Blood and Diamonds.

[Alwyn]

I think it's good that you include the reason for the traitor's betrayal of the fortress and I like the line about an entire army being fooled by a single man.

[Owlparrot3]

Thanks you so much for commenting Alwyn .Your inspiration is ,is like fuel to me .The story is now on a very important turn .I just am not getting the right time to write down .Maybe in a few hours time .

[Owlparrot3]

Chapter 21 .

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

January 1912 .

"Umm Mr.Trent " shouted the other man suddenly .With his other hand he motioned to the second man to stop .
The second man stopped .
Then the first man began to speak .
"Mr.Trent ,your story is the best one my weak mind has ever heard .That and your bunch of lawyers prevent me from punching your face and patiently listen .But even i am a human being after all .Much as i would like to listen in detail ,i dont have the luxury of time .Macmohan and his gang are wrecking up the streets of south London and O'Henryquies and his whisky drinkers are stealing from pious priests near the cathedral .So umm ,could you skip atleast some things and move ahead .I mean ,what important thing happened next ' .
"Ok then ,as you wish" said the second man .
"Good ,what happened next " asked the first man .
"Nothing really too different from Macmohan or O'Henry " replied the second man .
"Huh ,they are gangsters ,not soldiers " said the first man .
"What makes you think that these events were any different than a gang war ,it was a gang war fought by generals and soldiers ,i lacked the order or discipline of a regular war sir .The Belgians had discipline but they neither knew the inner terrains well ,nor did they have the numbers and the enemy had the numbers and knew the terrain but they lacked discipline and modern firearms in large quantities ,the war know ground down .Until Nyangwe " said the second man .
"What ,why Nyangwe in particular ,what did it change for the Belgians " asked the first man .
"It changed nothing for the Belgians ,it changed many things for me though " said the second man .
Then drinking a glass of water ,the second man continued his story .

By the end of February 1893 the Belgians had made good progress according to the common people of the Congo(Though the press back in Brussels may think otherwise) and only the important fort estate and slave trading capital of Nyangwe remained .Sefu knew that if he lost another battle here ,then he would have to sue for peace.

After a brief skirmish in the dark swamps near the town and a brief siege ,the Belgians had secured an upper hand .

After the Waginia or the water people helped ,there was no turning back .The Arabs lost heavily to the Krupp gun .People like William had no work to do for a change ,the Krupp gun could do it all .

Finally Sefu Bin Hamid called for peace .

Now the Belgians hardly even listened to the peace and prepared to march to Kasongo next (Where they would later find the bodies of their ambassadors to Tippu's court) but William had a surprise for him .A few days after taking Nyangwe ,a letter arrived from the capital of the Free state of the Congo .It only said .

William Trent
I am coming .You are to follow the escort(who brought this latter)to the capital at Boma .
Kruger ..

The escort was a tall man called Montaique .He was powerfully built and had been chosen by Kruger for such tasks like escorting his 'agents'.The ride back to Boma was strange ,the escort did not speak much to William and neither did the latter talk anything to the man .

But they both kept their guns at the ready ,had it not been for the fact that this was secret stuff ,nobody in their right minds would have travelled the lonely highways during these times of war .

[Owlparrot3]

Chapter 22 .

At Matadi the escort even had a canoe ready ,so much secrecy had to be maintained that only one lone black was allowed to work the canoe .From here on to Boma they would have to sail up the Congo river .The real danger started now because there had been rumours of another Kawga(The tribe that William and the Belgians had routed at the beginning) uprising in the forest between Boma and Matadi .

The forest was noisy .Everywhere William could hear the callings of the birds and smaller animals .In between the swampy trees on the banks ,William once thought he had seen what looked like an elephant too ,but then ,it was too far to hunt given their present situation . Montaique's silent stares were even more disturbing and made the whole thing seem chaotic in a strange way .
But then after about a few moments of their 4th hour William could suddenly here a stranger sound ,one that he had heard somewhere before ,but could not remember .But as they apparently came nearer to the source ,he could now make it out ,it was the sound of a steamer .

