David and Lisa were near the city of Ratisbon

They had been exploring the area for a few hours

David was carrying a paperback book detailing with all of Napoleon’s battles whilst Lisa was carrying a slim volume of poetry by Robert Browning

Do you realise that Napoleon stood on one of these mounds and watched the progress of the battle

I would have thought he would have been on horseback

Thank you for correcting me he was on horseback

What was noticeable about the area where the husband and wife stood was that it was covered deeply with red buttercups

Yellow buttercups covered the nearby fields but the mounds were covered by the vivid red buttercups

Why are the buttercups in this area red whereas they are their normal yellow elsewhere?

The answer is in your book

Explain

It is described in one of Mr Browning’s poems

Which one?

Incident of the French Camp

I believe that is the title of the work

Lisa sat down and looked through her book of poems

I cannot find the poem in my book

Then I shall tell you the story of why the buttercups here are red and the others are yellow

It all started with a boy soldier who was in the employ of Napoleon’s army

There were many and this lad was no different

He was not far out of boyhood but joined up I suppose in pursuit of adventure and glory at the emperor’s side

Well it was as he planted the Imperial flag within the walls of the besieged city that he received a mortal wound

He saw his emperor on a mound like this watching the battle and like the boy the emperor had been wounded although not as seriously

Indeed the emperors wound was trite

An injury to his right foot

But the boy was not to know this and he with a supreme effort mounted a horse and galloped towards Napoleon 

Although the boy was dying he dismounted and stood in front of his beloved emperor gripping the mane of the horse to steady himself

The boy announced the victory

Napoleon was greatly impressed by the courage of the dying boy who although in great pain showed no signs of his distress

You are wounded lad

The concern of his emperor touched the boy and his remaining strength began to ebb

I am killed Sire

These were the boy soldier’s final words and with a smile on his face he fell dead at the emperor’s feet

Although many on both sides died on that terrible day Napoleon was greatly moved by the boy’s death and ordered him buried where he fell

So the boy soldier is buried in this area?

Yes we might even be standing above his final resting place

How sad but how does this relate to the differing colours of the buttercups in this area?

Well as I said Napoleon had received a slight wound and the emperor noticed that the blood he had spilled was mingling with that of the boy soldier

We are joined a humble boy soldier and his emperor

Touch the red buttercups Lisa what do you feel

My hands have become sticky and stained red

Is your dress stained?

With a moment of feminine concern Lisa stood up and inspected her light dress

She found no stains

Do not worry the stains will fade when mixed with water and will not soil your clothing

But why?

I do not know maybe it was the emperor’s final command that only the hands if in contact with the flowers would exhibit the blood of the boy soldier and his beloved emperor  

That is one of the mysteries of this area

Napoleon fought many battles but the red buttercups only appear here

David handed a bottle of pure water to his wife and she began pouring it over her hands

The stains diluted and vanished almost immediately

Lisa again ran her fingers through the petals of the red buttercups

They became stained once more

She ran her fingers along the hem of her summers dress

It remained pristine

She touched the cover of her poetry book

See it remains only on your hands until you wash it off

It reminds me of the Blood of Christ

Christ died violently on the cross and many men died violently in the city that day

Maybe Christ wept and his tears stained the buttercups

We will never know

David took his wife’s unsoiled hand and helped her down the shallow mound

He smiled as the boy soldier had once done

I think it is now time for us to return to the city

It is peaceful now