My German Lover, Part 23, chapter 2

---THE REVENGE---

That day, on their way to Bagatelle, Paul and Will stopped by the presbytery, to pay the Vicar a visit.

When the Vicar opened the door and saw them standing there, he looked at them and said:

"Ah, there you are!!! I wanted to talk to you... Come in!"

Obviously, the Vicar was not in a very good mood...

Will didn't have time to close the door behind him that the Vicar was asking them:

"...What did you do to him?", he asked Paul...

"To whom?"

"...Marcel Foucarde! The guy who gave François a beating..."

"What do you mean? (...) We have done nothing...", Paul answered, with a very sincere look on his face... "Why do you ask?"

"... Early in the morning, two days ago... He was found stark naked, shaved all over his body, tied to a tree in the village square! No one touched him before noon... and from what I've been told, he had been whipped...", the Vicar answered...

"Wait, wait, wait...", Paul said... "I don't understand... What do you mean by "whipped"? And how come nobody untied him before noon?"

The Vicar gave Paul an angry look and said:

"...There was a sign at his feet..."

"A sign?", Paul said, stunned...

"Yes! A big sign! And it said something like:

<<"I have beaten a guy, just because
he is a homosexual.
I have been punished for my act.
Just look at me...
And if anybody do what I did,
He will receive the same punishment I did!
Don't untie me before noon, because if you do...
You'll be punished!">>

"I still don't understand...", Paul said...

"It's obvious, isn't it? Those who did it wanted to make an example... and they wanted the whole village to see him... and they succeeded...", the Vicar answered.

"Father, I swear to you I have nothing to do with it... I swear to you on my Grandmother's grave! I know nothing about it...", Paul said.

Then the Vicar turned to Will and looked at him...

"...No no... I swear to you... I have nothing to do with it... Paul made us swear we wouldn't exact revenge... and we did not! I swear!" Will told the Vicar.

"...I believe you... both of you. But I wonder who did it..."

"...I have no idea Father! I swear!" Paul answered with a very honest face.

"Alright... (...) I know what Foucarde did to François was very wrong, but it is not for us to render justice...", said the Vicar.

"Have the gendarmes (policemen) been called?", Paul asked...

"No! He refuses to talk... and he refused to call them. I don't know why...", The Vicar answered.

Later, Paul and Will went to Bagatelle, then to La Vacherie, where Lutz, Franz, Ludwig and François joined them...

After Paul had told them what had happened to Marcel Foucarde, Ludwig said:

"... I didn't do it! I swear to you... I have nothing to do with it..."

"Oh stop looking around for the guilty ones... I know who did it...", Lutz answered, grinning...

"What?", Paul shouted...

"You never made me swear anything, remember? (...) But I didn't do it myself..."

"Who did?"

"...Ah... well... You remember the guy from Berlin I told you about... He's in the SS, and works at the SS Headquater in Paris... A few times, he asked me to do him favours... and I've translated a few documents for him...."

"...Yeah? What about him?", Paul asked...

"...Well I called him... and I told him about what Marcel Foucarde had done to François... and I asked him if he thought he could teach him a lesson..."

"...Is this SS guy a gay?", Will asked...

"No, no... He's just a bit... sadistic, shall I say!", Lutz answered, laughing... "I wrote the sign they found near Foucarde, that's all I did!"

"(...)"

"Look Paul..." Lutz began to explain... "I told this SS guy about Foucarde... where he could find him... and I told him he needed a good lesson! But I told him not to kill Foucarde, and that I didn't want the guy to be permanently maimed... Except for that, he had free rein..."

"Oh my God!", Paul exclaimed... "Why did you do that for?"

"Foucarde and his friends are not only scums... They are also dangerous!" Lutz said... "François was not the first to be beaten like he was... And I thought about Jacques, his friend... He escaped, but he's still in hiding..."

"That's true Paul: We don't know where he is...", François said...

"Now, Jacques can come back to the village, knowing Foucarde and his friends will not try to beat him", Lutz continued to explain... "They are all too scared for that now... And if François wants to visit his mother, he has no reason to be afraid anymore: Foucarde and his alikes will stay away from him! (...) The gendarmes refused to do anything after François was beaten... I couldn't tolerate that! That's why I acted the way I did..."

"...He's right, Paul... The gendarmes did nothing... nothing at all! And why? Because François in gay, that's why!", Will said...

"...Well... Under the circumstances...", Paul started to say...

"...Look Paul: I would never have done what I did if the gendarmes had press charges against those scums... and if they had been brought to justice...", Lutz explained.