Silence Is Golden (Storm and Silence 3)

‘So, what should we do now?’

‘Continue on, of course!’ Righting himself, Mr Ambrose got a firm hold on the reins of his packhorse. ‘What else can we do?’

‘Well,’ said a strange voice from behind me, ‘for a start, you can surrender.’

‘What the he-’

That was all I managed to get out before something very hard and painful hit me in the head, and I felt my knees give way.

Bloody hell! was my last thought before I plummeted into oblivion. Not again! This is getting embarrassing!

*~*~**~*~*

When I woke up, I was tied to a chair in a smelly underground dungeon. Huzzah! It’s always so cheering and comforting to find yourself in familiar circumstances, don’t you think?

Similarities notwithstanding, however, this was not the same dungeon as the one I had been in before. The mould on the floor was in a different pattern. There were a lot more spiderwebs in the corners, and instead of being infested with rats, this little underground Eden was home to a clan of cockroaches.

It wasn’t long before I heard footsteps from outside. Two pairs of footsteps. When the door opened, two men in army uniforms stepped in. One was clearly an officer, the other a common soldier who wore - surprise surprise! - bloodstained gloves.

‘Finally. I thought you were never going to show up.’

The officer raised one eyebrow. ‘You’ve been expecting us?’

‘Naturally.’

‘You seem very calm for a man in your position.’

I gave him a charming smile. ‘What can I say - practice makes perfect.’

The officer stepped forward. He was a little man with a sharp nose and quick eyes. Not as intimidating as Silveira, not by any means. But I knew better than to judge people by their appearance. After all, I didn’t look particularly impressive myself, and I was the most incredible person I had ever had the pleasure to meet.

‘Let me introduce myself.’ His quick eyes sweeping over me in a flash, the little man stepped forward, bowing. ‘I am Lieutenant Louis de Alvarez of the glorious Army of the Piratini Republic. At your service.’

‘Of course you are. Although I probably shouldn’t expect that the services you’re ready to render include letting me go, right?’

‘Indeed not. I see we’ve caught ourselves an intelligent man. Very well, then. Let’s cut straight to the chase, shall we?’

‘That would be wonderful. For some inexplicable reason, I feel somewhat bored by our conversation.’

‘Trust me, you won’t be for long! I’ve had a talk with the-’

‘…general?’

Alvarez’s eyes narrowed. ‘No. The major, actually. The general is away on business. Why?’

‘Oh, just a guess. Do go on, please.’

‘I have had a talk with the major, and he fully agrees with my assessment of the situation.’ His sharp little eyes bored into me. ‘You three are spies sent by the imperialist oppressors of the central government to discover our troop movements, or possibly even sabotage our efforts.’

‘Are we, now?’

‘Yes!’

‘How interesting.’

‘And you will tell me everything about your mission objectives, what you have learned so far and what kind of sabotage you still have planned, understood? Everything!’

‘I suppose it wouldn’t do any good to point out that we’re just visitors from England?’