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Sharpe's Sergeant	By : Sable899 Category: S through Z > The Sharpe Books Views: 1683 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Sharp series of books that this fanfiction is written for, nor do I know Sean Bean. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. This story is fiction.

Chapter List
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Chapter 30 Bayreuth, 2007

“Awright, what is aHeilenstalt und Altenflegeheim?” Sean asked as they drove through an ornate, wrought iron archway and up a white gravel drive that led to a classical Georgian-style mansion.

“It’s a sanatorium and seniors nursing home,” Camden explained, “and since your next question is going to be ‘What the bloody hell are we doing here?’ I can tell you we’re here to spring an old Gypsy woman who is going to tell us exactly what we have to do to get Sharpe back to where he belongs.”

“Awright, and what the blood-eh ‘ell am I here fer?” Sean puzzled as he parked the car in an open spot just past the massive front entry portico where signs indicated places for visitors, “and what do ya mean by ‘spring’?”

“This old woman has been committed to this institution ever since a court determined her to be mentally deficient because she claimed that she had been through a door to the past. The only way she can help us is to get her out of here. Since we would likely be locked up right alongside of her if we went in and claimed we needed her to help us send a supposed fictional character back to his own time and place, we need a diversion,” Camden detailed, “and you are going to be that diversion, Mister Hollywood Heartthrob.”

“And ya know all this because?” He quizzed as they exited the car and headed for the grand entrance of the old manor house.

“Back about eight years ago, when we first bought the old brewery building, was when this old woman was committed. She just happened to be living in it at the time and on the same day that she was to be removed to this place, we took possession of it. She was sitting in the entry hall with all her belongings packed up around her waiting on a great-grandson to finish loading them up into his van when I showed up to meet Hans and Hildi to make the final walk-through of the property when I met her. I don’t know why I didn’t remember it sooner, but her name was Zara Preis. Strange coincidence, right?” she paused until Sean nodded his head that he was following her story, “Even stranger is the fact that her maiden name was Pyecroft and her ancestors on the female side were Gypsies, one of whom she was named for who had married a Redcoat British officer in Wellington’s Army. She never knew how they had come to settle in the area following the final defeat of Napoleon, but it happened sometime in 1822.

“Awright, lass, now ye’ve got me attention,” Sean’s brow was deeply furrowed by this time as he began to understand what Camden was telling him and he stopped her before opening the sanatorium doors, “So ya think this woman knows how to send Sharpe back?”

“I don’t think it, I know it,” Camden stated definitely, “for two reasons; one, because she had this ancient book on her lap and looked like she was guarding it with her life, a book that was covered with all sorts of mystic runes, and two, because of something she said to me. She said that one day I would receive two men. “The first will come to you to heal his soul; the other will come to you to help him find his way home. Together, they will heal your heart.” I always thought she was just some crazy old woman. But, now I understand what she meant.”

“Ya think me soul needs mending?” Sean asked with a puzzled frown.

“Ask yourself why you needed to find me? Why did you pursue me?” she questioned, “When I thought I had made it clear that I was not of a like mind by running out on you.”

“I’ve never puzzled that out, reall-eh,” he thought aloud, “I know ya touched me in a way I’d not been touched for a long time, but ya also wounded me pride by runnin’ out on me afore I could learn abaht ya. Yer not regrettin’ everything that’s ‘appened between us, are ya?”

”You can thank God for the gifts you have been given,” Camden declared, “they sure worked on me and I haven’t regretted a single minute. And that bloody bastard Sharpe…I’m certainly not the same person I was before the two of you dropped into my nice neat life.”

“To be honest, I’ve been jealous o’ Sharpe ever since he showed up,” Sean admitted with a bit of embarrassment.

“Even after what happened this morning in the woods?” Camden grinned uncontrollably.

“To be certain, tha’s not somethin’ I suppose he’s goin’ to be experiencin’ any time soon!” he quickly exclaimed, “I reall-eh should be angry over you shaggin’ ‘im last night, but fer some reason, I just can’t bring meself to it. Do ya think yer Gypsy woman can explain that fer me?”

“Well, we’ll just have to ask her, but first, we’ve got to break her out of this place,” Camden answered, pushing past Sean and forging ahead into the lobby of the old building, “Now get in here and work your magic, Mister Sex on Legs, and try to cause as much havoc as you can.”

“So what exactly did you do to cause such a fuss?” Camden questioned as the car headed back down the Bayreuth highway towards Grafenwoehr, “I mean, there must have been thirty little old ladies all trying to grab your arse, back there? And those two nurses? They really had hold of you good!”

