homeless marguerites - Part 4

To Bill, Francisco de Bergeau’s wife was as mysterious as he himself. Bill could not get used to how they lived their lives, and that was where they perfectly matched. They both had the same kind of past, they had both hit the war when they were actually still kidos – although Joanne was some years older than Francisco – and they both continued to live in the shadows of their past which happened to be following them till the day. Bill believed that was why they had found the lost peace in each other’s arms, despite the fact that none of them were in love: they shared the same passion, the same grief.
No they were not in love. To Bill, this was just to obvious, yet he found them the perfect couple and this was not going to influence the fact that he was not at all at ease with Francisco’s getting married.
He was just happy that due to her experience with emergency cases, Joanne was going to have complete understanding of why Bill had to interrupt the newly weds at their wedding night. In fact, that the two were not so desperately in love made it easier for Bill to talk himself into it; it was not their first time and was not going to be their last. As for Annie, they might all be regretting it, if they did not find her soon enough; or better say find them.
So when he knocked at on the bedroom’s door crying Francisco’s name out till Francisco opened, Bill did not lose one second, “Annie and Julien are missing, too long already. This smells fishy, we need to find them, all three.” Said Bill, loud and clear enough for Joanne and Francisco to get dressed and be out looking for the two in only 4 minutes.

Julien had done what he had to do. He was sorry that Annie had no understanding for it. They had slowly walked away from the crowed, enjoying the nippy spring night. He had been really having a good time with Annie as they had reached the old cottage. But there he was again; the guy had started the “Fairy Tale”-talk again. Julien had warned him several times, but the guy hadn’t seemed to be listening, he had been enjoying his time with Annie and he had not want to understand that he had no rights anymore, that it had been Julien who was invited to the wedding, it had been Julien who had got to know Annie Anderson, it had been Julien who was reconstructing Francisco’s castle and it had been Julien bringing it up to here. He could not let Johann take Annie away. It was about Johann much more than it was about Annie; Johann was abandoned, Johann was forbidden, Johann was forgotten, Johann had to be dead, Johann had to be taken away the last remaining of Johann; for Johann was not to exist.
But Johann was in love instead of Julien and he was trying to gain Annie’s love. Julien had known very well how this had given Johann power and how this could bring him back to life. So Julien had done, what was to be done. He had not cared what this was to be called: violence, harassment or torture.
If the only way to stop Johann was to torture him to death by means of raping his beloved Annie, Julien was violent enough to accomplish this task and then to burn all the marguerites Johann had planted down.
It actually did work, the guy – now Julien was relieved enough to avoid the name again – had backed off in his old shell, with great pleasure Julien had listened to him scream and fall down and he knew that he himself was in control again.
But then the unexpected had happened, believing it was still the Fairy Tale discussion going on, Annie had murmured some words about the devil, which Julien was unable to understand for he had not even listened to the discussion this time. The still trying to fight back Annie repeated the words with a clearer pronunciation of “devil”. The word echoed in Johann’s ear and reminded him of the man his father had been used to call “der Teufel”; the man who had ruined so much in the world, who had caused so much pain and suffer, the man who had taken so much love from Johann and for whom he and the marguerites were Julien’s prisoners over the last years. The other devil was dead now, long dead; although the people he had caused pain to were still suffering and would be for more years; no one back home could have stopped “den Teufel” or those others who supported him, they have none been powerful enough to overcome them. Now another devil was hurting someone else Johann loved. If it was to consume the last in him, Johann had to stop Julien before he could do Annie any real harm. He shouted, attacking Julien while he hadn’t had the time yet to commit what he was about to.