Captain Swing Rides Again part II

Dandelion had just returned from his pursuit. He was initially regarded with some suspicion, as the infamous Captain Swing had appeared in the area Dandelion had been guarding, and no-one could recall seeing him at the time. But despite our misgivings (and earlier confusion about the whole Dandelion being Captain Swing thing), Pistol and Avon could vouch for his whereabouts over the last month, and there was no way he could have been involved.

Chevalier remained dubious, but I think we were able to convince him that he should be looking elsewhere for the dastard.

As Chevalier moved away, Dandelion produced his prize piece of evidence - the folded tower card that Captain Swing had flung in his direction. Some careful examination revealed some important clues. Every letter 'e' was slightly raised, an imperfection in the printer's mould. And of most interest, the card was silk embossed, a most unusual feature.

Pistol then joined us, he'd arrived shortly after the explosion and set about assisting the injured - a surprisingly magnanimous gesture. He was able to gain some information from one of the wounded, who'd noted that he'd seen Etienne LeBeau's stable doors open.

We decided to check this out first, and after getting directions from the injured man, we made our way to the stable.

The stable appeared empty, although there were signs that it had recently been occupied. We assumed that Captain Swing had laid in wait here until it was time for him to perform his wicked deed. Dandelion noticed a boot print in some fresh horse manure, and promptly produced some powder which he mixed with water. He called it Plaster d'Charouse, and said it was very useful in setting broken bones, not something I'd come across before. He poured the mixture into the footprint and fairly soon it had set, and he had a good imprint of what we hoped was Captain Swing's boot. Dandlion noted a nick which would aid in identification.

I looked further around the stable, and heard a muffled sound from the loft. Quickly climbing up I found an old man, bound and gagged. I released him and called Dandelion and Mordred up to talk to the poor man.

They quickly established that this was indeed the proprietor, Etienne.

An urchin had delivered him a note yesterday requesting use of the stable for a tall gentleman. The fellow had arrived, but Etienne did not get a good look at him before being clobbered over the back of the head, and trussed as we found him. He estimated that he'd been that way for a couple of hours.

Dandelion also noted that one could get a good view towards the University Hall and Press buildings from the window of the loft. After establishing that the urchin, Marcel, had come from a seedy dive called le Deux Chapeau, Pistol decided that he had better visit the establishment to see if any further information could be gained.

As it happened Pistol knew the bartender, a fellow by the name of Jacques, who tried to interest Pistol in all forms of debauchery. Pistol had enquired wether he could purchase caltrops from Jacques, but that was one of the few things the fellow did not trade in. Eventually, for two Pistoles, Pistol was able to 'hire' young Marcel, much to the disgust of all present. However, debauchery of that nature was not on Pistol's mind (good to hear he has not yet sunk to that level!)

Instead he began to browbeat Marcel into providing information, but there was little to be had, except that the fellow who had sent him to the stable was tall and had a black moustache. Pistol also acquired the boys marbles, which he felt would be a good substitute for caltrops. However, under the heavy questioning, the boy began to squeal and cry - what the other patrons thought I have no idea! However Pistol soon found himself surrounded by half a dozen burly thugs. Not one to miss out on a chance for fisticuffs, Pistol took them on, and had knocked four of them to the ground before Jacques arrived with a club and asked Pistol politely to leave the premises, a request he duly complied with.

We met up with Pistol again at La Belle Aurore, where Dandelion and Mordred were engaged in some heated argument - what it was about I have no idea as they spoke in Montaigne, but I gather Dandelion had belittled Mordred's language skills.

Pistol gleefully tossed his bag of marbles from hand to hand as he related his discussion with Marcel to us. We decided the next best course of action would be to pay a visit to our friend Adrian Fletchyr in the hope that he had some insight into this Captain Swing imposter.

So we headed off towards Cirque du Chant. Avon detected the sound of marching boots ahead, so we ducked into a laneway to let the guards pass, but to our dismay we found that they were escorting a chained Adrian Fletchyr.

There was little doubt as to what this would mean for the brave Fletchyr, so I moved out of the alleyway, and stood in their path. It would seem that they were not about to open any negotiations, as immediately the front row of guards drew their bayoneted muskets. Not to be intimidated by this display, I chose to draw my Zweihander, as I noted Avon and Pistol taking positions on balconies either side of the street to enable them to swing into the middle and effect a rescue.

The guards were in no mood for messing about, and immediately opened fire, I was sorely wounded by this initial volley, but enjoined melee with the troops. Pistol swung into action, landing in the middle of the battle, whilst Mordred and Dandelion hit them from the side. Avon lined up an arrow from above.

A volley of musket fire was aimed at Dandelion, but he deftly opened a bloody rent in space, and the bullets disappeared. Onlookers were gasping at this open display of Porté.

"Freda!" I cried invoking the mighty power of Sterk as I swung wildly at the leader. I was soon punctured with a half dozen bayonet wounds, before calling "Skada!" to call on Styrke to aid me as well, now remembering the training I'd been undertaking over the past few months. With a mighty heave I hauled the Zweihander in a great 360 degree arc bringing it back into position to face the leader again, and in the process slicing open the unprotected bellies of his six companions.

The others too were quickly dealing with the rest of the guardsmen, who quickly realised that the battle would be lost. But before we could get to him, one of the guardsmen drew a knife and slit open the helpless Fletchyr's throat from ear to ear. He then called on his fellows to flee and they made off down the street. We did not give chase, rushing to the dying hero, Adrian Fletchyr, "Continue my work!" he gurgled and slumped to the ground.

Morosely we carried his body back to his distraught wife, and knowing the guard would be out on full alert looking for us, we chose to lay low for the rest of the day, and the next.

The following day, donning a new set of disguises (an increasingly difficult task given the nature of our appearances), we headed out to visit as many local printers as we could. We'd come up with a clever ruse - to go around the various printers asking for quotes for some brochures for a public speech to be given next Soldi by the eminent Dandelion, on the subject of educating the masses. This would be sure to flush out Captain Swing!

The next day we revisited the printers picking up the samples they had produced for us overnight. Towards the end of the day we found what we had been looking for - a printer using silk embossing, and with a slightly raised 'e' in the typeset.

The printer shop was called Garamond Printers, the proprietor a Vodacce woman by the name of Desdemona. Dandelion thought she might have been from Bernoulli or possibly Villanova. We arranged to print 100 copies of the brochure for Dandelion's speech, then adjourned to a café across the road.

Sure enough, after a short period the woman left, locking the printer shop, and hurrying away. Dandelion decided to follow her. He tailed her for several blocks, but she lost him in a crowded market. We left to head back to the inn we were now staying at, Le Coq Sportif. Pistol ducked down an alleyway to check if anyone was following us. Sure enough, he spotted a weasely looking fellow, and pounced on him dragging him into the alleyway.

After a quick walk around the block, the rest of us joined Pistol, who was interrogating the footpad. He discovered that he'd been paid by a woman in Place de Crieux to follow us. It must have been the printer, who must have spotted Dandelion following her. He was being paid to report back to her what inn we were staying at. We told the fellow we were staying at Le Niké, an inn which was conveniently located across the street from Le Coq Sportif. Pistol then gave the fellow a cuff around the ear and sent him on his way.

That night, we kept watch from the front rooms of Le Coq Sportif. Early in the morning a man rode up on a horse, and a loud explosion followed. By the time we arrived out the front, he was gone, and Le Niké was in ruins! Well at least we had grabbed Captain Swing's attention, but next time we must put more thought into any trap we set for him.