For once Montaique smiled .Ah ,finally they would see some white faces apart from their own .It must be a Belgian or atleast a German boat .

Montaique removed his scarf and started waiving it in the air hoping to attract their attention .

For a few moments William smiled ,then he too was about to stand up when Montaique's scarf was blown apart savagely .It was only seconds later that another sound came .
BANG .

William's hand quickly went to his Lee-Metford ,Montaique also ducked under and reached for his Winchester .As William now turned his head towards the third man on the boat ,he was shocked .
A clean bullet had one through his white headdress and the native boatman was gone!

It was only after 3 more bullets that the two of them left the canoe and dived under water .

William was a very trained swimmer ,but despite being a diplomat ,his partner wasn't bad either .More shots now splashed in the water around them .Once Montaique ,peeked overhead to take in a breathe and a bullet almost hit his head .

Suddenly ,some other sounds began to be emitted .They were loud and they were followed by many splashes of bullets .

It was only after a minute that William figured it out ,it was a Gatling gun.

Now William panicked ,so did Montaique ,both of them swam like there was no tomorrow .

Both reached the river bank at the same time ,Montaique had managed to equal William merely because he had swam with an extra dose of adrenalin that William's trained mind hadn't allowed to overtake his intellect.

Finally they managed to reach to safety inside the forest .
Their unknown pursuers hadn't given them chase .

About 50 meters inside the forest, William quickly scaled a tree and watched with his binoculars .What he saw sent a chill down his spine ,
1)It was an iron steamer .
2)It had a half torn Belgian flag ....................which hanged from the anchor .
3)The flag actually hoisted on top was the red of the sultan of Zanzibar .
4)On the steamer was a lone gatling gun .

and on the deck were what appeared to be Kawga people dancing merrily on board .
Even as he looked down ,he saw that Montaique had fallen down .

A quick check for breathing proved that he was alive but hadn't been able to digest all that adrenalin .

"Ah ,now i will have to drag this hunk of a man" said William to himself even as he pulled Montaique by his coat .

[Owlparrot3]

Chapter 23 .

It was night and William was remembering his instructions that he had learned back in the day .Montaique was still pretty weak but he could open his eyes atleast .
They did have some bananas ,but William's more immediate problem was making a fire .
He resumed to remember .He could clearly visualize the fat captain Jefferson with his European moustache barking the instructions even as he began preparing a fire bed .

"Behave like men ,not girls . Select a site away from trees, bushes, and other plant material. Your fire bed should be on bare earth, not grass (especially dead grass). If you can’t find a bare area, make your own by digging and raking away plant material, taking particular care in clearing away all dry plant material. Dry grass, branches, and bark catch fire easily.

After you’ve cleared the area, it’s time to make your bed. Gather in dirt and place it in the center of your cleared area. Form the dirt into a “platform” that’s about 3-4 inches thick."

After that was done ,William now set about building his fire .

By that time ,Montaique had woken up .His manly pride hurt ,he too stepped ahead in a rush only to fall down again like a sack of stones .

"Mr.Montaique ,you must rest now ,tomorrow we will deal with this grave situation " said William .
"What intrigues me is how did those good for nothing animals manage to procure a steamer and a Gatling gun" asked Montaique .

Just then William suddenly wired off to one side as a hail of bullets swarmed upon them .Montaique almost invisible in the darkness was not shot at .But William could swear that they were literally emptying all their rifles into him .
Left or right ,where could he go ,even as he wondered ,he saw a symbol ,then someone knocked him out and then all was peaceful.....................................................................

[Owlparrot3]

Chapter 24 .

"What happened was very bad Mr.Trent" said Kruger .
The date was 1st of April 1893 .

It had been a couple of day after those strange events in the forest .

William had seen a lot since then .
First their rescue by Belgian soldiers .Then, the capture of the enemy boat .William had not been able to see the trails .Neither Kruger, in who's house William was currently sitting now .

