Scars Upon Her Heart (The Scars of The Heart Series)

by Sorcha MacMurrough

  Vevina demanded, “Call your men off, or I’ll kill you.”

  The Captain issued his orders swiftly, and the men fell back into place. Vevina eyed him in the near-darkness, and suddenly had the overwhelming sensation that she had met him before.

  “Can we talk, monsieur?”

  “But of course, Madame, but this is hardly the place,” the Captain said nervously, peering into her darkened face. He obviously took her for a Spaniard.

  “No, Captain Olivier, I agree,” she said, breaking into Spanish and then English, “but I would like you to tell me why you’re here.”

  Captain Olivier stared at her again. He was a handsome young man, tall, very blond, broad and muscular, about thirty, who looked completely bewildered by the chaos around him.

  “I was requested today by my dying commandant to meet the person who came in this gate at ten o’clock the evening the British attacked. He died of gangrene this morning, and I really have no idea what it’s all about, except he said it was of vital importance. You know my name, but how could you know I would be here?”

  “I didn’t know you were here, Captain Olivier, but I thank God for it. Do you remember me, from many years ago in Cork, and London, Lady Vevina Joyce?” she asked in a low voice. “Auburn hair, a brother called Wilfred, and my father a distinguished scholar?” she prompted.

  His eyes lit up at once. “Mon Dieu, but of course I remember. Your whole family were most kind when we were starving emigrés after the Revolution. But what on earth are you doing here, of all places?”

  He waved his men back, and they put down their weapons and began to mill about, thinking it some sorted out lovers' quarrel and romantic rendezvous, no doubt.

  Vevina hastily told him a brief outline of her family’s recent fortunes, and Samuel’s part in the deceptions of the evening. The young Captain listened sympathetically, and swore to defend her family’s honour to the last if required.

  Vevina thanked him for his chivalrous sentiments, and then continued urgently, “Captain Olivier, Vincent, I'm sure I speak for many Frenchmen when I say that you cannot possibly be happy with the idea of Napoleon as dictator of all of Europe. Samuel Fitzgerald has done a dishonourable thing, as I am certain you will agree.

  "But then, he has never been a professional soldier, as you and all your family have been for generations. Samuel has sent his soldiers to certain death, and is now trying to cross over into France to claim an inheritance which is not his. Will you help me stop him?”

  “What must I do? I will do all that is honourable, madam, so long as my own men are not slaughtered.”

  “Wellington is going to make his move against this town in the next few days anyway, and if you wait for him, your men will be massacred. If you wish to save lives, Captain, please help me.”

  “I will. But what must I do?”

  “In ten more minutes, Samuel Fitzgerald will be coming here. I want you to help him to go to wherever he says he must go. Once he is gone, our men have a chance to win here. I promise Stewart will treat them fairly. Then I must go to France, follow Samuel to try to find a way to stop him.”

  “I could simply kill him for you,” Captain Olivier offered, with a gleam in his eyes. "He is nothing more than a Judas. Such a man like that does not deserve to live."

  The offer was a tempting one, but Vevina had no wish to see Stewart’s brother dead, in spite of all he had done. Moreover, she needed more time to prove the innocence of his family, and to have all of her questions answered.

  “Thank you, but no. If he is killed, I may never get at the truth, find out who he is working with. No, I must follow him into France.”

  “My sisters and mother would be delighted to see you again. I can issue a safe conduct, saying you are my fiancée. Go to my family in Avignon, dress in suitable gowns, and use one of our carriages. You will be in a better position to get help whilst travelling once you are across the border than Samuel iin a British uniform with barely passable French.”

  “We will speak of this later. Right now, I have one more favour to ask,” Vevina whispered boldly.

  “And that is?”

  “Tell me what is behind these walls.”

  Captain Olivier’s blue eyes glittered briefly, and he sighed. “Mines, dozens of them, as you have probably already guessed from your question. But also two cannon. As soon as your men climb into the breach they are trying to create here by undermining the foundations, they will be killed in the cross-fire.”

  Her eyes widened, but she said with a lift of her chin, “You realize of course we will fight on. We will take the city.”

  “I know, but as you say, they will be lambs to the slaughter. Samuel Fitzgerald is responsible. He is a despicable man, a coward.”

  “I know, but his brother is good, as you are. Thank you for your help. Now I must give a signal for the others. Wait here for Samuel. He will arrive soon, with a fake escort of our men, dressed as French soldiers. I will tell them not to harm you, but--”

  "It is fine, I trust you," the Captain agreed.

  Vevina opened the door and whistled.

  “All clear,” she called.

  As Mitchell came running up, she told him what she had learned of the defences of the city.

  “Take two men, and tell Stewart. Hurry!” Vevina instructed quickly.

