Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos (17 page)

"The cannon's right over there somewhere," Michael said, pointing off to our left.

"That's right. I suppose they're aiming at the redoubts."

"The what?"

"The redoubts – that's the technical term for those forts on the battlefield. You know, the earth embankments with the wooden stakes sticking out the sides and ditches all around them?"

"Oh, so that's what a redoubt is," Michael said. "My regiment's been talking for weeks about how we're going to storm one this weekend, and I've been too embarrassed to admit I didn't know what a redoubt was. I should have asked you ages ago."

"Redoubt Nine, probably; the French forces actually did storm that a few days before the end of the siege."

I jumped as the cannon boomed again.

"I can guess what happened to the people who used to have their tents over here," I said.

"Yeah, looks like they all moved farther from the artillery. That's why the rest of the camp is so crowded."

"I can't believe they're really going to keep doing that all night," I fumed. "Come on, let's go talk to them."

"Meg, I thought we – "

"Michael, I know you want to have a serious conversation," I called over my shoulder, as I strode over the battlefield toward where the artillery squad had camped. "But I'm half-asleep and cranky and preoccupied with everything that's happened tonight. Having a serious talk right now would stack the deck in favor of an argument I don't want to have. But if you help me talk those beastly gunners into shutting the hell up for the rest of the night, not only is that a subject that I mink we can both agree on, but I will probably be grateful enough to – awk!"

I found myself lying facedown on the ground.

"Halt! Who goes there!"

"Oh, for the love of – " I muttered.

"Meg!" Michael called. "What happened?"

"I tripped over something," I said, levering myself up.

"I said, Halt! Who goes there!"

"Gatinois chasseurs,"
Michael called out to the invisible sentry. "Are you all right?" he said to me.

"Did I ever tell you that there are cactus on the battlefields?"

"Cactus?"

"Approach and be recognized,
Gatinois chasseurs,"
the sentry called.

"Hang on a moment, will you?" Michael called.

"Yes, cactus," I repeated. "Tiny little cactus, only a few inches tall."

"Meg, did you hit your head when you fell?"

"As kids, we all learned not to go barefoot on the battlefield, because of the cactus," I said. "The barbs are so fine you can't even pick them out with tweezers. Have to wait till they work their way out."

"But you're not barefoot now, are you?"

"No," I said, getting to my feet. "But I landed with my face in a clump of cactus. I do hope I didn't trip over something those miserable cannoneers strung up around their camp. We've already had one homicide tonight."

"Maybe we should talk to them later," Michael suggested.

I strode on toward the artillery crew's camp – we were close enough now to see a fire, flickering faintly in the middle of a block of tents.

I heard Michael, behind me, talking to someone. The sentry, I supposed. I'd managed to bypass him, and found myself standing in front of something.

I peered closer and realized I was staring down the mouth of the cannon.

Okay, I knew they probably weren't going to fire the cannon again right away, but just to be safe, I ducked well to the side. Then I realized that there was no one standing by the cannon.

Strange. They'd just fired. Before going down to my booth that morning, I'd watched the artillery crew fire the cannon, while the officer in charge gave a running commentary for the audience. It took eight people – and that was pared down from how many they'd have had in a real battle – and they went through more than thirty steps. I seemed to recall that at least a third of the steps involved cleaning the cannon up after firing. So why wasn't someone still scouring the barrel or whatever?

I moved closer again and reached out to touch the cannon's mouth. The metal was the same temperature as the surrounding air. Didn't cannons heat up, even a little, when they were fired?

I was still pondering when a man appeared from behind a nearby tent and came over to stand by the cannon.

"Quite a sight, isn't she?" he drawled, patting the barrel like a favorite horse. "Can you imagine what it must have been like, with over fifty of these babies pounding on the town?"

"Quite a sound, too; and no, I don't even want to imagine what it must have been like," I said. "Are you really planning to keep this up all night?"

He sighed.

"They're from the encampment, Jess – I mean, Captain," the sentry said, as he and Michael came up behind me. "Couldn't sleep."

"No kidding," Captain Jess said. "We're sort of obliged to keep it up all night, ma'am," he added. "Come on; if we're going to keep you awake, we can at least entertain you."

We followed Jess through the tents to the fire at the middle of the encampment. A dozen men and several women sat around the fire. One strummed a guitar. Several held steaming mugs, and some munched toasted cheese sandwiches. My stomach growled, reminding me that I had stormed away from the party, several hours ago, without eating much.

"Would you like something to drink?" Jess asked. "We have beer, hot cider, water, and a fresh pot of our national beverage. No tea, of course."

"National beverage?" Michael asked.

"Coffee," I explained. "After the Boston Tea Party, the Continental Congress made it the official national beverage. I'd love a cup."

"Me, too," Michael said.

"I still say it's an anachronism," one of the men around the fire said. "The coffee may be authentic, but not if you insist on fixing it with filters and a drip machine."

"Well, then, pour me out two mugs of hot anachronism for our guests, Mel," the captain said. " 'Cause I'm not about to spoil good coffee boiling it in the same pot you've been using for the salt pork. Do you folks take your anachronism plain, or with cream and sugar?"

