Part 5 (1/2)
”Then I will send a message to Sofia now.” Senora da Silva rose, her expression determined. ”The sooner this task is done, the better.”
”Your husband sent one other thing,” Will said as he pulled a small velvet pouch from his inside pocket. ”A gift for you.”
Curiously the older woman opened the pouch. The object inside was wrapped in soft cotton. She unwrapped the fabric, and a blaze of crimson jewels spilled across her hand. ”A ruby necklace!” she said, startled. ”He knows that I have always loved rubies. Dare I wonder where this came from?”
”If you fear that he tore these from the throat of a screaming Frenchwoman, the answer is no,” Will said firmly. ”There is often looting after battles, and it's not uncommon for a soldier to take what he can find, then later sell it to an officer for enough money to become drunk. That's my guess as to how Colonel da Silva acquired this. You can ask him when he comes home.”
”When he comes home,” she repeated, her face s.h.i.+ning. ”I would offer you hospitality, but I must begin the tasks I have been given.”
”And we must tour the valley,” Athena said with a glance at Will. ”Are you ready to learn the worst?”
”That's what I'm here for,” he said promptly. Meeting Athena Markham was just a lucky bonus.
Chapter 8.
When Will and Athena left the da Silva residence, they rode through a grove of trees. Some looked fairly intact, others had been partially destroyed, and too many were charred skeletons. ”Olive trees,” Athena said. ”Though the cork trees survive fire reasonably well, the olive and almond groves were badly damaged.”
Will's mouth tightened as he surveyed the damage. ”This kind of gratuitous destruction is vile. What did it profit them to destroy sources of food?”
”General Baudin seemed very fond of gratuitous destruction,” Athena said, her voice flat. ”He and his men were like a swarm of locusts, destroying everything they pa.s.sed over. The vineyards suffered even more.”
They emerged from the damaged grove and Will saw great stretches of terraced vineyards stepping their way down the south-facing hills to the river that ran through the heart of the valley. His mouth tightened when he saw that most of the vines had been burned. A few had survived and were now leafing, but the vast majority had been destroyed, leaving the desolate terraces marred by lifeless blackened vines.
”I'm told that grapes have been grown on these hills since before the time of the Romans,” Athena said. ”Now look at them! Baudin and his men were furious at how the Gabrilenos fled and concealed so much of value. Before they set the fires, they packed straw around the bases of the vines so the heat would destroy the roots. As you see, very few vines survived.”
”It will take several years to develop new vines, won't it?”
She nodded. ”Yes, even if there were good cuttings available, it would take years. And we have very few good cuttings.”
As they turned right to follow a narrow road that ran between two sets of terraces, Will asked, ”Where did people take refuge?”
”The valley has many caves, some very deep. Large enough to shelter everyone in San Gabriel along with a few of their most valuable possessions. Not everyone got to safety, but most did,” Athena explained. ”Part of our preparations was to disguise the cave entrances so they were difficult for strangers to find.”
”But the fields couldn't be hidden. I see wheat sprouting ahead of us.” He calculated the ripeness of the crops when the French had come through the year before. ”The invasion was before the harvest, wasn't it? Did they torch the fields?”
”Yes, and for an encore, they tore apart the valley gristmills. We'll ride by the largest mill later so you can see the damage. The mills are repairable, but we haven't been able to spare the labor to raise waterwheels and millstones. Not when there's no grain to grind and there are so many other urgent tasks.”
Colonel Duval had been right to worry about this little country. ”It must have been a hungry winter. Did the French take most of the livestock?”
”Yes, only a few of the best beasts could be hidden in the caves. They also carried off any other food they could find. Baudin's army probably didn't have to forage again until they were halfway across Spain.”
Will studied Athena's elegant, determined profile, thinking he'd never met a woman like her. ”How did people survive through the winter?”
Athena shrugged. ”I used my savings and persuaded my trustee to advance me this year's income. I suspect that he actually loaned me the money out of his own pocket. For which I'm grateful, because otherwise there would have been people dying of starvation. I was able to supplement the available food with staples like flour, beans, potatoes, and dried cod. I used the last of my funds to buy seed stock, but I couldn't get as much as was needed.”
Though starvation was a familiar legacy of war, Will hated to think of the inhabitants of this pleasant valley in such desperate straits. ”The Gabrilenos are lucky you're here. Feeding a whole country, even a small one, is an expensive proposition.”
