A soldier, Sharpe knew, was judged not merely by his actions but by the enemies he destroyed, and the Rifleman’s fingers reached, unconsciously, for his big sword. Nothing had been admitted, nothing openly said, but in the gloom of the vault, in the wreckage of British hopes, Sharpe had found the enemy, and now, in the scent of death, he groped for the way to victory in this sudden, unwanted, and very private little war.
CHAPTER 10
The rapier moved invisibly, one moment on Sharpe’s left, the next, as if by magic, past his guard and quivering at his chest. There was enough pressure to bend the blade, to feel the point draw a trace of blood; then El Catolico stepped backwards, flicked the slim blade into a salute, and took up his guard again.
‘You are slow, Captain.’
Sharpe hefted his blade. ‘Try changing weapons.’
El Catolico shrugged, reversed his blade, and held it to Sharpe. Taking the heavy cavalry sword in return, he held it level, turned his wrist, and lunged into empty air. ‘A butcher’s tool, Captain. En garde!’
The rapier was as delicate as a fine needle, yet even with its balance, its responsiveness, he could do nothing to pierce El Catolico’s casual defence. The Partisan leader teased him, led him on, and with a final contemptuous flick he beat Sharpe’s lunge aside and stopped his hand half an inch before he would have laid open Sharpe’s throat.
‘You are no swordsman, Captain.’
‘I’m a soldier.’
El Catolico smiled, but the blade moved just enough to touch Sharpe’s skin before the Spaniard dropped the sword on the ground and held out a hand for his own blade.
‘Go back to your army, soldier. You might miss the boat.’
‘The boat?’ Sharpe bent down, pulled his heavy blade towards him.
‘Didn’t you know, Captain? The British are going. Sailing home, Captain, leaving the war to us.’
‘Then look after it. We’ll be back.’
Sharpe turned away, ignoring El Catolico’s laugh, and walked towards the gate leading into the street. He was in the ruins of Moreno’s courtyard, where Knowles had smashed the volleys into the lancers, and all that was left were bullet marks on the scorched walls. Cesar Moreno came through the gate and stopped. He smiled at Sharpe, raised a hand to El Catolico, and looked round as if frightened that someone might be listening.
‘Your men, Captain?’
‘Yes?’
‘They’re ready.’
He seemed a decent enough man, Sharpe thought, but whatever power and prowess he had once had seemed to have drained away under the twin blows of his wife’s death and his daughter’s love for the overpowering young El Catolico. Cesar Moreno was as grey as his future son-in-law’s cloak: grey hair, grey moustache, and a personality that was a shadow of what he had once been. He gestured towards the street.
‘I can come with you?’
‘Please.’
It had taken a full day to clear up the village, to dig the graves, to wait while Private Rorden died, the agony unbearable, and now they walked to where he and the other dead of the Company would be buried, out in the fields. El Catolico walked with them, seemingly with inexhaustible politeness, but Sharpe sensed that Moreno was wary of his young colleague. The old man looked at the Rifleman.
‘My children, Captain?’
Sharpe had been thanked a dozen times, more, but Moreno explained again.
‘Ramon was ill. Nothing serious, but he could not travel. That was why Teresa was here, to look after him.’
‘The French surprised you?’
El Catolico interrupted. ‘They did. They were better than we thought. We knew they would search the hills, but in such strength? Massena is worried.”
‘Worried?’
The grey-cloaked man nodded. ‘His supplies, Captain, all travel on roads to the south. Can you imagine what we will do to them? We ride again tomorrow, to ambush his ammunition, to try to save Almeida.’ It was a shrewd thrust. El Catolico would risk his men and his life to save Almeida when the British had done nothing to rescue the Spanish garrison of Ciudad Rodrigo. He turned his most charming smile on Sharpe. ‘Perhaps you will come? We could do with those rifles of yours.’