Sharpe's Gold (6 page)

'Poor bastard.' Harper had not been looking forward to company prayers, but he had
never wanted lancers to take away the unpleasant prospect.

'He's alive!' Knowles was pointing. 'Look!' It was true. Sharpe rested the glass on the
rock rim of the gully and saw the Major riding between two of his captors. There was blood
on his thigh, a lot, and Sharpe saw Kearsey trying to stem the flow with his two fists where a
lance point had gouged into his right leg. It was a good capture for the Poles. An
exploring officer whom they could keep for a few months before exchanging for a
Frenchman of equal rank. They could well have recognized him. The exploring officers
often rode in sight of their enemy, their uniforms distinct, relying on their fast
horses to carry them from trouble, and it was possible that the French would decide not
to exchange Kearsey for months; perhaps, Sharpe thought with a sinking feeling, till the
British had been driven from Portugal.

The depressing thought made him stare at the hermitage, half hidden by trees, the
unlikely place where Wellington's hopes were pinned. Without Kearsey it was even more
important that the Company should try to find the gold that night, but then those hopes,
too, were dashed. Half the lancers rode with their prisoner to the village, but the other
half, in a curving column, trotted towards the graveyard and its hermitage. Sharpe cursed
beneath his breath. There was no hope now of finding the gold that night. The only chance
left was to wait until the French had gone, till they had stopped using the village and the
hermitage as their base for the campaign against the Partisans in the hills. And when the
French did go, El Catolico would come, and Sharpe had no doubt that the tall, grey-cloaked
Spaniard would use every effort to stop the British from taking the gold. Only one man
stood a chance of persuading the Partisan leader, and that man was a prisoner, wounded,
in the hands of the lancers. He slid back from the skyline, turned and stared at the
Company. Harper slid down beside him. 'What do we do, sir?'

'Do? We fight.' Sharpe gripped the hilt of the sword. 'We've been spectators long enough.
We get the Major out, tonight.'

Knowles heard him, turned an astonished face on them. 'Get him out, sir? There's two
regiments there!'

'So? That's only eight hundred men. There are fifty-three of us.'

'And a dozen Irish.' Harper grinned at the Lieutenant.

Knowles scrambled down the slope, looking at them with a disbelieving stare. 'With
respect, sir. You're mad.' He began to laugh. 'Are you serious?'

Sharpe nodded. There was no other choice. Fifty-three men must take on eight hundred, or
else the war was lost. He grinned at Knowles. 'Stop worrying! It'll be simple!'

And how the hell, he thought, do we do it?

Sharpe mocked himself. So simple. Just release the Major when two of the finest
regiments in the French army were expecting a night attack. The wise course, he thought,
was to go home. The French probably had the gold by now, the war was lost, and a sensible
man would shoulder his rifle and think about making a living at home. Instead, like a
gambler who had lost all but a handful of coins, he was staking everything on one last
throw, a throw against odds of sixteen to one.

Which was not, he told himself as the Company filed down a goat track in the darkness,
quite true. He had lain on the gully's rim as the sun westered and watched the French
preparations. They were thorough, but in their defence was their weakness, and Sharpe had
felt the excitement well up inside, the incipient knowledge of success. The French
expected an attack by Partisans, by small groups of silent men who would carry knives, or
else who would fire muskets from the darkness, and they had prepared themselves for that
ordeal. The village did not help them. The houses either side of the narrow street were
jostled by low, ragged outbuildings; the whole making a maze of alleyways and dark
corners where a silent assassin held the advantage. The French had no outlying
sentries. To put a small group of men out in the fields was to write their death sentence,
and the French, accustomed to this kind of fighting, had drawn themselves into makeshift
fortresses. Most of the cavalry were in Cesar Moreno's house with its ample stabling and
high, encircling wall. The other fortress, the only other building with a wall high and
strong enough, was the hermitage with its cemetery. Both buildings would be crowded, but
both safe from the silent knives, and to make them safer the French had embarked on a crusade
of systematic destruction. The cottages nearest the Moreno house had been flattened,
the ringing of the big hammers on their stone walls carrying up into the gully, and
every tree, every door, every stick of furniture, had been cut and splintered and piled
into heaps that could be lit so an attacking Partisan would be denied the gift of
darkness. The French held the advantage, but only against Partisans. In their wildest
dreams they would not imagine the sudden appearance of British infantry, crossbelts vivid
in the defensive firelight, muskets flaming disciplined death. Or so Sharpe hoped.