  Then Beckett took out his two pistols and shot both of the guards with Captain Olivier, while the rest of the men swarmed into the gate and slammed the door.

  “I’m sorry, but this is the only way to save lives,” Vevina apologized, feeling she had betrayed an old friend.

  But Captain Olivier smiled and shrugged. “We would have lost anyway. Our men are few. What is the point of so many dying needlessly? What would we want with Spain and Portugal? There will be plenty of other days to die, if Napoleon is not stopped soon.”

  “And Samuel. If he plans to help an invasion of Ireland on three of the coasts in exchange for this vast fortune, we may all be dead before Christmas.”

  “What will you do now, Vevina?” the Captain asked softly, his eyes gazing deeply into her own.

  “Go spike your guns, what else?” she said with a grin.

  The Captain kissed her soundly on both cheeks.

  “I always did admire your spirit. Now, remember what I told you about my family, and here, take this ring,” he said, pressing his signet into her hand. “The crest is old, and known throughout France and Spain. Wear it as my gift, and you be given safe passage. And take this note to my mother,” he requested, as he finished scribbling something in his small pocketbook which he then tore out and handed to Vevina.

  “Thank you for everything, Captain, and be careful. Samuel is a very dangerous man, without scruples.”

  “Good luck!” he called softly, as Vevina led the men up the stairs onto the battlements.

  The noise at the top of the defences was deafening, with the British cannon still pounding shells into the hole it had opened up.

  Just as Vevina was able to pop her head up, a small section of the wall fell with a crash.

  A roaring cheer warned her they were about to send in the first group of men to try to swarm through the French defences. Vevina’s stomach gave a sickening lurch, for she knew the mines would blow them to shreds. And if the mines didn’t get them, the cannon would.

  “We should go now!” Beckett urged.

  Vevina insisted, “No, we have to wait. Stewart isn’t in charge yet. If we show our hand too early and something has happened, the French will kill every one of those poor fools. I only hope Samuel has some experienced officers on staff to cope with this crisis.”

  As Vevina predicted, the first of the redcoats clambered over the rubble, but were either picked off by sniper fire, or blown high into the air by the mines underneath.

  The mines created an even larger hole in the battlements, so far from being discouraged, more and more of Samuel’s soldiers poured in. They were right where the French wanted them, and Vevina could
barely subdue her quaking as she waited for the mighty cannon to blow them to pieces.

  “We must go!” Beckett raged.

  Vevina insisted shakily, “Just a few moments more, and then it will be half past ten, and Stewart will be in charge. He will lead the men over, and we must have the way clear. Wait until you’ve counted one hundred, then we move.”

  Just as she finished speaking, the cannon fired, and the mass of red coats vanished in a puff of smoke. The screams of the dying now filled the air.

  Vevina murmured a prayer to herself, thanking God for all her blessings, including Captain Olivier, who had warned her what to expect.

  The carnage in the breach of Cuidad Roderigo was appalling, but Vevina held firm. Most of the mines had now exploded, but the cannons had come into play. In case Stewart hadn’t already guessed, or Mitchell’s message hadn’t reached him, he was able to see with his own eyes and warned about the terrifying strength of the French armaments inside the fortified town.

  “One hundred! Now!” Vevina called.

  She began to run along the top of the wall, crouched low, and firing her pistols as the French suddenly spotted the redcoats coming up a different section of the bulwark. By distracting the French inside, who were firing at Vevina’s party heading for the guns, Stewart’s riflemen down at the bottom picked off many of the snipers who were causing so many casualties.

  Vevina threw herself down flat as she hastily reloaded, and checked for her hammer and spikes. Several bullets pinged dangerously close, but her dark cloak and hair shielded her, and she inched her way forward until she and the others were above the first cannon.

  There was a brave struggle on the part of the French, and Vevina had to shoot two of them dead. After a fierce scramble towards the gun nest, she found herself face to face with a tall young man who looked astonished to see a woman wielding a sabre. Beckett thumped him in the head with his rifle butt, and then the first turret was theirs.

  “Spike it!” she ordered.

  Beckett prepared to hammer the nails into the bore so no fuses could be threaded down into it.

  “Are you sure? I mean, we could fire on the other turret, kill them all.”

  “No, reload, and then we're going over.”

  “These guns are far too valuable to the British once the city is ours!” Beckett argued.

  “We seem to be winning at the moment, Beckett, but we still have a long way to go, and the French may have some even nastier surprises in store for us. Even if we win today, a time will come when the French will try to take this city back. The British have other guns. Spike that cannon now!” Vevina ordered.

  Beckett nodded and drove the spikes home.

  “Reload, everyone!” Vevina called above the din of the British mortars. She crouched low with her pistols before summoning the courage to issue the next order. She looked from one to the other of her remaining men.

  “Right, time for the next gun.