Yes, after two years of acting like ghosts, the two men, both legends in their respective fields had finally met face to face .The occasion was also important. Kruger now needed William for more personal jobs now that the war was almost won .
But currently he pretended that he had called William there just for their friendship and for other matters like his daughter's final-before-wedding trip to the Congo .

"Say your highness, what happened to those treasonous men on that boat ?" asked William enjoying a fine piece of steak .

"To tell you the truth Mr.Trent, even i have no idea ,the boat had been stolen from the private company, so they were given direct authority to handle the trail themselves, by order of the king ." said Kruger sipping his wine .

"Ah, how is Montaique fairing" asked William . That poor man had been heavily wounded and had been taken for treatment to a very experienced military doctor who was currently fighting on the front .

"He is good, i personally corresponded with Dr.Mattern, he says the man is fine, i have decided to award a grant of money to him" said Kruger .

By that time, both men had finished dinner and so in a very socially correct manner, they both stood up and went to their respective quarters .

The next day William was woken up by a knock on his door. He had been granted a very palatial room in Kruger's 'Afrikaa' palace .
It was an attendant .

"Mr.Trent sir, you are expected to meet the duke in an hour from now" said the attendant .
"Of course my man, tell him i am coming" said William .

When William arrived at the hall, Kruger was not alone .With him was a strange looking noble man .But he was obviously ugly and must have been atleast about 35 years old .He was overdressed and wore odd looking posh clothes .

"Mr.Trent, this is Baron De Traux, he is the owner of the Flanders rubber company and he also had many other business like transportation .That unfortunate boat belonged to his company .
But most of all, he is my son-in-law" said Kruger .

In his mind William was shocked "The old coot is marrying off his beautiful daughter to this ugly man " said William to himself .

On the baron's shirt were many badges and symbols .But one of those symbols struck out in William's mind .

"Gracious sir, i am pleased to meet you " said William to De Traux .

"My pleasure Mr.Trent" said the man extending a handshake which William lightly accepted .

"Mr.Trent here is the best that you will get all over the Congo to get the job done" said Kruger to De Traux .

"Umm,what job your highness?" asked William .

"Mr.William, my company needs your help to quell a rubber workers rebellion just outside town " said Traux .

"But why me?" asked William .

"The rebellion hasn't happened yet" said Traux grinning .

[Alwyn]

It sounds like De Traux has a devious plan (either that or he can see the future)!

[Owlparrot3]

Chapter 24 .

"Look Mr.Trent, the main issue is that a man named, Leon Deguise works as the head of an unofficial labour union .His labour union represents all the workers of my company in the Congo .He is spreading dissent among the workers .Now had he been a common man, i would have easily gotten rid of him, however that is not the case .This man, as you would have guessed from name is actually the youngest son of a minor aristocrat back home .Most of the property would not come his way.What little would come, he is saving up .He is an adventurer .
Now knowing that he needs money and adventure both, the anarcho liberal party has sent him down here along with a few more conspirators .
I was oblivious of it all, until a few days ago when one of my spies reported me of their connection with the anarcho liberal party .
That man needs to be put down" said De Traux .

They were sitting in De Traux's office a day later from when they first met .

"But your highness, killing uncouth blacks and natives is easy, nobody cares, but these people are connected, i might get in trouble with the law " reasoned William .

"I will arrange everything, if you do as i say, then nobody gets in any trouble, even if you do get in trouble, i will bail you out and arrange to have the case put down in a mere few days. But we won't even come to that" said De Traux .

"Err, your highness, the risk is still there so erm....................................................."

"What?" asked De Traux looking at William's sheepish face .

"My price is going to be high" said William in a more confident tone .

"Ah" De Traux's face lit up .

"Of course of course Mr.Trent, you just quote your own price, will be paid, i know that you take payments in 75% dollars and 25% Francs, it will be deposited" said De Traux .

"So where should i kill him?" asked William .