I felt a little more mellow toward the artillery crew once I was sitting by their fire, sipping a cup of excellent coffee, and I didn't say no when they offered me a toasted cheese sandwich. But I couldn't help thinking that every minute brought us closer to the time when they'd feel obliged to fire off the cannon again, and I was bound and determined to stop them.

"Look," I said, when I'd polished off my snack. "I don't want to abuse your hospitality or anything, but what is it with firing the gun, anyway?"

I heard mumbles from several of the people around the fire.

"We were hired to fire it throughout the festival," Jess explained.

"Yes, I know," I said. "To simulate the shelling that began on October 9, 1781, and lasted until Cornwallis finally threw in the towel. I got that much. But why do you have to keep it up in the middle of the night, when there's no one awake to hear you? Or at least there wouldn't be anyone awake if you weren't keeping them awake."

"I'd be happy to knock off at sunset, or midnight, or any old time you like," he said. "But it isn't up to me. You'll have to take that up with Madame Von Steuben."

"Von Steuben?" Michael said.

"The Prussian general Washington brought over to whip the American troops into shape," I explained. "Noted for his harsh discipline, skill as a drillmaster, and ability to curse fluently in three languages."

"You do know your history," the captain said, with a bow.

"I grew up here," I told him, with a shrug.

"And one of this Von Steuben's descendents is helping out with the festival?" Michael asked.

"Oh, for heavens' sake, Michael," I said. "They mean your mother, of course."

The captain's jaw dropped. Several people around the fire appeared to be choking on their coffee. Michael looked startled, then burst out laughing.

"That's perfect," he said. "Madame Vori Steuben!"

"Course we don't call her that to her face," Jess said.

"Of course not," I said. "You're still alive."

"She specifically told us to keep firing sporadically all night," he said. "Said she wanted to make the experience more genuine. Help people understand what our forefathers and foremothers really went through."

"Should have told her no, like you did with the live ammo," Mel said.

"Live ammo?" I echoed.

"First time she saw us fire the cannon, she heard me explain about the recoil," Jess said. "If we were firing real shells, the gun would recoil, oh, about fourteen feet on a piece this size. That's one reason they used a larger crew than we need; about six of the guys just hauled the cannon back in place after it fired. Also the reason we shout 'Stand clear!' before firing; make sure no one's standing behind it, 'cause anyone who was, they'd be toast. If we fired live ammo, that is. When you're just firing powder, you don't get much recoil at all."

"And of course she didn't think that was authentic enough, did she?"

"Thought I'd never get her to see what the problem was," the captain grumbled. "Those shells go a long way. They shelled the town from here, remember."

"You could fire over the river," Michael suggested.

"Oh, yeah, great idea," Jess said. "There're only about five hundred fancy yachts anchored out there right about now, with the festival on."

"Sorry," Michael said.

"Hey, we could aim at the highway," one of the crew suggested. "Course I wouldn't want to waste ammo on small fry like cars. Let's see how many eighteen-wheelers we can pot."

"Tour busses," Mel advised. "You want to maximize your enemy casualties, go for the tour busses."

"Don't mind him," the captain said. "Likes to pull the tourists' legs."

"I hope they don't know where Mom lives," Michael muttered.

"Getting back to the night firing," I said.

"She doesn't hear gunfire, she'll say we're in breach of contract," Jess said.

"Yes, but she's probably gone to bed by now."

"Yeah, 'bout an hour ago," Mel said.

"How do you know – " Michael began.

"Always good policy, in the army, keeping track of what the brass are up to," Jess said, giving Mel a dirty look.

"I'll make a deal with you," I said. "You cut out the cannon fire until, say, six A.M. and I'll make sure at least a dozen people go up to her tomorrow and complain about the cannon firing all night."

Jess looked thoughtful.

"And I'll even make sure a couple of people are nearby to tell them not to be so fussy. Once you get used to it you don't even hear die cannon, in case she doesn't remember hearing it herself."

"Be nice to get some sleep, Jess," one of his men said.

"And the same thing holds for the rest of the festival, if you stop firing between midnight and six A.M."

"You sure you can manage that?" Jess said.

"Absolutely," I said.

"No problem," Michael added.

"Shake on it then," Jess said. We shook hands, and cheers went up around the campfire. Several people said goodnight and scurried away toward tents, and Mel refilled everyone else's coffee mugs without a single complaint about the anachronistic preparation method.

"I tell you what," the captain said, winking at his crew. "Let's fire the thing off one more time, just to seal the bargain."

The crew leaped up with such enthusiasm that I didn't have the heart to protest. After all, I decided, it was so soon after the last shot that most people wouldn't have fallen back asleep.

"In fact, you can help us," Jess said. "You can set the whole thing off."

"Thanks, I appreciate the honor, but – "

"We insist!"

Okay, if it kept them quiet the rest of the night, I'd tap dance on the bloody cannon barrel. But to my surprise, instead of leading us to the cannon, Jess stopped in front of a tent at the edge of the encampment.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Go on, look inside," Jess said.