Page 43 of Give Him a Chance

So all he had to do was meander through the town momentarily darting down an alleyway and whistling their code song, Bernard told himself, and the blasted man would appear from the woodwork.

Or, as it turned out, Bernard would be attacked. Violently.

Bernard never saw it coming. The first crash against his head came from behind, after all, so it would have been ratherdifficult to see in advance, but when he twisted and lunged at his attacker, it was to discover three things.

Firstly, that he could see stars thanks to the knock on the head he’d already received.

Secondly, that he could not lunge at his attacker. There were four of them.

Thirdly, that he’d been foolish enough not to bring his knife.

Dear God, what was wrong with him that he could forget something like that?

The man who’d whacked him with the iron bar still in his hands offered up a toothy smile. “Monsieur?”

Ah, the French. Bernard felt his shoulders relaxing, even as his head ached. At least there was a reason for the man’s attack; singing “God Save the Queen” was never popular with the revolutionary types.

“Get ’im,” announced the iron bar holding man.

Bernard groaned.Oh, dear. And it was such a nice day, too. He hadn’t wanted to hurt anyone.

He tried to minimize the thrusts of his fists, but it became very clear from the way the tallest Frenchman kicked that these men weren’t going to play fair, and so neither did he. Bernard grabbed the tall one and spun him round, the unrelenting force launching him into the smallest one with a black eye, the two of them toppling to the ground. It was a relief that the alleyway was particularly wide, for as the iron bar was swung whistling past his ear, Bernard lurched back and used the momentum to thrust an elbow into the bald Frenchman who smelled, delightfully, of garlic.

It’s always nice, Bernard thought dreamily as he punched the bald one on the nose as he turned,to have some stereotypes confirmed.

“Grab ’is arms!”

Nowthatwas something Bernard could not permit to happen. So he did not. The boxing training he’d received as a youth always came in handy in situations like this, though his tutor would have been appalled at the sloppiness of the subsequent uppercut.

The small man with the black eye didn’t seem to like it, either, but for quite a different reason.

Down he went and down he stayed, bettering the odds slightly, though Bernard had to admit, he would much rather fight one-on-one than one-against-three.

Some things couldn’t be helped, he supposed.

It’s strange, Bernard thought reflectively as he twirled around and punched the Frenchman holding the iron bar, which was dropped into Bernard’s waiting hand,that I’m able to stay so calm in situations like this. A normal man would surely be intimidated, concerned, perhaps that he would lose his life.

Or at least a tooth, as the tall Frenchman appeared to have done when Bernard had twirled the newly possessed iron bar and accidentally hit the man as he’d been about to lunge for the Englishman.

The tall man went down. That left the bald Frenchman, nursing a jaw that would ache for a week by Bernard’s reckoning, and Iron Bar Man, who looked distinctly peeved that he had lost his weapon.

“Ready to surrender, chaps?” Bernard said cheerfully, pulse racing and spirits soaring.

Yes, this was why he continued to serve; not so that he could be violent, but so that he could redirect the violence that was meant for others.Who knows what poor sod could have come this way and found themselves at a painful disadvantage?

No, better that he take on the varlets.

Take them on? Take them out.

Bernard swung the iron bar expertly from one hand to the other, and the bald Frenchman licked his lips and looked instinctively to the now-weaponless Frenchman beside him.

Ah, so we have a leader.

“You,” Bernard said, pointing with a jerk of the iron bar at the man, making sure to pull it back swiftly enough so the man couldn’t grab a hold of it. “What do you want? Money? I don’t have any, so you can just leave.”

“We want ’ovell.”

Bernard’s whole body went still.