He had one other advantage, slight but important. Kearsey had obviously given his
parole, his gentleman's promise, to his captors that he would not attempt to escape, and
Sharpe had seen the small. Major limping round the village. Each time, Kearsey had gone back
to Moreno's house, and finally, as the light faded, Sharpe had seen the Major sitting on a
balcony, on one of the few pieces of furniture left, so at least the rescuers knew where
their goal lay. All that remained was to break into the house and for that speed was
vital.

The march in the darkness seemed to take forever, but Sharpe dared not hurry the men,
for fear of getting lost. They slipped and cursed on the stones; their musket stocks banged
hollowly on rock; they squinted in the tiny light that came from the sickle moon hazed by
the northern clouds. To the east the stars pricked at the outline of the hills, and as they
neared the valley floor and midnight approached, the French lit fires that beckoned the
Company like a beacon in the dark night.

Harper was beside Sharpe. 'They'll blind themselves, sir.'

The French, in the security of their firelight, would see nothing beyond a musket
shot from their walls. The circling night would be a place of fantasy and strange shapes.
Even for Sharpe the landmarks, that had seemed so clear by day, now took on monstrous shapes,
even disappeared, and he stopped often, crouched, and tried to filter the real from the
imaginary. The men's guns were loaded, but not cocked, their white belts hidden beneath
greatcoats; their breathing loud in the darkness. They neared the village, angling north
away from the house, going past the heavy barley and feeling naked and obvious in the wide
valley. Sharpe strained his senses for a telltale sign that a sentry, high on Moreno's
house, had been alerted: the click of a carbine-lock, the scrape of an officer's sword, or
worst of all the sudden stab of flame as a picquet saw the dark shapes in the field. The
crunching of the dry soil beneath his feet seemed to be magnified into a terrible
loudness, but he knew it was the same for the enemy guards. This was the worst time of night,
when fears took over, and the Hussars and lancers inside their walls would hear the wolves in
the hills, the nightjars, and each sound would be a knelling for their death until the
senses were blunted, distrusted, and the night merely became a horror to survive.

A flash of light. 'Down!' Sharpe hissed. Christ! Flames whipped crazily into the night,
spewed sparks that spiralled away in the breeze, and then he realized that the cavalrymen
had lit another fire, one of the timber piles out in the cleared space, and Sharpe stayed on
the ground, listening to the pounding of his heart, and searched the dark shapes of the
deserted cottages to his front. Or were they deserted? Had the French been clever and let
any watcher in the hills think that they were all inside the protective, well-lit walls?
Had the small cottages, the dark alleyways, been salted with men, waiting with sabres? He
took a breath. 'Sergeant?'

'Sir?'

'You and me. Lieutenant?'

'Sir?'

'Wait here.'

Sharpe and Harper went forward, dark uniforms blending with the night, and Sharpe could
hear every rustle of his jacket, creak of his belt, and the looming walls seemed to hold
danger in every shadow. He felt himself tense with anticipation, his teeth gritted,
waiting for the mocking shot, but instead his hand reached out and touched a dry-stone
wall, and Harper was beside him, and Sharpe went on, into an alleyway that stank of
manure, and his instinct began to come back.

There was no one in the village. Harper, a vast shadow, crossed the alley and crouched
by the main street. A fire flickered at its end, sending crazy shadows, but the cottages
were deserted and Sharpe felt the relaxation of relief. They went back to the outer wall
and Harper whistled softly, three small sounds, and the shadows in the barley humped and
moved, the Company coming forward to the shelter of the wall.

