Frederick and Geraldine
Chapter 9 – The Messenger

(The captainof the pirates and one of them were in the cabin of that stranger having dogswhile talking about him.)

''In Athens,he hired us to help him take the gold, '' said the captain.

''How couldhe take it as long as the messenger was alive? ''

The captainlaughed, '' Maybe he has waited for an accident to happen.

He caughtthe ship; before the sunset wanted there to arrive.''

''He hadnice dogs! '' '' Yes, the dogs would help him replace the messenger

To kill himand to take the documents; he understood this

While he washiding to hear those men talking, '' ''He was an avenger.''

''He didn'tknow the messenger, but he knew the gold's bliss.''

''He heardthat a ship carrying five hundred and twenty bars

Having onekilo of gold each one would have to anchor

Near thePrinylas' shore, '' said the captain while lightning two cigars.

The otherone started to smoke, '' I've satisfied my hanker.''

''Themessenger should wait for that ship to take the gold after

Presentingthe documents; then, he should go to help a nun.''

''Those menshould meet again to make arrangements thereafter.

One of themis on this ship; he goes silent until all is done.''

The strangerheard only a part of the dialog between

Ivan and themessenger's servant, who had been sent to Athens

To meet him;then, this stranger hired the pirates- around sixteen.

'' Followme; I must embark on that ship to watch what happens, ''

(...He hadtold the pirates after killing the servant of the messenger; then, he intendedto kill Ivan.)

He didn'tknow that Ivan should give the map to the messenger

To see thedescription of the road to the monastery,

The sketchand some details; Ivan didn't sense the danger.

The servanthad to go to meet someone else; ''Let's be merry, ''

(...SaidIvan. They should meet again after three hours to go together to the messenger.The stranger did not know this secret.)

The meetingnever took place 'cause the connection man had been killed.

Fortunately,he had told Ivan where this village was placed.

Ivan hadcaused that square sail's damage but his heart hadn't been stilled.

Freddyneeded time in Athens when with this problem he was faced.

This way,Ivan forced Freddy to stay longer than he intended

To be inAthens; Ivan needed time to bring the map

To thedestination; because the servant's life had ended

And therepair had been made quickly, Ivan fell into the trap.

(Ivan didn'thave time to understand why the servant had died. He was prompted to divert theship to the known place of Corfu, in order to land ashore. Then, Ivan wouldsearch for the messenger.)

The strangerwas the one who paid attention to all those

Movements onthat ship in order to grab the gold while thinking

That thepirate ship was behind him; he couldn't suppose

That thepirates had run ashore while using fast horses settling

In Prinylasbefore the Frederick's arrival; they

Killed themessenger and captured the vessel containing

The goldbars; they also killed all those sailors; on that day,

Theyattacked the carrack to replace out who had lost that meeting.

The pirateswanted to kill that man, whereof the stranger

Had toldthem, and to remove the traces leading to the gold.

For thisreason, they were willing to put them all in danger,

But the firecaused by Ivan their eyes started to behold.

(Ivan wantedto give Erica a chance to take the map and go ashore to search the messenger.The captain of the pirates took all the documents, the treasure and the sealbelonging to the stranger and jumped overboard into a boat, apparently andinexplicably abandoning his companions. After an hour, the army began to fightwith the pirates' crew.)

Ivan thoughtthat the stranger followed him; why should he?

If thestranger had been a Russian one, it would have been

Perfectlyobvious for him where the meeting had to be

Placed, butmaybe this stranger had accidentally heard them when

They hadtalked; in this case, the stranger didn't know their secret,

But thesurveillance was the only way to replace out.

This was whythis stranger embarked on their ship; apart,

The realsurveillants were chameleons, beyond this doubt.

One of thosepirates searching for secrets had a red birthmark

On his face;to follow Fargo, they were walking for some hours.

They starteda talk while one of their dogs began to bark

''Toidentify a tail, look at the footprints, those flowers

Can make thedogs lose the scent trail; '' '' each flower might have

A differentscent, telling the dog it has been visited

By someinsects; here, their path is divided into two halves.''

''Someoneleft them, and another one is dead or invalid.''

'' Thatperson returned; look, he moved frequently between crowded

And emptyplaces: this makes him conspicuous, '' '' It's a man.''

''Someoneelse followed them, '' ''I don’t see well, the sun is clouded, ''

'' I don'ttrust this lady, Chiara, '' ' I understood her plan.''

''She paidour chief, Quintus, to kill Lucca, '' ''He was lucky

To be hiredby two persons to do his job on the same ship.''

''Quintusmade his intentions very clear; he is plucky

Man; '' oneof them touched a footprint with his finger tip.

'' Quintus'sintention was to loot and to arrive before

Frederickbesides Syracuse to wait and hit the carrack.''

''Quintuswill kill Marco after trying to replace out whether

He's theirman or not, '' ''They have fallen under our attack.''

'' Chiarapaid Quintus to kill Francesca, '' '' Look at the village! ''

''This mustbe the messenger's house; it is midnight; let's enter

To replace thedocuments like in the midst of a pillage, ''

'' All arelike babies in a deep sleep, '' ''I long for adventure! ''

(They foundthe documents, but they didn't take them because they needed to hunt theconnection-person. They exited the house.)

'' Let'stell Quintus that these gold bars came from London to go

To a Russianrich lady living as a nun, '' ''One

Woman usedFargo to be here, but she didn't let him know.''

''Now, hecannot return back to us; his future is done.''

''When oneof us leaves our crew, he becomes a stupid man

In the armsof any woman, '' ''Which one do you think is

Involved inthe gold's story? '' ''I don't know, but I know the plan.''

''They arefour; we'll replace soon, '' ''Round in my head, these events whizz.''

(The pirateskilled the messenger on the beach, but they did not know where he had lived.

The messengerknew the person who had to give him the gold, and therefore, had no documentson him.

The personbringing the gold traveled while providing maximum security, but secretly hewas afraid of the pirates.)

Meanwhile,Quintus did not know where the gold had come from

Nor wherethe messenger was living, and therefore, he killed

Marco; then,after the returning of his people, he sent them

To tell allthe pirates that the onslaught should be stopped.

Erica knewabout the village and influenced

Fargo to goin that direction; Ivan had told her

The name ofthe village and where the messenger's house was placed,

But shedidn't know the information that man could confer.

Chiarawanted Lucca to die because he was the sole

Heir of animmense fortune after the death of his parents.

She alsowanted Francesca's death, but she lost control

Thinkingthat she lost the asset in the light of those events.