Anne Barbour by Kateand the Soldier

Author:Kateand the Soldier
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

She must not have heard him right, Kate thought. But she knew she had.

“W-what?” she stammered, staring at him.

“I did not kill him, precisely, but I was just as responsible for his death as though it were I who sent that ball crashing into his spine.”

She continued to stare, unable to grasp the words he uttered, for they made no sense. Had she gone mad? Or was it David, saying something unspeakable in that conversational tone, who had become deranged? Then, she looked in his eyes, and it was as though she gazed at death.

“I don’t understand,” she whispered.

David closed his eyes for a moment, and then rose to stand before the fireplace. He turned away from her, staring into the flames.

“Badajoz lies on the border of Spain and Portugal. It is a fortified city, and squats on the bluff overlooking the Guadiana and Revillas rivers like a great, malevolent toad. The surrounding walls are huge—over twenty feet high and several feet thick. Nine bastions are set into them at intervals and these are some thirty feet high. The French inside the town believed the place to be impregnable, and with good reason. They used to range themselves on the parapet and call down to us, jeering and inviting us to do our worst.

“The Guadiana flows to the north of the town, and the Revillas, really a small feeder stream, follows the line of the walls to the east.

“We arrived at Badajoz on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, a fact that our many Irish troopers believed boded good luck. Their trust could hardly have been more misplaced. From that day on, it rained for a solid week. The sappers dug the parallels, working hip-deep in mud. The plain between the Revillas and the wall became flooded, and it was from there, of course, that the powers-that-be decided we must launch our attack.

“Philip, as usual, had volunteered for the Forlorn Hope. That’s a...”

“Oh, dear God,” Kate half sobbed. “Lucius explained to me about the Forlorn Hope. Why did Philip want to be a part of— of what must virtually have been a suicide squad?”

David’s mouth twisted in a sad smile.

“Because he wanted to win a promotion. He could have purchased one, but he was determined to earn it on his own merit. The Forlorn Hope was the quickest route to that goal. When I heard of his plan, I sought him out and tried to dissuade him. I was his superior officer, and, while I could not forbid his going out, I laid out every ounce of authority I possessed to change his mind.

“Those tactics might have worked with any other young officer in the force, but it pulled no weight with Philip. ‘Don’t be such an old woman, Davey—Major Davey, that is,’ he laughed in that cajoling way of his. He said he would think over what I had said, but refused to promise anything.

“We finally attacked on the night of April sixth. It was dry and cloudy, but the Revillas was still swollen, and the land surrounding it was a sea of mud.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.