‘Where would they go?’ Louisa asked.
‘Perhaps they are waiting to see what happens.’
‘I didn’t trust him anyway.’
‘That’s not the point,’ Victor said. ‘He was respected by many of the men as a good field officer. It will affect morale. Many have had cause to lose confidence these past few days.’
‘Have you told Sebastian?’ Louisa asked as she removed some plates from the table and took them into the kitchen.
‘I was going to tell him tonight. I’ll leave it until tomorrow. It doesn’t make much difference. We are set on our course. People will either come with us or get off the bus.’
There was a loud knock on the door.
‘I’ll go,’ Victor said, getting to his feet.
As soon as he opened the door a jovial voice boomed ‘Victor!’
Victor was mildly shocked. ‘Colonel Steel.’ He stepped back to let the man in. ‘This is a surprise.’
‘Good to see you again. How’ve you been?’ Steel asked as he walked in, his hat and poncho dripping all over the floor. He was a big man and looked even larger in his cloak and headgear. He removed his hat to reveal his thick head of white hair. ‘Louisa!’ he cried, grinning broadly as if he were a much-missed uncle. He reached for her hand, pulled her towards him and gave her a kiss on each cheek.
Louisa smiled politely while trying to disguise her discomfort. ‘This is indeed a pleasant surprise.’
‘You look even more beautiful, if that’s possible.’ When he saw Stratton, Steel did not look remotely surprised at the operative’s presence. ‘You still here, Stratton? I thought you’d be on your way back to good old Blighty by now.’
Stratton forced a smile of his own.
‘Well, this is all nice and cosy. Do you mind if I join you?’ Steel asked, tossing his hat on a chair by the door.
‘You know you’re always welcome,’ Louisa said.
‘And I come bearing gifts, as usual, but this time of the edible kind.’ Steel dumped his poncho on the chair too. A leather bag hung around his shoulder. He opened it and took out a bottle of red wine which he handed to Victor and a brown paper package that he gave to Louisa. ‘Cheese,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what kind but they served it after dinner last night in the city and I had to bring some for you because it tasted so good.’
Victor inspected the wine label and, none the wiser, set about opening it.
‘Christ, it’s raining out there,’ Steel declared, vigorously warming his hands at the fire. ‘I tell ya, I’ve been in some deluges before but I swear this country takes some beatin’ when it comes to surprise cloud-bursts. Where’s the old man?’
‘He’s retired for the evening.’
‘Retired? Well, get ’im up. Steel’s here. And if that’s not a good enough reason tell ’im we got things to talk about that can’t wait till morning.’ Steel had a huge grin across his wide face as he sat down. ‘Mind if I help myself ?’ he asked, looking at the food. ‘Been a long road,’ he said, reaching for a hunk of bread and some meat and filling a glass from the wine jug. ‘I got a ride along that highway a dozen klicks east of here. Then I got myself a mule the rest of the way. I hate walkin’ if I don’t have to and I haven’t had to in a while,’ he said, laughing as he filled his mouth. ‘Excuse my appetite but I haven’t had a good meal all day.’
Victor found the wine palatable. ‘The government troops patrol that road,’ he said.
‘Sure do. Not as well as they should, though.’
‘What do you tell them when they stop you?’
‘Hell, I’m an American tourist.’ Steel laughed. Then his face took on a slightly more serious expression. ‘They know who I am, Victor. You think I don’t talk to them too? Just remember, it’s you people I’m behind.’
He looked around the room, stopping at the painting of the Jarama Valley battle. ‘Sebastian tell you about his grandpappy?’ he asked Stratton.
‘A little.’
‘Did he tell you that’s somethin’ we have in common? In the Spanish Civil War my grandpa was a member of an American volunteer force, the Abraham Lincoln Bridgade - fought alongside Sebastian’s grandpa. Hell, we got our asses well and truly handed to us at that party. Lost more’n half our men. My father told me something my grandpa once said about the Jarama Valley scrap. When it was over, those who survived said they figured out why their brigade was named after Abraham Lincoln. Because he got assassinated too.’ Steel burst out laughing.
Stratton tried to smile politely. But there was something about Steel that he just did not like and the more the man talked, the stronger his hostile feelings became. He could not believe Steel was so thick-skinned that he did not know when people were uncomfortable around him.
‘So. How they been treatin’ you?’ Steel glanced only briefly at Stratton as he asked him the question. ‘How’s the training comin’ along? I thought you’d be done and gone two days ago.’
‘Stratton’s lucky to be alive,’ Victor said.
‘Come again?’ Steel asked. He looked worried but there was no way of knowing if his expression was genuine.
‘A box of your weapons was booby-trapped. Two of my men are dead, one may not make it and another is seriously hurt.’
‘I don’t believe it!’ Steel exclaimed. ‘When’d this happen?’
‘Yesterday,’ Victor said.
‘Holy cow. You okay?’ Steel asked Stratton, scrutinising him in case he had missed any obvious physical injury.
‘I’ll be fine.’
‘You said booby-trapped. How?’
‘Classic grenade set-up,’ Stratton explained.
‘You’re shittin’ me. Do we know who did it?’
Victor shook his head.
‘Did we lose everything?’
‘We still have sixty per cent of what you sent us.’
‘Wow,’ Steel muttered, getting up to take a turn around the room and looking as if the news had sickened him.
Stratton watched him, wondering if any of his reactions were genuine. He looked like a ham actor who was doing an unusually fine job. It was hard to tell since he did not know Steel well enough. But the display of concern seemed out of character.
The door at the end of the room opened and Sebastian stepped through, together with Louisa.
‘Colonel Steel,’ Sebastian said. ‘Good to see you again.’
Steel turned on the charm. ‘Sebastian.’ He walked over and gave the rebel leader a bear hug. ‘It’s good to see you too. You’re looking great. Hey, I just heard about the explosion yesterday. That’s crazy. We’ve never had anything like that before. Are we looking at government infiltration or something else?’
Sebastian turned away and sat in his chair. ‘Sit. Please.’
Steel sat opposite him.
‘It was probably inevitable that something like this would happen,’ Sebastian said. ‘I’m surprised it did not happen sooner—’
‘Wait a minute,’ Steel interrupted. ‘Sebastian. Excuse me, but I need to be clear on one thing first. Was this internal politics or not?’
‘I don’t know. It’s possible.’
‘Hector?’
‘I would not point a finger at anyone right now,’ Sebastian said.
Steel sat back and stared thoughtfully at the older man, his thoughts appearing to run in several directions. ‘I wanna summarise where we are right now. Do you mind? I need to get my bearings back about all this. You’ve got problems. That means the rebellion’s got problems. There’s a power struggle going on. It looks to me as if you’re being isolated. Would you say that was fair?’
‘I would not argue with that assessment. But it lacks depth.’
‘I know. Sorry. I’m just trying to synopsise it. Before we can come up with a strategy we have to be sure of
