smacked his lips regretfully while watching Barr take out another small bottle of potion. It might be more precious than the previous powder, and it also had a rubber dropper on it. He opened Eva's lips, put only a drop in, and put it away.

This potion had an immediate effect, and Eva woke up immediately. The fear from before was still in her eyes, especially when she saw Barr, but the priest immediately squeezed over, and she immediately felt at ease, "Who is it?" ?” The priest simply asked: “What happened?”

"My husband, my husband... uncle..." Eva said softly and urgently, and even wanted to sit up and hold the priest's hand, but she was seriously injured and weak, and the more anxious she wanted to say, What, the harder she couldn't say it, the more her face became distorted.

Then at this moment, someone knocked on the door again.

The priest immediately stopped all his movements. He looked at Eva. Eva's eyes burst out with extreme hatred and panic. He understood. He gestured to Barr to the "old place" and shouted vaguely. One sound, indicating that he heard it, and then he deliberately stepped on heavy footsteps, and continued to yawn, as if he had just climbed out of bed.

He walked for a while before reaching the door, and it took several minutes to open the latch. As soon as the door opened, the people outside rushed in impatiently. One person even wanted to push the priest, but the priest was Who? In addition to weighing about three hundred pounds, he was also a good hand on the ship when he was young. He had to walk freely on the shaking deck, sit, lie down and stand without a pair of legs and feet that looked like nails.

So not only did the man fail to push the priest down, but he almost fell to the ground due to the reaction force, if his companion hadn't caught him in time.

He failed to intimidate the priests in the chapel, but made a fool of himself. The leader's face turned ugly. The priest held up the candle, "Oh," he said, "It's you, Jack."

The priest recognized this man. He was Eva's husband. But he was not a Frenchman, but an Englishman, which is not surprising. Before Dunkirk was sold to Louis XIV, it was an English city, both here and in nearby towns. British people, they occasionally married French people. But this British man is different because he is a British soldier stranded in Dunkirk.

Speaking of which, this group of people is pitiful and ridiculous - they once belonged to Cromwell, the Lord Protector who was only one step away from the British throne. After Cromwell's death, Charles II was unwilling to redeem them. They were also unwilling to return to England, mainly because they were worried that Charles II would exile them for treason or execute them, and they were unwilling to serve a king - so, in the end, about 7,000 to 8,000 people were stranded in Dunkirk.

However, soldiers and officers are different. The officers among these people are also willing to join the French army or military schools after receiving the promise of Louis XIV. After losing their commander, these soldiers were completely at a loss for a while. They were at a loss, but soon they received the king's will and new managers. They were dispersed, reorganized separately, collected their weapons, and their beautiful red military uniforms were changed into dark brown engineer uniforms. Although it was said that It wasn't too ugly, but the meaning was profound. Some sensitive soldiers even refused to put on the new uniforms, and they were immediately arrested and executed.

Louis XIV could not just randomly add soldiers who were willing to surrender to his army. As engineers, they were asked to repair the fortifications and roads around Dunkirk - the spacious road that Barr passed before. The smooth road is due to their contributions.

After having income and a fixed residence, the most basic needs of human beings were also put on the agenda. Some of them made up their minds to be alone until they went to see God, while others decided to stay here They moved on with their lives, married French girls, and began to learn French. Perhaps a few generations later, they would only consider themselves French.

Of course, there are not many such people, because why don't the French marry their daughters to a French soldier? Everyone knows how good Louis XIV is to his soldiers. These British soldiers may be better off and safer than their counterparts at home, but they are nothing compared to the French soldiers.

But this Jack is an exception. First of all, he is an officer and even a nobleman. He did not accept the invitation of the French King and did not return to London. Even if his relatives came to find him, he seemed to have decided to die in Dunkirk. He is... a relative of a priest. It is not surprising that a young girl falls in love with him. Although he is over 40 years old, he has a strong body, handsome appearance, and a kind of calmness and trustworthiness that a young man does not have. He Still the leader of those British people.

The priest was not very optimistic about this marriage. Now it seems that it may be worse than bad.

"I came to see Eva," Jack said calmly: "Mr. Priest, we have encountered a very unfortunate thing."

"What happened? Oh, my God, Holy Mother," the priest said. "Did you meet any robbers?"

"No," Jack said: "To be more correct, I encountered misfortune, sir. Eva fell in love with another young man, and she betrayed her. I discovered them tonight, but during the fight, I might I accidentally hurt Eva. I was just about to apologize to her, but when I looked at her wounds, she ran away." He sighed: "I think she misunderstood that I wanted to kill her. Please tell her, I am not. It will hurt her, please come out, I brought a doctor, I am very worried about her, she also has my child."

The priest stared at him, this guy! He thought in his heart, if he were not doing this job and were not used to seeing similar people and spies who told lies, he might really believe it. After all, a woman who was discovered by her husband after committing adultery would say anything, even if What Eva said before can also be reasonably explained by this.

He acted very affectionately and mentioned the children. Most people would probably think that an angry husband would forgive his wife's sins even for the sake of the children.