Sharpe found Knowles. 'We stay on this side of the house. Rifles first. Wait for the
signals.'

Knowles nodded and his teeth flashed white as he grinned. Sharpe could feel the
excitement of the Company, their confidence, and he marvelled at it. They were
enjoying it, taking on sixteen times their number, and he did not understand that it was
because of him. Harper knew, Knowles knew, that the tall Rifle Captain who was not given
to rousing speeches could nevertheless make men feel that the impossible was just a
little troublesome and that victory was a commonplace where he led.

They went in fits and starts beside the outer walls, the Riflemen scouting the dark
shadows, the Company catching up, and the only breath-stopping moment was as they
passed beneath the tall, dark tower of the church. A sound came from the belfry, a musical
whisper, and the men froze, their eyes suddenly scared, and then came the sound of beating
wings, receding in the blackness, and the Company sighed together as the owl, which had
brushed a wing against the hanging bell, disappeared on its own hunt. Harper glanced up,
saw the white flash, and thought of the barn owls that ghosted down the valley at
Tangaveane, of the stream that leaked from the peat beds, of Ireland.

'Halt!' Sharpe's voice was scarcely above a whisper. He pointed. 'In there.'

The Company crowded into an alley, the firelight uncomfortably close, and Sharpe
peered cautiously into the street, at the pile of new rubble, and for the first time he
could properly see the front of Moreno's house. The wall was high, eight or nine feet, but
the great double gate through which the farm animals could be driven was wide open. Inside
he could see white faces staring at the fires that were the main defence and behind those
faces the dim shadows of mounted men. Knowles had not understood that the gate would be
open, but it was obvious to Sharpe. He had seen through the telescope that the front wall of
the courtyard had no fire-step, no platform on which men could stand and keep watch or fire
down on attacking Partisans, so the French had little choice. They would, he knew, keep
the gate open and light the area in front so that should any Partisan be foolish enough to
attack, the lancers could sweep out into the killing-ground with their long, searching
blades. And no Partisan would be foolish enough to attack the gate. The front of the house
was brightly lit, the courtyard armed and ready, and the only danger from the front was an
attack by trained troops, and that, the French knew, was an impossibility. Sharpe
grinned.

The fire in front of the gate crackled and roared and its noise covered the scuffling and
grunts in the alley. The Redcoats of the South Essex were struggling from their
greatcoats, rolling them up and strapping the bundles to their packs. He grinned at them.
The Riflemen, without white crossbelts to startle the enemy, crouched near him, some
fidgeting with excitement, all wanting to start the action, to dispel the nervous
thoughts of anticipation.

Knowles pushed through the men. 'Ready, sir.'

Sharpe turned to the Riflemen. 'Remember. Go for officers.'

The Baker rifle was a deadly weapon, slow to load but more accurate than any gun on the
battlefield. The muskets, under Lieutenant Knowles, could spread death in a wide arc, but
the rifles were instruments of precision. Once in the building, the Green Jackets should
seek for enemy officers, kill them, and leave the cavalry leaderless. Sharpe turned
again towards the house. He could hear the mutter of voices, the trampling of hooves in the
yard, a man coughing, and then he touched Harper's shoulder and the Riflemen slithered
into the street, crawling on their bellies, hiding in the shadows till they had formed a
line behind the rubble. The Rifles would go first, to draw the enemy fire, to start the
chaos, and the rest was up to Knowles, to lead the Company into the cavalry's nightmare.
Sharpe waited. He inched his sword out of its scabbard, laid it in front of him, and waited
as his men put the long bayonets on their rifles. It had been so long since he had faced the
enemy.

'Come on!' He had ordered them to scream, to shout, to sound like the fiends of hell, and
they scrambled over the rubble, the long rifles silent, and the guards at the gate whirled,
jerked up carbines and fired too soon. Sharpe heard a bullet strike stone, saw Harper run
forward to the fire and grab, with both hands, the unburned end of a baulk of timber. The
Sergeant whirled it around, and hurled the flaming wood at the waiting horsemen. It struck
the ground, exploded in sparks, and the horses reared up, and Sharpe's sword was reaching
for the first guard who was trying to drop an empty carbine and snatch up his sabre. The
sword took the Hussar in the throat; the man grabbed at the blade, seemed to shake his head,
and slumped. Sharpe turned to the Riflemen. 'Come on!'