De Traux quickly answered "Killing my sir, is a very harsh word, we are putting down none, but the opposition to a bright future of Lassiez faire, anyway, Deguise is going to go an a small hunt with some friends next week, they are going deep in the forest, you must ambush them there, take some native warriors with you and make sure to paint your fac..................................."

"Umm, leave that to me sir, i know how to fight like a native, nobody will know that it was anything but a native raid" said William confidently .

"Ah, of course, i expect nothing less from a man of your talents, i excuse you" said De Traux smiling .

"Your majesty" said William bowing and then he left .

Alone in his room that night, William pondered over a few questions, why was he killing for the sake of these people, hadn't he come here to fight and kill Arabs ?
And why was he fighting for a man like De Traux, a man about whom William had several doubts, he remembered those symbols on the ship that ambushed them, the symbol at the Arab fort on the Lonami river, the news about Bremen that Kruger had given to him .The cache of latest rifles at that weapons storage with that order message pinned to the wall .

Things had by now become crystal clear to William's mind .

"Then why am i doing this for that .............that traitor" asked William to himself .

Quickly his mind returned to its senses .Huh, who cares about killing a few Belgian fools in a forest, after all , were they any better than those Arabs !

[NorseThing]

Catching up on my reading. Glad to see you are pushing forward with this tale. I am also interested on what form the rebellion will take and whether our 'hero', William Trent, will survive the ensuing chaos of rebellion. Rebellions are so unpredictable. You can light the match. You can fan the flames. But then the flames take over and anything can happen. +rep for many of the posted updates!

[Owlparrot3]

Chapter 25 .

It was an easy game .William had 7 Askaris with him, and there were just 6 Europeans to be dealt with .It was just as if De Traux was throwing his money away .William couldn't understand why De Traux needed a specialist like William to do such a pushover job .

William decided to strike while they all gathered at camp(After a morning full of hunting) for an afternoon break .

At the moment that they were all sitting around the fire, roasting the rabbits, William whispered to the Askari .

"Each one, take one white man and pin him to the ground" .

The Askari obeyed .Within seconds 5 white men were surrounded and pinned to the ground by 5 Askaris .

William personally pinned down Leon Deguise, then he shouted to the other Europeans in Swahilli(They all knew that language) "Listen up(William's face was painted black along with his body), i am now going to slit this man's throat, then i will be gone, but if anyone of you refuses to cooperate, then there is no concievable reason that i might not also kill the rest of you" .

Then, he did the dirty job .

Suddenly one of the Europeans cried "Lancers,lancers, they have come to save us"

"What" shouted William in English .

Lancers, about a dozen of them, they surrounded the Askari.
One of the Askaris tried to resist, the lancers shot him down .

William put his hands up, next to him was the dead body of Leon Deguise ."Mr. William Trent" shouted one of the lancers .

"You are under arrest for murder and manslaughter" said the lancer .

Then the lancer came near William(Who had put his hands up) and punched him savagely in the face .Then all went black as the world seemed to collapse around him .

[Alwyn]

It sounds like the lancers have guns as well as lances and that William is in big trouble. I wonder what he'll do next.

[Owlparrot3]

It sounds like the lancers have guns as well as lances and that William is in big trouble. I wonder what he'll do next.

In Blooddddddddd and Diamondsssssssssssss you never know anything, you can never tell anythinggggggggggggggg.
Thanks for commenting Alwyn.Somehow, these last few days, my interest in writing this has come back .


To Norse Thing -Thanks to you also for commenting .As i always say, you comments are like fuel to me .Blood and Diamonds is 65 % done .We are now on the shattering thrilling road to the climax and then the end. So read on !!!!!!!!!!!!

[The Wandering Storyteller]

I'll be commenting on this where I can!

[Owlparrot3]

I'll be commenting on this where I can!

Thank you very much .