But this could not be hidden from the priest: "It's too bad," he said. "But Eva didn't come to me." He turned away. "Wait a minute. I'll get the horse out and go with you." Look, God, saint, what is going on? When we find her, I will scold her severely. By the way, who is that bastard?"

Jack said a name, and the priest showed a mixture of annoyance and anger: "This is wrong." He said, but he doubted where Jack saw the name, but he probably heard it, because he had The priest of this name had just recently administered the Last Sacraments to him.

"Are you saying that Eva has never been here?" Jack said, leading two people to block the priest's path calmly: "But I don't think she will go anywhere else but here."

The priest turned around, half-smiling. He had a simple, round face, and he really didn't look like a pirate: "Are you accusing me of lying?"

"I'm just worried that you'll stand in my wife's shoes and let her occasional mistakes turn into real sins." Jack said softly, and his two subordinates had already begun to search the small chapel. Although the chapel is similar to the church It has the same cross structure, but the ear chambers on both sides are almost as the name suggests. One is used by the priest as a storage room and confessional, and the other is used by the priest as his own room. Eva was lying on the carpet in his room before. , but now there is only one missing carpet... Oh, the priest stood behind the Englishmen and smiled, because although the original carpet was gone, there was still a blanket on the ground that was originally hung on the wall. ——The place that has been covered by carpet for a long time must have a different color and texture than other places. Although it is late and can only be illuminated by candles, it is fortunate because Jack actually bent down to see and touch it with his fingers.

Jack couldn't find anything. He sniffed the air and only smelled the familiar smell of seafood, mixed with the smell of inferior spice candles. This weird smell enveloped him. Even if someone bleeds here, he Can't even detect it.

"I'm even more worried," Jack said, "If Eva isn't here, where will she be?" He looked at the priest, "You mean you want to find it with us? Then let's go to the stables. "

The priest blinked, and when things got here, he had no room to resist. They arrived at the stable together, and the priest immediately yelled in his heart: Oops!

Next to his mule was Barr's fine horse!

Without thinking, the priest lowered his head. This instinctive reaction saved his life, because as soon as Jack saw the horse, he drew his dagger without hesitation, which cut off the remaining hair on the priest's head. A few hairs, but the priest didn't notice this at all at this time. He rushed forward, grabbed the fence of the stable, jumped inside, quickly ran to the mule's trough, stretched out his hand and pulled out a A pitchfork with three teeth.

The pitchfork is a common farm tool, but looking at the light emitted from the worn areas of this pitchfork, you can know that the craftsman who made it used good steel that is not qualified to be used in farm tools, so the role of this pitchfork is very It's hard to say, the priest was bloated, but his martial arts skills were not inferior to any of the soldiers. He shouted, waved a pitchfork, and used fences and troughs as barriers, and he actually fought vigorously with the British outside.

"Don't waste time," said Jack, snatching the torch from a man beside him.

The priest swallowed: "Don't you want to hear what I have to say?"

"It's not necessary." Jack said, of course, maybe the horse was just stolen goods or smuggled items, maybe Eva encountered a beast halfway or went to other places, or maybe the priest played some other role, But he and his career allowed no room for error. "That is indeed a good horse." He said regretfully, throwing the torch into the stable.

The torch burned fiercely as soon as it hit the ground.

The priest shouted, but in just a minute or two, this place would completely turn into a small purgatory. This time was not enough time for people to run to save his life. He could also jump out, but the British were waiting, He had to choose between being burned or stabbed to death, but then—the bell rang.

The chapel has no bell tower, only a wooden frame, and a large bell hangs on the wooden frame. This bell is not only used to call people to worship their God, but also to alert them to the invading devil. To be honest, Dunkirk The surrounding villages and towns are not very clean. Smugglers, pirates and merchants who sell stolen goods always have several footholds. The bell rings when it shouldn't. Those people who have been alarmed no longer hesitate and hold up their swords. , muskets and other things that were more like weapons than farm tools and fishing gear, harpoons, flails, iron nets and other things came out.

"They're coming!" an Englishman, who might have been left outside for a walk, shouted over and over again and rushed in.

Jack hesitated for a moment, "Let's go!" he said. With him as the leader, the British swept out like a whirlwind, just as quickly as they arrived.

The fire wave was approaching, and the priest stabbed his mule cruelly, forcing it to stand between the flames and himself. The mule whined loudly, and the Serama horse kicked and neighed uneasily, shaking its head constantly, trying to rush out. Stable - When the priest was about to dig out of the mule's trough, he only heard a terrible creaking sound. He didn't know where the flames burned, something collapsed, and then he didn't know what hit him. After hitting it, the priest shouted, it was a burning straw roof - people on the seaside like to use dried seaweed as roofs, and the stables are no exception.

He felt a pain on his face, his hands unconsciously loosened, and he fell from the food trough. Then his thigh was pressed heavily by something. He pushed the thing and realized that it was stabbed by him. The mule inhaled so much smoke that it finally fainted, and its several hundred pounds of fur and flesh pressed against the priest's legs.

Just when the priest was about to howl, he felt his eyes suddenly go dark, moist water vapor and blood rushing towards his face, and then a pair of strong arms, "It's okay, uncle."