The Sands of Time

Colonel Ramon Acoca and half a dozen members of the GOE were in the middle of a strategy meeting. They were studying a large map of the countryside.

The scarred giant said, "It's obvious that Miro is heading north toward Basque country."

"That could mean Burgos, Vitoria, Logrono, Pamplona, or San Sebastian."

San Sebastian, Acoca thought. But I have to catch him before he reaches there.

He could hear the voice on the phone: You're running out of time.

He could not afford to fail.

They were driving through the rolling hills that heralded the approach to Burgos.

Jaime was quiet behind the wheel. When he finally spoke, he said, "Felix, when we get to San Sebastian, I want to make arrangements to get Rubio away from the police."

Felix nodded. "It will be a pleasure. It will drive them crazy."

Megan said, "What about Sister Lucia?"

"What?"

"Didn't you say that she had been captured too?"

Jaime said wryly, "Yes, but your Sister Lucia turned out to be a criminal wanted by the police for murder."

The news shook Megan. She remembered how Lucia had taken charge and persuaded them to hide in the hills. She liked Sister Lucia.

She said stubbornly, "As long as you're going to rescue Rubio, you should save them both."

What the devil kind of nun is this? Jaime wondered.

But she was right. Smuggling Rubio and Lucia out from under the nose of the police would be wonderful propaganda and would make headlines.

Amparo had sunk into a sullen silence.

Suddenly, in the distance on the road ahead of them were three army trucks filled with soldiers.

"We'd better get off this road," Jaime decided.

At the next intersection he turned off the highway and headed east.

"Santo Dominga de la Calzada is up ahead. There's an old deserted castle there. We can spend the night in it."

Before long they could see its outline from the distance, high on a hill. Jaime took a side road, avoiding the town, and the castle loomed larger and larger as they approached it. A few hundred yards from it was a lake.

Jaime stopped the car. "Everybody out, please."

When they were all out of the car, Jaime pointed the steering wheel down the hill toward the lake, jammed the accelerator down, released the hand brake, and jumped clear. They stood there watching as the car disappeared into the water.

Megan was about to ask him how they were going to get to Logrono. She stopped herself. Foolish question. He will steal another car, of course.

The group turned to examine the abandoned castle. There was a huge stone wall circling it, and it had crumbling turrets on each corner.

"In the old days," Felix told Megan, "princes used these castles as prisons for their enemies."

And Jaime is an enemy of the state, and if he is caught, there will be no prison for him. Only death, Megan thought. He has no fear. She remembered his words: I have faith in what I'm fighting for. I have faith in my men, and in my guns.

They walked up the stone steps that led to the front gate, which was made of iron. It had rusted away so badly that they were able to push it open and squeeze through into a courtyard paved in stone.

The inside of the castle seemed enormous to Megan. There were narrow passageways and rooms everywhere, and facing the outside were gunports, from which the defenders of the castle could repel attackers.

Stone steps led to a second floor, where there was another claustro, an inner patio. The stone steps narrowed as they walked up to a third floor, and then a fourth. The castle was deserted.

"Well, at least there are plenty of places to sleep here," Jaime said. "Felix and I will go forage for food. Pick out your rooms."

The two men started downstairs again.

Amparo turned to Megan. "Come on, Sister."

They walked down the hall and the rooms all looked alike to Megan. They were empty stone cubicles, cold and austere, some larger than others.

Amparo picked out the largest. "Jaime and I will sleep here." She looked at Megan and asked slyly, "Would you like to sleep with Felix?"

Megan looked at her and said nothing.

"Or perhaps you'd rather sleep with Jaime." Amparo stepped closer to Megan. "Don't get any ideas, Sister. He's much too much man for you."

"You don't have to concern yourself. I'm not interested." And even as she said it, Megan wondered whether Jaime Miro was much too much man for her.

When Jaime and Felix returned to the castle an hour later, Jaime was clutching two rabbits and Felix was carrying firewood. Felix bolted the front door behind them. Megan watched as the men made a fire in the large fireplace. Jaime skinned and cooked the rabbits on a spit over the fire.

"Sorry we can't offer you ladies a real feast," Felix said, "but we'll eat well in Logrono. Meanwhile - enjoy."

When they had finished their meager meal, Jaime said, "Let's get to sleep. I want to get an early start in the morning."

Amparo said to Jaime, "Come, querido. I have our bedroom picked out."

"Bueno. Let's go."

Megan watched them go upstairs, hand in hand.

Felix turned to Megan. "Do you have your bedroom, Sister?"

"Yes, thank you."

"All right, then."

Megan and Felix walked up the stairs together.

"Good night," Megan said.

He handed Megan a sleeping bag. "Good night, Sister."

Megan wanted to ask Felix about Jaime, but she hesitated. Jaime might think she was prying, and for some reason, Megan wanted very much for him to have a good opinion of her. That's really odd, Megan thought. He's a terrorist, a murderer, a bank robber, and heaven only knows what else, and I'm worried about whether the man thinks well of me.

But even as Megan thought it, she knew that there was another side to it. He's a freedom fighter. He robs banks to finance his cause. He risks his life for what he believes in. He's a brave man.

As Megan passed their bedroom, she heard Jaime and Amparo inside laughing. She walked into the small, bare room where she was to sleep and knelt on the cold stone floor. "Dear God, forgive me for - " Forgive me for what? What have I done?

For the first time in her life, Megan was unable to pray. Was God up there listening?

She crawled into the sleeping bag Felix had given her, but sleep was as remote as the cold stars she could see through the narrow window.

What am I doing here? Megan wondered. Her thoughts drifted back to the convent...the orphanage. And before the orphanage? Why was I left there? I don't really believe that my father was a brave soldier or a great bullfighter. But wouldn't it be wonderful to know?

It was almost dawn before Megan drifted off to sleep.

At the prison in Aranda de Duero, Lucia Carmine was a celebrity.

"You're a big fish in our little pond," the guard told her. "The Italian government is sending someone to escort you home. I'd like to escort you to my house, puta bonita. What bad thing did you do?"

"I cut off a man's balls for calling me puta bonita. Tell me - how is my friend?"

"He's going to live."

Lucia said a silent prayer of gratitude. She looked around the stone walls of her grim, gray cell and thought: How the hell do I get out of here?