Page 54 of Vistaria Has Fallen

“Would you be carrying the gun if you didn’t have us with you?”

“Maybenot. I do not know. Youarewith me and—” He glanced around. “Nick asked me to get you to Pascuallita and so I shall.”

“What did you tell the guard last night? The one that tried to stop us when we headed for the palace?”

“Pardon?”

“The one that put his rifle back on safety and melted into the dark. I’ve been thinking, Duardo. It seems odd that a security detail surrounding a Presidential residencewould allow an American woman to climb up into the building, even if shewaswith one of their own. You said something—enough to allow me to wander freely into Nick’s rooms. What did you say?”

He considered her for a moment. “I told him that—” Again the quick look around, an awareness of his audience disciplining his tongue. “That the long blonde heroine of Prince Leopold’s domain wished to speakto Nick.”

“And just like that, he let you through?”

“Your reputation has spread throughout the army, Callida. You are the strong one. They will allow you almost any liberty, if you say you want it.”

She ran a hand through her hair, uneasy. “Don’t tell me they have some cute little Spanish name for me, like Nick’s?”

Duardo grinned. “I translated it literally. ‘Long, strong, blonde’.”

“Ouch.”

He laughed properly then. “Vistarians are all poets, even the soldiers. You cannot stop them weaving tales around everything.”

“I’m not a hero, Duardo. You know why I did what I did and it wasn’t for the sake of Vistaria.”

His laughter fled. “It does not matter why you did it. You were scared and you didn’t know if you could do it, yet you did it anyway.Thatis a hero. Me, I will always begrateful you did what you did.” He looked down at Minnie and caressed her cheek.

That gentle sweep of his fingers reassured Calli more than anything he could have said.

“What do we do when we get to Pascuallita?” she asked.

“Act like tourists, did he not say?”

“Are there lots of tourists in Pascuallita?”

“A few. It is an uncomfortable journey, so not as many as there should be. Pascuallitais very handsome.”

“Pretty.”

“Sì. The mountains, the old houses. To me it is simply home. People tell me it is charming.”

“So charming, the rebels are within spitting distance,” Calli muttered. “What was he thinking of, bringing us there?”

“He lives there,” Duardo said.

“He does?”

“Not in the town. Nearby. That is why I met him once before I met Minnie and you. When...” He touched his thigh.“He came to speak to those of us who fought that day.”

A shiver climbed up her spine.Nick’s home.

“How long till we get there?” she asked.

“An hour, maybe. We will be there in time for a late lunch.”

* * * * *

Duardo took them to a public house across the road from the railway station. It appeared to be a custom of his when he arrived back in Pascuallita because the man behind the bar greetedhim by name.