Between Two Fires
by Christopher Buehlman
Contents
Seven: Of the Battle of Song-of-Angels
Overview
The girl compels Père Matthieu to obtain a cart and take dying Thomas to the Virgin of the White Rock. A rival village raids the shrine; the statue is smashed, prompting Death to slaughter the attackers. Using the statue’s hand, the girl revives Thomas. Recovered, the trio departs for Paris and Avignon, while plague later destroys the seigneur’s castle.
Summary
At dawn, the girl insists Thomas must be taken to the shrine of the Virgin of the White Rock. Père Matthieu refuses until the girl reveals his true name and foretells death within his house, sending him to the orchard, where he “finds” a fresh corpse’s cart and mule. They set out, the priest shaken yet convinced she is holy.
On the road they meet armed villagers from Chanson-des-Anges intent on reclaiming the Virgin from Rochelle-la-Blanche. The girl senses devils agitating them. At Rochelle, the mob seizes the statue, a melee erupts, and a Chanson woman leaps into the cart and smashes the Virgin to rubble, to the girl’s horror.
The desecration halts the fighting; then “Death” answers a cry and annihilates the Chanson raiders, the cow-eyed priest dying last. As Thomas’s breath fails, the girl presses the statue’s severed hand to his brow; the malignant presence withdraws and Thomas revives, then sleeps.
Convalescing at the priest’s house, Thomas slowly regains strength as Matthieu laments famine fare and lost wine. By late August, the girl urges travel to Paris and Avignon; Matthieu, uncertain if she is saint or witch, agrees to accompany them for lack of parish and supplies. They depart on September first.
After they leave, the seigneur of St. Martin-le-Preux sends three men-at-arms to seize the priest. Finding the house empty, they ransack it; one disturbs the straw bed and soon sickens. Within days, plague consumes the castle, the new seneschal dying last in vain, grotesque vanity.
Who Appears
- The girlDrives the pilgrimage, reveals the priest’s true name, perceives devils, and revives Thomas with the Virgin’s severed hand.
- Père Matthieu HanicotteLocal priest; procures a cart and mule, escorts them, doubts then follows, later joins the journey to Paris and Avignon.
- ThomasNear death from plague; revived by the girl’s use of the statue’s hand; recuperates and agrees to travel onward.
- Chanson-des-Anges womanIncites desecration, smashes the Virgin’s statue with a hammer, triggering the slaughter of her faction.
- Cow-eyed priest of Chanson-des-AngesManipulated by a devil; leads raiders then dies, killed with the same brick that slew a boy.
- People of Rochelle-la-BlancheDefend the shrine; suffer losses but survive the battle and the raiders’ annihilation.
- Seigneur of St. Martin-le-PreuxSends men to seize the priest; their search spreads plague that wipes out his castle.
- New seneschalLast plague victim in the castle, dying while painting eyebrows on his disfigured face.
- Virgin of the White RockMiraculous statue; shattered during the raid; its severed hand performs a final healing on Thomas.
- DeathManifest force answering a cry; slays all the Chanson-des-Anges raiders after the desecration.