  "As soon as we go down this ramp, we’re dead if we don’t move quickly. Once that other cannon is out of action, Stewart’s men will be coming over to join us. We have to hold on here, or the French might still win.”

  “No fear, they’ll never beat us,” Beckett declared with a grin as he waved his rifle cheerfully.

  “Ready?” she asked.

  They all nodded grimly.

  “Right, we move, now!”

  They charged down the ramp into the street, their cries of savagery twisting their features as they shot, bayonetted and hacked their way through to the opposite turret.

  Vevina killed two French soldiers with her two shots, but then her weapons were empty and she had no time to reload. Two of her men were killed outright, and two more lay wounded.

  Vevina gripped her sabre hard as she repelled a bayonet blow, and then she found herself clambering up the other ramp to the second turret, pulling Beckett with her.

  They took cover from the sniper fire coming from the walls as best they could. Vevina felt her feet slipping on blood, but then her boot came into contact with something hard, and looked down.

  A musket.

  When the British had come over the wall, most of them had not even had the chance to fire before the big guns had blown them up. Vevina felt a surge of optimism. She parried a thrust, and killed both French who attacked her, then saw her other two men make their way to her.

  “Here, try these muskets, see if they are loaded.”

  Some of them were still in working order, and the men picked up three each.

  “Quietly now,” she urged softly as they neared the end of the ramp. She peeked around the corner into the cannon turret, and saw the French were getting ready to fire another round at the British, who were just starting to enter the breach.

  She reached out for the musket Beckett held, and quickly shot the man who was loading the shell into the cannon.

  As the other man whipped around to see where the shot had come from, Vevina and her men swarmed in frenzied desperation, risking life and limb to make sure the gun was captured.

  Vevina fought bravely with musket and sabre, and after a few moments of strenuous fighting, the turret was theirs.

  “Quickly, Beckett. Get the white flag. Signal to the others!”

  Beckett stuck the white rag she handed him on the end of his bayonet. He lifted it up over the parapet, and while Vevina spiked the gun, she could hear a huge cheer go up.

  She peered up herself, and her men joined in with the others pouring over the breached wall.

  Stewart caught sight of her as she waved to Mitchell and the others, and stopped dead in his tracks.

  “Vevina, for God’s sake!” he shouted. "What the hell are you doing here when you were hurt last night?"

  "We found another way in."

  He pulled her down into the turret, and then kissed her with a ferocity she had never know in him before. Her lips throbbed, but then he lifted his head abruptly. “You stay here, and you owe me a huge explanation for all this when I get back.”

  Vevina fought back the urge to tell him she loved him, for she didn’t want him to be distracted from his duty. Instead she said, “Captain Olivier is head of the army here. Please treat him with respect and courtesy, and the men. I know there will be sacking a looting in the city, but try to protect the soldiers and officers.”

  “I will. Now go back to the camp and wait for me there.

  After one more kiss, he was gone.

  Vevina wished she could follow him to fight at his side, but she knew her destination was to be a different one entirely. So she watched him longingly until he finally vanished out of sight, loaded her pistols, and waited.

  She heard fighting taking place in other parts of the city now, and scarefully made her way back down to the south portal, where she met Captain Olivier.

  “A job well done. I am impressed with your many talents, Lady Vevina.”

  “Is Samuel still here?”

  He shook his head. “No, he is already gone. He is convinced that his army is defeated, and he will be listed amongst the captured, awaiting ransom from home. I have sent him the long way around the city, on foot, and he will go North, cross the Pyrenees at San Sebastian, and enter French territory with his safe conduct. You will go as fast as you can to Grenoble, and may have my horse,” he said, pointing to the magnificent beast he had tethered in the narrow passageway.

  “So to Madrid, then Barcelona, and contact my cousins in Perpignan after you cross the mountains. They will give you whatever you wish as my fiancee. Then press on to Avignon. Here are the letters of introduction, some gold coins, and the safe passage you will need. Give my family all my love.” He handed each item to her in turn.

  “I shall, Captain Olivier. I’ll never forget what you have done for us all.”

  “What will happen to me?” the Captain asked, as he helped her to load her weapons and then mount the magnificent steed.

  “Ransom at the hands of Stewart. I have told him of your courage, and he will
protect you and all your men. I promise you, I shall repay you for all your kindness.”

  “Defeat Napoleon, and that filthy coward Samuel. That will be enough repayment for me, my dear.” He kissed her hand and led the horse to the gate.

  “Tell Stewart I’m all right, if you can, but don’t tell him where I’m going. The last thing I need is him trying to follow.”

  “Your secrets are safe with me, Lady Vevina,” the Captain said with a gallant bow.

  The gate swung open, and Vevina thundered off into night, up the road to Salamanca, then Avila, on the way to Madrid.