The Paul & Jenny Stories Pt. 15k: Another June Wedding Part 11
(Copyright 2001 by Paul. All rights reserved)
All events and characters are fictitious.
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Spain 1937.
David Wagstaffe.
As people were starting to gather around the Truck my father had driven to discuss our next course of action a cry went up from the last of the vehicles. We all turned to look out through the gates of the Docks.
Two large black cars were pulling up and armed men were climbing out. My father picked up his rifle and ran towards them, he stopped and took cover behind some large wooded reels and pointed his weapon at the men. They all quickly moved to take cover.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Alistair and my mother ushering everybody into one of the big warehouses. Miguel was kneeling by the large, open doors with his rifle. I knelt behind some packing cases. I could see the foot of the Harbour master sticking out of the heavy Tarpaulin sheet beside me that somebody had covered his body with. Somebody knelt beside me. Turning my head I saw Conchita. She smiled at me. I smiled back.
"You should be with the other's." I said, nodding towards the warehouse.
"But you are my patient." She replied. "I must stay with you."
To be truthful I was glad to have somebody with me.
She was kneeling close enough to my side for me to feel the heat from her body. I could smell her. A sweaty, musty smell quite unlike anything I had ever smelled before.
My father was shouting to the men by the gates.
"What do you want?" He called. "There is nothing for you here."
"We want your women and we want you." A voice replied.
"You will have neither." My father shouted.
I opened the pouches of the bandoleer I'd taken from the man Alistair had struck with his artificial hand back in the village. I'd recharged the weapons magazine, as I had been instructed by my Army Cadets instructor at school, during the drive to the docks and so knew that there were ten bullets in that. I quickly counted and had a further twenty-one rounds in the pouches.
I placed my rifle on the top of a packing case and sighted along the barrel. I had fired the weapon three or four times in the drive from the village-square but knew I hadn't hit anybody. I realised that the time might come, and soon, that I might have to. Could I do it? They called me a young man but I knew I was little more than a child. I knew that my father had served in the trenches in the great war when he was only a little older than I was but that had been a time of National emergency and everybody had gone to do their bit. I suddenly felt very alone. I was glad Conchita was with me.
I stole a quick glance at her. She was about my age. Black hair and a deep brown tan. She had lovely brown eyes. I couldn't remember ever being this close to a girl for this long. I attended an all boy boarding school in Hampshire. The only association I had with members of the opposite sex was the School staff, fraternisation with who was frowned upon and two cousins who we meet at most Christmas times.
They would never believe this at school. Here I was in the port of Malaga with a very pretty girl by my side and a rifle in my hands. This was better than any adventure story I'd read.
"Go away and leave us alone." I heard my father call out.
"No Senor. You will pay for what you did in the village. My men have lost Brother's and cousins. They will have their revenge."
I had never thought of it in that way. In the stories I had read the villains were very much one-dimensional characters. They would appear in the story, something nasty would happen to them and they would be gone. I never thought of them as being people.
At least six and probably eight men had been shot in that village that morning. All of them would have had parents. Some had had Brother's.
I didn't have a Brother. But I did have parents.
"David." My father called.
"Yes." I replied.
"I think they are going to try to get behind the back of the warehouse. To do that they will have to come through the gates. You have a better view than I do. If some try to get through you must stop them. Can you do that?"
"I'll try. I will."
I stumbled over the words.
"Good lad. Keep still. You have good cover behind those cases."
Everything went silent for a few minutes. I could see some Seagulls starting to congregate near the dock entrance. I could hear them squawking as they squabbled over something.
Suddenly a shot rang out and they rose as one into the air. A second shot then a fusillade rang out. I ducked as a bullet splintered the wood of the packing case by the side of my head.
"They'll be coming." My father called to me.
He was right. As I hadn't fired back nobody was firing at me. They were concentrating their fire at my father's position and at Miguel in the doorway of the warehouse. People were running through the gates of the dock. I looked down the barrel of my rifle and squeezed the trigger. The weapon tried to leap out of my hands. I cocked it and fired again. And again. And again. Count your shots the Army Cadet instructor had said on range days. I did, five, six, seven, and eight. I could feel the heat from the rifle barrel burning my fingers where they touched it.
I stopped firing and the silence seemed to descend upon me like a weight. Slowly I could hear again. Conchita was sobbing quietly. I think the noise must have frightened her. A baby was crying in the warehouse. I looked towards the sound. Alistair had Miguel by the shirt collar and was dragging him inside the warehouse. I saw Roddrego slithering out on his belly to retrieve the rifle and take up position in the doorway.
There was a movement by the gates. I could see a man dragging himself towards the black cars. He stopped moving and seemed to look over his shoulder straight at me. Then he lay down on his face. There were two other men lying inside the gates.
Three man. Had I shot three men? My hands were trembling and I wanted to be sick. I think it was only Conchita by my side that stopped me bursting into tears. I looked at her and tried to smile.
"We'll be alright now. I think." I said to reassure her.
I placed my hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. As I pulled it away she caught it between her own and held it tight. I didn't think. I released my rifle and pulled her to me. I ran my fingers through her hair and mumbled words of encouragement. She lifted her face to mine. Two big tears were running down her cheeks. I pulled her head back against my shoulder and closed my eyes.
A shout from the gates and the sound of a car engine revving made me lift my head to look. One of the big black cars was driving away. Two men were leaning from the rear windows and firing towards us. Then it had gone.
All was quiet and still. Even the baby had stopped crying.
"I'm going up to check they have all gone." My father called to me. "You give me cover."
"Yes, Dad." I called back. "I need to re-load." "Good lad." I could see him smiling at me. "At least they've taught you something useful at that school."
I released Conchita and filled the magazine in my rifle.
"I'm ready." I called and my father left his position behind the large cotton reels and walked slowly towards the gates.
I saw a movement in the corner of my eye and saw Alistair leave the warehouse, revolver in hand, and walk slowly towards the two bodies inside the gates. He knelt by the side of each in turn and rummaged through their pockets. My father had gone through the gates and was checking the buildings outside. I heard a shout and a shot rang out followed quickly by two more. Roddrego was firing at something I couldn't see, as was Alistair with his revolver. Even as I looked he'd emptied his own weapon and had taken the weapon from one of the dead men and was lying down behind his body.