”I'm not much of an heiress, if that's what you're wondering,” Athena said. ”But I inherited a bit of money from my mother, and my father pays a very small quarterly allowance with the understanding that I never, ever mention that I'm related to him.”
Will's mouth tightened. ”You'd best not tell me the family name or I'll be tempted to hunt your father down and hurt him when I return to England.”
”You needn't look so murderous,” Athena said. ”I'm a serious embarra.s.sment. I've always suspected that my mother might have seduced my father just to humiliate him. At least he felt some sense of responsibility. He didn't have to give me anything.”
”You're very forgiving.”
”Merely pragmatic. There is no point in wasting resentment on a man I only met once in my life. He acted as if I was something one of the dogs dragged in. But he didn't have me sent to the workhouse, for which I'm grateful.”
Dismissing the subject, she pointed ahead to where their current road met the river. ”You can see the remains of the bridge there. It was the only bridge in the central valley, so losing it causes a good deal of inconvenience. There's another bridge higher up the river, but using it makes journeys across the valley much longer.”
”I was sometimes seconded to help the engineers, and bridges were a specialty.” He studied the width of the river, the rus.h.i.+ng force of the water, and the stone piers that were all that remained of the old bridge. ”If timber is available and we can draft enough workers, it won't be hard to build a new one.”
”Both wood and labor are in short supply,” she said. ”Do you think the soldiers who returned with you would be willing to help rebuild?”
”Most have family obligations to attend to, but they'll surely contribute some time to such an important project. Which leaves the problem of timber.” Will gestured toward the sunny expanses of the valley. ”This part of the world doesn't have a lot of trees.”
”We'll find something,” Athena promised. ”Shall we continue on? A dam was destroyed on one of the creeks that leads into the river and it is also much missed.”
Will grinned. ”Bridges and dams are an engineer's notion of amus.e.m.e.nt. Lead on, Lady Athena.”
She laughed. ”I'm very glad you were Colonel da Silva's choice to come here!”
As he watched her face light up with laughter, Will was equally glad.
By the time Athena had shown Will the worst problems in the valley, it was time for lunch. She led the way to a favorite spot of hers when she was in the area. Long ago, someone had built a wooden bench inside a shallow cave that wasn't much more than a stone overhang. In front was a patch of soft gra.s.s and a dozen feet away, a spring emerged from the hill and pooled in a small stone basin perfect for horses or humans to drink from. The overhang was about halfway up the valley wall and gave a sweeping view of the river, farms, and vineyards.
While Will tethered the horses in a spot where they could enjoy water and gra.s.s, Athena unpacked her saddlebag and spread a cloth in the middle of the weathered bench. ”Sorry that lunch is another really simple meal,” she said as she set out packets of bread, cheese, and olives. Last to emerge was a jug of wine, a knife, and two st.u.r.dy gla.s.s tumblers.
”No apologies needed,” Will said as he settled down on the other end of the bench. ”Good food, good wine, a wonderful view, and most excellent company.” His gaze was warm.
Even without looking, she was very aware of Will's strength and presence. It was difficult not to stare at him. She'd given up trying to persuade herself that her attraction was merely because they were both English. She was attracted because he was unnervingly appealing. Intelligent, kind, quietly charming, and rather beautifully strong and handsome. Of course she noticed. She was human and female.
So be it. They could be friendly and speak English for a week or two, and then he'd leave and she'd never see him again. Not ever. So enjoy his company, and give thanks for his presence.
With an internal sigh at her foolishness, she poured wine. When she handed him a gla.s.s, he clinked it against hers. ”To San Gabriel!”
”To San Gabriel, and someday England!” Though heaven only knew if she'd ever make it back there. She sipped appreciatively as she gazed at the fields and terraces and the distant glint of the river. ”It's a luxury to relax and enjoy a beautiful day. Most of my time recently has been spent jumping from one crisis to another. Dealing with trees and missing the forest.”
”Metaphorically speaking,” he said with a wave at the mostly treeless valley.
”Metaphorical trees,” she agreed. ”But touring the valley has reminded me of just how much needs to be done. We barely made it through last winter. If more fields aren't planted soon, next winter might be even worse.”
Will cut a slice of cheese and laid it on a piece of bread. After swallowing a bite, he asked, ”If you could wave a magic wand, what would you ask for?”