to get it right.
I gripped, pulled tight, and sprang.
We fell, swinging past the little chapel, and soared into space, Harry clutching like a kit. He gasped, making a kind of mewing sound. Momentum carried us above the canyon of air, and at the top of our arc we were weightless.
I heard a crack. The neck of the gargoyle had snapped.
We fell, me still holding the rope. There was the gray slate of the bishop’s roof below. We hit and I slid, scrabbling for purchase. My legs shot out into emptiness, while the head of the broken gargoyle banged into the alley below.
There was another gutter to arrest our fall. I slammed my arms into it and stopped, trembling from strain, my legs extending into space. The rope slapped against the archbishop’s balance. I heard the thud of boots as the sentry hurried back, shouting a challenge. I hastily got my legs into the gutter, hurriedly pulled up the rope, and leaned back from the edge so we couldn’t be seen. The broken demon I’d hauled in looked accusatory.
Below, the sentry stopped, peering about. Nothing amiss.
I waited an eternity. Astiza called again. The man stalked away, muttering. So I dipped my head to address my boy.
“Harry, are you all right?”
“Are we there?” His voice was very small.
“Almost.” I got my knees back up on the roof and scrabbled swiftly up its slippery slate to the ridge. There I let Harry loose and waited for my sweat to cool.
Accomplishment Number One: I had not yet killed my son.
Harry looked back at Notre Dame. “That was scary, Papa.”
“It’s the next part that’s jolly. You get to be Sinterklaas.”
“Will you come, too?”
“Better. You’re going to open a window, and Mama and I are going to meet you there as part of our special game. You like games, don’t you?” Meanwhile, I hoped a lightning bolt wouldn’t strike me dead for blasphemy.
At least it was quiet. Cardinal Belloy was an astonishingly thriving ninety-five years old who by all reports was an able administrator. I was betting the old man also needed his sleep.
“Now, let’s creep along to the chimney.”
Astiza had found plans for the palace in the library, and I’d picked a flue that appeared to have the necessary width and which led to the cardinal’s council chamber. We sidled to it. I took the other coil of rope I’d cut from the bells and quickly lowered some crossed sticks I’d brought to make sure the chimney had no odd obstructions. The sounding went straight down, slackened in the hearth, and came up with cold ashes.
“Harry, this is the clever part. You must pretend you’re Father Christmas, bringing presents down the chimney like the Dutch story I told you, but instead, you get treasure. I’m going to lower you on this rope, and you’re going to get as dirty as you like.” I gave him a bottle with a soft glow. “This holds fox fire, to give you a little light on the way down. When you get to the bottom, the rope will go slack. Then you’re going to pull here to release the knot, step into the room, and look for Mama’s face in a window. If you open the window latch, we can climb inside.”
“What’s the treasure?”
“Candy. Here are a few pieces to keep your strength up and show you what we’re after.” I’m so practiced telling improbable fables to nubile wenches that I can do the same with four-year-old children.
He nodded solemnly, thinking, I believe, that if such a path was good enough for Sinterklaas, it was good enough for him. He was a brave little lad, and he had his parents’ curiosity. So down he went.
Harry slipped without jamming, dangling like a passive puppet as I’d instructed. The rope finally slackened and came loose. So far, so good.
Then I heard a growl, rumbling up the chimney as if it were a speaking trumpet.
Damnation! The cardinal had a dog after all. I braced for a scream and wail from my son, shouts from priests and guards, and maybe even gunshots. I froze on the roof ridge, as plain a target as the tin plate I’d used in Boulogne.
Instead, silence.
Heart hammering out of fear for my boy, I swiftly pulled the rope up, doubled it around the chimney, and dropped it down the roof to the Seine side of the palace. Then I slid along it over the side and looked for what I hoped would be there. Sure enough, a crossbow