As Camden was coming out of a side entrance close to the car park pushing Zara Preis in a wheelchair, Sean had been running out the front door with two burly nurses and a gaggle of elderly ladies trying to run after him as he headed straight down the drive for the main gate. By the time she got Zara settled in the back seat and pulled the car alongside a clearly horrified Sean, he had gone nearly a mile down the road.

“Abaht fookin’ time ya showed up!” he gasped as he jumped into the front seat of the car. He was gasping for air as he collapsed against the back of the seat, his face and neck flushed cherry red.

“Some of your fans get a little too up close and personal there?” Camden attempted to tease only to have his green death gaze turned on her, so she promptly shut up.

"Bugger me! Nearly pinched me arse clean off!" Sean exclaimed once he had recovered enough breath to speak coherently, “So much fer you and yer big ideas! Never again!”

“So tell us what happened?” Camden prodded as she choked back a laugh.

“Well…I…they…they…” Sean garbled, “Tis too humiliatin’…and them nurses! I don’t know much German, but I know when a lass is demandin’ a shag! And did ya see the size o’ them two? Bleedin’ sumo wrestlers! One even got her hands down me trousers and grabbed me ferret! I were bleedin’ lucky ta get out alive!”

After recovering from a bout of raucous laughter, Camden gave Sean a hasty introduction to the Zara the old Gypsy woman and then left Sean to recover from his ordeal and catch a quick nap as she drove on back to her flat. The day was growing late as she helped Zara up the steps to deliver her to a waiting Mama Hildi who had a late lunch and a room ready for the old woman. Sean and Camden had no sooner turned to head upstairs when Hildi shouted for them to wait.

“She says she has something for you,” Hildi called out as Camden turned to go back, “Not you Cammie, him. She wants him alone.”

A wary Sean had to be pulled forward by Camden before he would move an inch of his own accord. Finally, after some coaxing from Camden and some scolding from Mama Hildi, he sat on an ottoman opposite the old woman. She motioned him to lean forward and to take a withered hand. He did as she directed and when she closed her hand around his, he went perfectly still, barely blinking his eyes.

Reaching under the cover of the ancient leather-bound book that she had kept tightly in her arms during the break from the nursing home, she pulled out a parchment envelope. Offering it to Sean, he wordlessly took hold of it, expecting her to give it over. But, she held tight to one end while he held the other.

“The one who told of well-done deeds, in the Northern Dales found Rabelaise,” Zara began to recite some strange prose in a clear, mellowed voice in lightly accented English, as she locked her eyes with his, “His studies took him far away to Sinbad’s Tales of the Seven Seas. A bloodline found thought once erased, gone round the world in eighty days. Old friends endured through war and peace, to see true paradise regained. Sharper thoughts but did prevail; to thwart the aims of the tavern knight. The unknown son did find his way, to deliver justice at the poison tree. The mirror image unbidden came, with pride and prejudice did save the day.”

When she finished, she let go of the envelope and sat back in the upholstered chair and let out a long sigh, as if she had been waiting a lifetime to say those strange phrases. Released from the near spell she had held him in, Sean inspected the parchment envelope. It was held closed by a red wax seal imprinted with a runic symbol; on the front, he could make out a fine flowery script that spelled out “For Shaun”.

“I’ve been waiting many years for you to come,” her voice brightened and her face lit up with a pleased smile, “A dream came to me many times when I was a young girl and left me with those words. I’ve never understood what they meant, but I am certain that you have the knowledge buried within you to sort them out. You are the mirror image of the man who got misplaced. And, your name was spelled Shaun when the dream first came to me. There is a bond between you that you have yet to uncover that will see him home safe.”

Sean knew he had been dismissed when the old woman closed her eyes and tipped her head back against the headrest. Camden waited for him outside the door, anxious to hear what Zara had said, but then she saw Sean’s head bent studying the envelope; she felt it was something that was incredibly private.

The closer to her door at the top of the stairs she got, the louder the noise grew. It sounded as if there was a Super Bowl party going on. Shouting and cheering over the sound of a blaring television and the rattle of empty beer bottles gave her an ominous foreboding. The door was wide open when she arrived at the top landing and her entry was greeted by a joyous cheer as she assessed the chaos that her living room had become.

Her sofa and bed pillows were scattered on the floor in front of the television center, an unknown number of beer bottles were lying everywhere, empty potato chip bags and candy bar wrappers were crumpled and thrown in the general direction of the trash can and Smitty , Sharpe and Rich Moore were sprawled out watching what looked and sounded like Sharpe’s Honour. With every bit of action on the screen, they were acting like a crowd of fans watching their favorite football team score a goal. When the action would die down, Rich Moore would fast forward to the next scene that looked interesting.

“Hey, Sarge!” Smitty called when he finally noticed her and Sean standing just inside the front door, “You’re just in time, pizza is due any minute.”
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Sharpe's Sergeant