Part 8 (1/2)
”How many weapons are available?” Will asked. ”The cavalrymen are armed, but more ammunition will be needed.”
”There are blacksmiths in both the town and Santo Espirito who can make musket b.a.l.l.s,” Senor Oliviera said. ”I shall find how much lead they have.”
After a few more minutes of discussion, Sofia rose to signal the end of the meeting. ”You give me great hope, Major Masterson. My thanks for offering us the benefit of your experience.” She inclined her head to Murphy. ”Travel safely, Sergeant Murphy, and go with our thanks.” Then she daintily covered a yawn. ”And now to bed, where tonight I will have good dreams!”
Most of the group left, talking animatedly. Athena smiled fondly after Sofia. Her little sister of the heart was becoming a queen.
Chapter 12.
Only Athena and Will remained in the family sitting room. ”That went well,” she said. ”Most Gabrilenos have been numb since the French invasion. All their energy went into surviving and there wasn't much left for looking ahead. Your offer to bring in workmen and materials has changed that.”
He shrugged. ”That helps, but I think much of the energy comes from the young men like Gilberto Oliviera returning home. A few now, many more soon. They are the leaders of the future.”
”There will be marriages and festivals and new babies.” Athena moved to the drinks cabinet and took out a corked bottle and two tumblers. ”But for now, would you like some of our brandy-fortified wine?”
”A good way to end a long day.” He accepted the drink and took a sip. ”Very nice! San Gabriel wines can hold their own with those of the lower Douro Valley.”
Not ready to go to bed, Athena said, ”It's a clear night. Would you like to go up to the roof and see the stars?”
He gave her a warm smile. ”That's even better than brandy. I'll take the bottle, since I enjoy looking at the sky.”
Athena collected a shawl that always hung in the family room and a candlestick and led the way to the stairwell that ran up the tallest tower. Several flights of steps up brought them onto the tower's flat roof. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the crisp, cool air. The moon was only a sliver, so the stars were brilliant in the night sky.
Athena crossed to the gazebo, which by day commanded sweeping views of the mountains and the valley. As she settled on the inside bench, she explained, ”The tower is a popular place to enjoy the breeze and the view, so Uncle Carlos built the gazebo. In better days, there were great tubs of flowers here, but this year it didn't seem like a good use of time and effort.”
”Next summer there will be flowers here again.” Will sat beside her, the bench creaking a little under his weight. ”On a clear day, you can probably see almost to Porto.”
”Not that far, but it's possible to see almost all of San Gabriel. That cl.u.s.ter of lights to the north is Santo Espirito.”
”So peaceful up here.” He glanced at her, his face a pale oval in the night. ”Here's a question for you. You want to return to England, but you seem to feel you won't fit in well there. How do you envision your ideal living situation?”
”More questions, Will?” she said with amus.e.m.e.nt. ”At least this one is fairly painless. I'd like to live in a London neighborhood inhabited by mad poets and artists and musicians. That way I won't stand out, except for my height. What about you? Will you be content to rusticate on your Oxfords.h.i.+re estate? Or will you become a Member of Parliament so you can live part of the year in London?”
He laughed. ”I'll never be an MP, but I will spend some of the year in London. Spring is a good time to catch my friends there. They're an intelligent lot, so talking with them will prevent me from becoming completely countrified.”
”School friends? Army friends?”
”Both. Plus, my brother spends a good part of his time in London. I look forward to seeing him face-to-face regularly. Letters are not the same.”
”Perhaps I'll find such friends among the mad poets and artists,” she mused. ”And if I meet any of the dreadful girls I went to school with, I'll give them the cut direct.”
”Or you can say casually that you've just returned to England after a lengthy stay with your friend the Princess Maria Sofia del Rosario Alcantara.”
Athena laughed. ”I like that idea.” The breeze was cool, so she wrapped her shawl more closely. ”I hope Mr. Ballard is swift at collecting the men and materials you requested.”
”He's very efficient and, from his letters, a little restless, so I'm sure he'll do well by us,” Will said. ”It's been a couple of years since I've been able to visit Justin in Porto. I'm looking forward to seeing him again.”
Athena frowned. ”It's been five years since I've been in Porto. Have they repaired the damage from when the French captured the city?”
”They were working on it, but there was still much to be done. I'm sure you heard about the collapse of the bridge of boats that caused the drowning of huge numbers of fugitives from French troops?”
Her mouth twisted. ”If I answer this, I must be allowed to use it for a future 'worst experiences' question. I didn't just hear about that day of horrors. I was there.”