[Owlparrot3]

Attention people - I am not going to continue this story for now because compared to other stories(And they are really good), my story hardly gets any viewers. Not to say, nobody, there are quite a few interested, but then, too few in comparison, hence i have decided to abdicate.

I am always advised by everyone, on the internet and in RL to write for yourself, for your own happiness, but i say that
1)Emotionally i am not that strong when it comes to my stories.
2)Yes, write for yourself, but i need some kind of reward, yes, you may call me a businessman, that i am. In the case of my stories, Losing something makes me feel sad and thus i have given up.

But don't worry, this might even be a subconscious excuse for a new project of mine .
So watch out,
thanks for reading to all of you .
Thanks again, cheers
mad orc(And from Norse Thing too !)

PS -And a big thanks to all those viewers who haven't made an account on TWC as well for the love.

[Owlparrot3]

Its an emotional moment for me, i have always compared Blood and Diamonds to a certain story here on CW, despite starting some time after that particular story, my humble story always seems to be ahead on the number of views, despite having no updates for so long and despite that story having updates in that period, my story still has more viewers, if i don't bring this one back from the dead then it would be a..............a...........fanatical crime towards my readers.

Watch out for new updates, I am crying of emotions.

[Owlparrot3]

Chapter 26.

When he woke up, William was in a typical sort of room that we see in stories and paintings, two big burly men, one of them holding an iron rod, stood over him, he himself tied with secure ropes.

Currently the bigger of the two men barked

"Why did you do it?" he asked.

William laughed.

To this, the man let out his steam furiously and hit him hard on the face with the iron rod, then suddenly everything went black again.

When he woke p again, William immediately shielded his face to defend against any more attacks, but to his utter surprise he wasn't in a torture cell, he was lying on a soft bed in what appeared to be a royal room filled to the brim with Indian tiger mattresses, Arabian incense sticks, French curtains and a Prussian sword hung on the wall.

On seeing him wake up, a sound to his right suddenly shouted
"He has woken up" said the feminine voice.

Then a minute later, even before he could see who's voice it had been, the person left the room, another two minutes later, to his astonishment he saw Kruger himself come inside. William tried to stand up but grunted when he couldn't.

"No no, you must rest, let the wounds heel" said Kruger.

"I have sacked the foolish captain who was the cause of all your suffering, liberal gloryhounds have no place in this cursed land, he has already boarded the ship back to Brussels, I am very sorry for your hardships Mr.Trent, so is Mr. De Traux, he has decided to double your fee for the excellent job that you did, we have insured that no one found any proof, Leon the liberal died in a bandit attack by an 'Unknown white renegade' ." said Kruger smiling.

"Thank you for everything sir, as for the wounds and its inflicter, i am sorry for him, though he should have known better" said William.

"You are absolutely correct, i am however here for making another announcement, when you are well again, i have a new and vastly different job for you, from all the previous jobs that i have given to you." said Kruger.

"What?" asked William. There we go again moment.

"There are some major issues and hence i am giving you a monumental responsibility" said Kruger.

"What?" asked William again growing impatient.

"You see, I have heard rumours that my political enemies from back home have paid someone very high bounties to bump me off, hence I no longer trust any Belgium personnel, but i trust you Mr.Trent, I want you to server as a secret bodyguard for my immediate family, me and my daughter, it is a great honour and reward for you" said Kruger.

"Of course sir, I am honoured and I can't say it in words" said William.

"Yes" said Kruger.

"But sir, may i ask, what do you mean by secret" said William.

"That's because your official job is going to be quarter sweeper" ordered Kruger, then a second later he abruptly left.

[Alwyn]

An interesting development, I wonder how difficult it will be for William to do both of the jobs which he is now expected to do.

[Owlparrot3]

An interesting development, I wonder how difficult it will be for William to do both of the jobs which he is now expected to do.

Yes, even I hope that he is able to do everything good.

Thanks for commenting.

[Owlparrot3]

If you have any criticism, then please tell, is this story becoming boring, if so, then please tell me.
This will greatly help me.
Thanks.