The gate was empty, the cavalry frightened by Harper's missile, and the Riflemen
knelt at its edges and aimed at the fire-lit space. Voices shouted in strange languages,
bullets chipped at the cobbled entrance, and Sharpe, desperately searching the
courtyard for signs of its organized defence, heard the first distinctive cracks of the
Baker rifles. Where the hell was Knowles? He turned round and saw the Redcoats running
round the fire, being formed, their muskets deliberately untipped by bayonets, so as
not to slow the loading of fresh rounds, and then Harper's voice bellowed at him.

He heard a couple of rifle shots, turned, and saw a lancer riding for him. The horse was
tossing its head, eyes reflecting firelight, the rider crouched on its neck, the steel
blade reaching for Sharpe. And Sharpe slammed himself to one side, hitting the gatepost, saw
the spear go past, and the horse smelt in his nostrils. Another rifle spat, and the beast
screamed. The Pole's arms went up and man and horse fell sideways, and Sharpe was running
forward, into the courtyard.

Everything was too slow! Horses were tethered and he hacked at the ropes. 'Hup! Hup!
Hup!' A man swung a sabre at him, missed, and Sharpe rammed his sword into the Hussar's
chest. It stuck. Riflemen ran past, screaming incoherently, long bayonets driving
scattered Frenchmen into dark doorways, and Sharpe put his foot on the body and twisted
his sword free. He saw Harper stamping forward, bayonet outstretched, driving back an
officer who screamed for help against the giant Irishman. The man tripped, fell backwards,
the screams becoming panic as he fell into a fire and Harper turned, forgot him, and
Sharpe yelled to him to get out of the way. 'Rifles!'

He blew his whistle, shouted at them, brought them over to the building where he stood.
Stray horses skittered in the yard, galloped at the entrance, reared as the Company,
white belts gleaming, filled the entrance, and Lieutenant Robert Knowles began the
terrible commands that would chill any Frenchman who knew the firepower of British
infantry. 'Present! Front rank only! Fire!'

It was the last thing the Hussars and lancers could have expected. Instead of brigands
and silent knives they were fighting a clockwork machine that could spit out four volleys a
minute. The muskets flamed, smoke gouted into the courtyard, the three-quarter-inch
musket balls hammered between the walls. 'Rear rank! Look to the roof!' The front rank were
already taking the next cartridge from their ammunition pouch, biting the bullet from
the paper-wrapped cylinder, pouring the powder into the gun, but saving a pinch for the
pan. The left hand held the top of the barrel; the right poured the powder; the left gripped
the paper and tore off most of it while the right kept the priming between finger and
thumb. The paper was pushed loosely into the muzzle, the other three fingers of the right
hand had the ramrod up in the air, a bullet spat into the gun, and down with the steel rod.
Once was enough, and the ramrod was taken out, the gun swung up, and all the time they had to
ignore the shouts of the enemy, the carbine bullets, the screaming horses, the fires, and
put the pinch of powder into the pan after the flint was dragged back, and the rear rank had
fired, flash and explosion in their ears, and Lieutenant Knowles, his voice calm, was
ordering the slaughter. 'Present! Fire!' It was a mechanical job and no infantry in the
world did it better, because no infantry in the world, except the British, ever practised
with real ammunition. The clockwork killing. Fire, reload, present, fire, until their
faces were blackened, their eyes smarting with the grains of powder thrown up by the
priming just inches from their cheeks, their shoulders bruised by the kick of the gun, and
the courtyard littered with a bodies of their enemies, sifted with smoke, and all the time
Knowles had taken them forward, two steps at a time, and the maddened horses had escaped
behind them and Sharpe had watched as Hagman's group of four Riflemen had shut the gates.
Hardly a minute had passed.