Chapter 29 – The Vanishing
The wind and the rain pelted against the walls of the reinforced fortification buildings which had been constructed at two hundred yard intervals in the forest overlooking the lagoon and the beach at Montuga. Each well camouflaged building housed the latest long range cannons imported from the United States. These were virtually invisible to anyone on the beach. Jason had earlier identified the beach and the lagoon area as a key weak point in Montuga’s security. The beach was an ideal landing point for rowing boats full of soldiers from offshore ships. The battery of canons was tasked with the destruction of any landing force before or as it landed.
This evening however, the Marquis was to spend the night in one of the buildings during one of his scheduled inspections. He had planned to move from one fortification building to the next to check on artillery drills. However, the driving wind and rain put paid to any plans he had to leave the building he was in. To add to the misery of the evening, the mist prevented anyone from seeing more than fifteen feet or so in front of them. Later that evening thunder and lightning conspired to hinder anyone from sleeping peacefully.
During a lull in the storm, the Marquis thought that he had heard distant voices originating from the direction of the lagoon. He sat up. He was sure he heard it again. He quietly woke everyone in the building and called for a full alert. None of the guards were overly pleased with the latest interruption. One of the guards was sent out in the drizzle to the next building to pass the order for the full alert. Soon each one of the seven buildings was ready to open fire on whatever it was that might be out there. Everyone listened carefully as they stared into the darkness and mist. They heard nothing save for the sounds of the waves on the beach. No shapes penetrated through the mist. After an hour the alert was withdrawn and everyone save for those on watch gratefully attempted to catch up on lost sleep.
The following morning’s sun made short work of the mist. It was a clear although chilly morning. To set his mind at ease, the Marquis elected to take a walk along the beach together with one of the royal guards. After crossing the narrow lagoon, which was a little deeper than before following the rain, they reached the beach. They soon came across a considerable number of boot prints in the sand. The tracks revealed that the boot’s owners had marched off in a westerly direction, towards the path to Monte Vista. Since the commencement of the recent state of war between Montuga and France, the Beach, the Lagoon and the entire Forest area had been limited to use by the military. The Marquis accordingly concluded that the prints were unlikely to be friendly. It was difficult to work out how many pairs of boot prints there were since most of the latter prints had obliterated the former sets. At a rough estimate the party consisted of around forty men. The Marquis initially followed the origin of the boot prints to determine their source. It came as no surprise that they all originated near the waterline. The tide was rising but it had not risen enough to remove a mark in the sand left by the keel of a long boat. The royal guard pointed to two other such marks.
The Marquis raised the alarm. They rushed to a set of buildings and stables on the far side of the forest. The Marquis and a few royal guards followed the boot prints on horseback. All the while they tried to keep their eyes peeled ahead of them, lest the footprints led to a trap. Instead the footprints led to the lagoon. On the far side of the lagoon they found a path leading through the forest and to the main road on the other side of the forest. Any prints which may have remained in the path’s fine sands had, however, been removed by the previous evening’s rainwater.
The Marquis and several mounted royal guards headed to the palace at high speed. As he did so he wondered where the invaders were and what they were up to. He feared that they may already have launched some form of surprise attack on Monte Vista. The Marquis realised that the timing could not be worse for the kingdom since all fourteen ships of the fleet were involved in the evacuation of the royalists from Toulon. When they arrived at the outskirts of Monte Vista, everything seemed to be proceeding as normal. The gun emplacements in various parts of the city which were aimed at the harbour were all manned by royal guards. Royal guards who were posted at various points in the city were present and accounted for and had nothing to report. The Marquis warned them all to be on the alert.
When the Marquis arrived at the palace, he was informed by General Petard that everything in the kingdom no reports of anything unusual or untoward had been received at the palace. Petard, however, immediately ordered an investigation. He also issued search warrants against all known republicans. This enabled platoons of royal guards to search their homes in case they were the ones providing sanctuary to the booted intruders.
‘What could they be up to?’ Petard wondered aloud.
‘They could be an advance party for a larger landing?’ suggested the Marquis.
‘I thought that Napoleon’s entire Mediterranean fleet was trapped in Toulon.’
‘France could have other warships based at other ports of which we may not be aware. They could even have employed a merchant ship for an operation of this sort.’
‘I suggest the following. We wait to see what happens with the searches. If nothing turns up by this afternoon we can consider what to do next.’ The General looked at Marquis to see if he was satisfied. ‘Unless you have some other proposals?’
‘I have none at this moment,’ replied the Marquis. A thought struck him. ‘It is possible that these men have been tasked to attack the fortifications in the forest from the rear so that they can clear the way for a full invasion on the beach. He decided to would be wise to despatch a hundred and twenty guards to the forest to protect the rear of the fortifications.’
‘The existence of these fortifications is known to only a few.’ Petard’s brow furrowed as he considered the Marquis’ theory. ‘However we cannot exclude a leak or a traitor. Send the reinforcements to the forest. Once they repel any attack from the rear, they can also help to resist any landings which are no doubt sure to follow.’
The searches of the homes of the republicans revealed nothing untoward. The Marquis and the General reconvened later that afternoon in the Chamber of Knights. They were at a loss to explain the three dozen or so persons who seemed to have surreptitiously slipped into the kingdom the night before, had managed to simply vanish.
‘Could the boots have belonged to republican citizens who may have returned from a French training camp or something? An enemy within?’ The Marquis’s expression remained nonplussed.
‘Possibly. However, I do wish you had thought of that earlier. We could have included a search for wet or sandy boots in the warrant,’ sighed Petard. ‘If I subject the republicans to another search we would have a rebellion on our hands.’
‘Do you think the boot prints could be those of the masked riders in black?’
‘Anything is possible. They may be here to launch a surprise attack on the gun emplacements above the city. This would clear the way for warships to enter the harbour safely in order to deliver an invasion force in the harbour,’ Petard suggested.
‘I also thought of that. I warned all the troops in those emplacements to be on full alert before I came to the palace this morning,’ the Marquis replied.