My Wicked Wicked Ways by E. Flynn

Author:E. Flynn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Berkley; First Thus edition
Published: 2014-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

We arrived in the evening and put up at the Gran Via Hotel.

The next morning Koets's clock struck nine, waking us. He jumped out of bed. As his feet bit the floor there came a whistling noise. The room shook. "What on earth was that?" I asked, going to the window.

I heard the whistling noise again and a large hole appeared in the building opposite. I stared incredulously.

After a few more seconds a third noise sounded and a blast of air brushed past me. A corner of the building opposite blew off and shattered in the street below.

"Shells!" Koets shouted.

We ran down into the lobby. The clerk seemed fairly unconcerned.

"That's the Germans;* he said. "They always shell at nine o'clock." He went on to say that the building opposite was the communications centre. The Germans on the University front were trying to knock it out, being unaware that the equipment had been moved.

I asked him for another room. He suggested one two floors below ours, which was double the price. How about one near the lobby? "All occupied by journalists," he said. Even the basement was full of correspondents.

Another shell burst. "Eight," said the clerk. "We usually get ten." Two more came, putting an end to the morning's bombardment.

We ventured out into the street. There the crowds hardly noticed the building opposite. Two English-speaking youths were examining the hole in the Telefonica with interest. "They're pretty sure to win now," one said. "I betted that fifty shells would knock it in half, but forty-eight haven't, so I might as well pay off." He told us about the fighting on the northern front. "I'm an American with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade," he said.

His companion stared at me. "You're Errol Flynn," he said accusingly. "What the hell are you doing over here?"

I said I was covering the war for a couple of magazines. I was trying to be an impartial and fair observer. That seemed to upset them. "You can't be fair with bastards like them," one said.

Pepe showed us a schedule for the day. "First we must get you a Salvo Conducto—a pass. You won't be safe anywhere without one." He said that nothing must happen to gentlemen of our importance. Importance? Koets and I glanced at each other.

At noon we lunched with General von Helrnuth. He was

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