Young Bloods by Simon Scarrow Page B

laughing nervously. Kicking spurts of snow up behind him Napoleon ran after them, but he was too small and too slow, and they kept their distance easily. After a few more steps he gave up and stopped, breathing heavily as he shouted after them, ‘Come back and fight! Cowards! Cowards! Cowards …’
    ‘Napoleon!’
    He glanced round and saw his brother warily approaching. Joseph held up his hand, a concerned expression on his face. ‘Napoleon. Calm down … Calm yourself.’
    Napoleon continued breathing deeply as he lowered his fists and felt the tight tension in his chest begin to ease, flowing out of his body like a poison and leaving him feeling cold and weary. Joseph stepped up to his side and put an arm around his brother’s shoulders.
    ‘You’re shivering. Come inside. We’ll go to the boot room - there’s a fire there where we can warm up. Come.’
    He steered his brother towards the outbuildings behind the school, away from the boys in the courtyard. Some still jeered, hoping to provoke another explosion of rage, but quickly lost interest as Napoleon allowed himself to be led away.They entered the boot room and Joseph shut the door. Wooden boot racks stretched down one side of the room, each one numbered for one of the pupils. On the other side, flanking the fireplace, were rows of pegs. This was where wet footware and coats could be dried and the atmosphere was warm and humid, and smelled musty. Joseph pulled up a pair of stools, positioned them in front of the glowing grate and eased his brother down.
    ‘You missed breakfast. You must be hungry. Here.’ Joseph pulled a hunk of bread out of one pocket and a small lump of hard cheese from the other. He smiled. ‘I saved these for you.’
    Napoleon looked at the offerings for a moment before he reluctantly accepted them with a nod of thanks. He began to eat, and soon appetite got the better of him and he gnawed hungrily on the cheese. Joseph watched him for a moment, and then reached for another log from the woodpile and placed it over the glowing embers in the grate.
    ‘Feeling better?’
    ‘Yes. Thank you.’
    ‘What are brothers for?’ Joseph grinned. ‘I’m supposed to look after you.’
    ‘I can look after myself.’
    ‘Yes. I noticed.You were doing a fine job …’
    Napoleon glared at him, and his brother could not help laughing as he wagged a finger at him. ‘Now don’t you start that again! I was just joking.’
    For a moment the familiar wild expression burned in Napoleon’s eyes. Then he relented and turned his gaze towards the fire as Joseph continued, ‘You really must stop reacting like a madman every time someone says something.You have to control that temper. I thought you wanted to be a soldier.’
    ‘I do.’
    ‘Well, you can’t go mad in the middle of a battle.You have to have a cool head, especially if you want to be an officer.’
    Napoleon considered this, and reluctantly nodded his agreement. ‘I will learn to control my feelings one day.’
    ‘You’d better learn sooner than that,’ Joseph said quietly.
    His brother looked at him curiously. ‘Why do you say that?’
    ‘Because you’ll be leaving Autun next month.’ Joseph forced himself to smile.
    ‘What are you talking about?’
    ‘Father has sent us a letter. I found it on my bed at the start of break. That’s why I came to find you outside. Just in time, it seems.’
    Napoleon stiffened his back and held out his hand.‘Let me see the letter.’
    Joseph’s cold fingers fumbled inside his coat for a moment, before emerging with a folded sheet of paper bearing a broken wafer seal. He passed it to Napoleon and the young boy opened the letter out and began to read, his eyes eagerly scanning the spidery lines of his father’s script.
    ‘Brienne.’ He looked round at Joseph and smiled. ‘A military college.’
    ‘Just what you wanted.’
    ‘Yes …’ Napoleon’s smile faded as he glanced back at the letter and read it again, quickly. ‘He doesn’t