”Good G.o.d, how did you come to be caught up in that?” Will exclaimed as he turned on the bench to stare at her, his shock visible even in the starlit darkness.
”After Sofia's mother died, she was sent to a convent school in Porto. She was miserable and begged to be allowed to come home,” Athena explained. ”Because Uncle Carlos was worried about her and also about the threat from the French, he wrote and asked me to collect Sofia in Porto and bring her home, then stay on as her tutor and companion until she was of age.”
”I gather you arrived in Porto shortly before the French attack?”
Athena swallowed hard. ”My timing was atrocious. When I arrived at the convent, I was invited to stay a few days to tell the students about my travels. Two days after I arrived, the French attacked. One of the devils broke into the convent, which had only a low wall around it. He was drunk and violent and he began shouting for the prettiest nun in the house, since he'd always wanted to have a nun. I . . . I got his rifle away from him and . . . shot him.” She swallowed hard.
”It's not easy to kill a man.” Will's warm, strong hand closed over hers comfortingly. ”Even if it's necessary. The sisters were fortunate that you were there.”
”They were gentle souls, so you're right. I doubt any of them had ever shot a gun, much less a man.” She s.h.i.+vered at the memory. ”The sounds of battle were drawing nearer and the house wasn't secure, so the mother superior decided to evacuate to a sister convent across the river. It was larger and had high walls and would be much safer.”
”Then you reached the bridge over the Douro and found that the Portuguese defenders had destroyed it, and desperate refugees had built a temporary bridge of boats across the river,” Will said soberly.
”There was a huge crowd of people shoving to get onto the bridge. We circled around the girls and the nuns' habits provided the group some consideration. When our turn came, we made our way very carefully onto the bridge. It was frightening to attempt, swaying and shaking from the river current and so many people trying to cross over. Three times I had to drag someone from the water. The advantage of long arms.” She drew a shuddering breath. ”We had almost reached the southern bank when the boats began breaking apart underneath our feet.”
She burrowed under Will's arm, getting as close as she could. ”It was horrible. I almost lost the littlest girl, Mariana. When I managed to grab her arm, I almost drowned myself because my soaked clothing was so heavy. Then a Portuguese man grabbed my hand and pulled us both ash.o.r.e.”
”You were dressed as a nun,” Will said softly. ”And by heroic efforts were able to save most or all of those under your protection.”
”All of us survived. I had a great deal of aid from the local men who helped haul us to sh.o.r.e.” She frowned as she realized what he'd said. ”How did you know I was dressed as a nun?”
”Because I was there,” Will said grimly. ”I'm a good swimmer, so I dived into the river and started pulling people to safety, including you. It was b.l.o.o.d.y bed.a.m.ned chaos, with screaming and gunshots from some French soldiers while other Frenchmen joined the rescue efforts.” He drew a deep breath. ”I have a vague memory of helping a remarkably tall nun with a rifle out of the water. Then she gathered her charges and disappeared.”
”You were there?” she gasped. She'd tried to forget that horrible day, but she remembered some of the men who had helped the girls and the nuns. ”You were the one who rescued me and Mariana? I only got a glimpse of your face and you were badly in need of a shave-I never would have recognized you.”
Though now that he'd said he was the man who'd saved her, she recognized that his broad shoulders and powerful build matched those of her rescuer. ”I was so frantic to get us all away. I never even said a thank-you.” Her voice was shaking.
”You looked half mad, so I didn't expect thanks. You immediately started rounding up your girls. I wondered later if you were able to get everyone to safety.”
She closed her eyes and calmed herself as she absorbed the amazing fact that Will had rescued her on the worst day of her life. ”We did. When you helped me ash.o.r.e with Mariana, another couple of men were collecting all the students around the sisters. One yelled for us to get away as quickly as we could. A group of French soldiers were charging toward us.” She winced, remembering. ”One was bellowing out vile obscenities about what he liked to do to little girls.”
”I heard,” Will said tersely. ”Until someone shot him. I wasted no tears.”
She nodded, swallowing hard so that she could continue speaking. ”That's when you and several other men moved between us and the French. Later I was surprised because none of your group were in uniform, but you acted like soldiers.”
”As it turns out, at least two of us were soldiers, but more about that later. How did you manage to escape safely? I wondered if you'd succeeded, but there was no way to know.” His voice caught. ”There were so many horrors that day.”
She was remembering too many of those horrors, yet talking to Will, who had been there, was strangely healing. ”We ran as fast as we could away from the river. I was holding Mariana because she was too small to get far on her own, and she was shrieking in my ear and almost strangling me.”
”How far did you have to travel before you were safe?”