The Paul & Jenny Stories Pt. 15i: Another June Wedding Part 9
(Copyright 2001 by Paul. All rights reserved).
All events and characters are fictitious.
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Spain 1937.
Roland Wagstaffe.
I awoke feeling cold, stiff and very sore. The lanterns had been turned down low giving just enough light to see by. The air was very heavy. The result of a lot of bodies crammed into a small area without adequate ventilation. I pulled my blanket tighter around my body and tried to get into a more comfortable position.
I could hear voices at the top of the narrow staircase that led up into the church. That must be what had woken me. Before going to sleep I had the Mother Superior promise that somebody would keep watch from inside the bell tower to give us as much advance warning as possible of anybody approaching.
There was the sound of urgency in the voices above, emphasised in their attempts to talk in hushed tones. I moved slowly from Roddrego's side, trying not to disturb him and, picking up my rifle, limped to the bottom of the stairs. I looked at my wristwatch. It was four o'clock in the morning. My stomach grumbled. I could do with visiting the toilet.
I took the stairs slowly. Every muscle seemed to ache. Two rounds of golf each week were no preparation for this.
There was a small door set in the main doors of the church. It stood open and I could see one of the sisters talking to a small group of people just inside it.
"Senor Wagstaffe. You are well." A voice I recognised as Miguel asked.
"I am well Miguel." I replied taking his offered hand and shaking it.
I looked at the group with him. It comprised of two old woman, one woman in her twenties and two children between eight and ten. I couldn't see any of the Presidents staff or Conchita.
"Where are the others?" I asked, taking him to one side as the sister led the others down into the crypt.
"It is that Bastard, Lupe." He started.
"Who's Lupe?"
"A small time politician. I know him all my life. Now he is a Warlord. He is a Brigand. He has a band of men perhaps twenty in number. They are 'guarding the roads' taxing all who would use them to get away from this area. They take valuables and women as payment. They are in the village below. They stopped us and took the truck. They would have killed me but I knew them. They put me in a cellar but nobody stayed to watch me and I got out. They had all wanted to join in their fun. They had two sisters, I think they're from this house. When darkness fell they stripped them naked. They paraded them around the square then took them into the Cantina. They have so many other women there why they needed these two. Lupe is a bad man, he boasted that he would deflower all the virgins himself. After he had finished with the sisters I hoped that he would be sated for the night, may he rot in hell. I hid and watched. Hoping for a chance to help our women but none came. They have gone to sleep now so I came here hoping to find you and to warn them."
He nodded into the church.
The sister, I recognised her as the one who bandaged my shoulder the night before, returned with a bucket of water and a tin mug. Miguel thanked her and drank deeply. I used the mug after he had finished. The water was cold and good.
"I have to go back for my Niece." He continued. "I also had to warn the sister's. After what they have done tonight they will be here soon for more sisters. The others I found on the way here, hiding in a ditch."
"We must get everybody out." I said.
But how? There were two of us. I had ten rounds or so of ammunition for my rifle. Roddrego had similar. But he would not be able to help for a few days at least. Besides, how were we to move this number of people? We needed at least two vehicles.
"Your truck?" I asked. "Where is it?"
"In the village. They have three others and some cars. Big black cars."
"They would be the President's."
"If we went down there now. We could be there by first light." I was thinking out loud. "Is there another way out of here that would mean our not having to go through the village?"
"It is the only way out."
I didn't want him to say that. The only plan that presented itself to me was to steal some trucks and immobilise the other vehicles then return to the Convent and drive everybody to freedom. A simple plan, which, they say are always the best.
"I can drive a truck." The sister said. "My parents own a chain of garages. As a child my brothers and I were always taking engines to pieces and driving all the vehicles."
With three trucks we could move everybody. But how to get them through the village. My first plan was to collect the trucks and bring them to the Convent. What if we took the people to the Village? If we could get them there and loaded onto the trucks before Lupe realised they were there then we might, just, get away before they could stop us. Where to head for? Gibraltar, it must be.
Right. We had a simple plan. Now to rouse sixty people and have them move as quietly and as quickly as possible over two miles in the darkness.
I went down the stairs and after waking the President, his wife and the Mother Superior explained my plan.
Nobody thought it stood a chance so I asked for alternatives. Nobody had one.
"Roddrego." The Presidents wife suddenly said. "What about him?"
To every plan there's got to be a hitch.
"Do not mind me." Roddrego must have been awake and overheard what we had been discussing. "I will stay here."
Where do they get this need for self sacrifice from?
"No." I said. "No, you come with us."
It needed to be nipped in the bud.
"I need you with me." I continued. This time to the Mother Superior. "Do you have a vehicle?"