Fair Blows the Wind (1978) Read Online Free
Author: Louis - Talon-Chantry L'amour
what is mine, and not to trade upon the happiness or unhappiness of others."
"It is a fault we share, senor. To a degree." I smiled. "My friend, I have been many things in my life, and when at the end they speak of me I fear all they can say will be: 'he survived.' "
"So must we all. The rest comes after."
"You are of their party?"
He shrugged. "I was a passenger upon their ship. I am a man whose honesty has defeated him. I commanded soldiers in the armies operating from Luna. I was ordered to take my men against a foe I knew to be too formidable. I replied I would be taking the men to destruction. I was told I had no choice, to do as I was told or resign my command and return to Spain. I knew the Araucanians, Captain. I could beat them but not as they wished--"
"You gave up your command?"
"What else? And in doing so I gave up all. I am no longer a boy who can play games with fortune, Captain. I will not have another command in the armies of Spain. I have no other trade. But I do have a wife and a son."
"There are other armies."
"Of course. That has been much in my thoughts. And you, senor? Have you fought elsewhere?"
"I am Irish. At home we have no future, so we of good family have become like the wild geese. We fly away to whatever army will employ us. We are everywhere."
"And now you are here. Why?"
"I saved a little, and made a venture. It brought me here. I had a dream, you see. I fled my own land after my parents were killed, yet I love it still. I thought to win a fortune abroad and then return and buy the old place again ... buy what is rightfully mine anyway."
"It is a good dream. I wish you good fortune."
"And Guadalupe Romana?" I suggested. "What of her?"
"What, indeed? Somehow she must escape their designs. Somehow, I believe she will. She is beautiful, but make no mistake, there is steel in her, too. When we reach the end of our journey, she will be there still. She may be the strongest of us all."
Suddenly his mood changed. "Come! Let us look at the boat."
We started, and as we passed Guadalupe Romana she fell in step beside us. "You are going to the boat? May I come?"
"Please do," I said.
It was only a short distance to the stream where the boat lay. Twice along the path, snagged by brush, I found threads from the clothing of the women. If I found them, then so might the Indians.
The boat was of a common enough type, built to carry twenty men easily and a few more under crowded conditions. I walked around the bow, looking at the damage and the contents, about which I offered no comment.
There was a mast and sail, unused on the trip ashore, three sets of oars, a water cask ... empty ... a sea anchor, and a few tools.
Obviously, the boat had been banged about in the launching or afterward. A plank near the bow was splintered and a shirt stuffed in to stop the leak. I removed the shirt--well worth saving under the circumstances.
Someone moved up beside me. It was Guadalupe Romana. She looked at the boat. "What do you think?" She spoke softly.
"It can be done," I said.
She looked at me, right into my eyes. "Are you then good for something?"
I liked her, and I smiled. "It is a matter of opinion, butthat ..." I indicated the damage, "I can do."
"We must pray for good weather. Still, it will be better than walking along the shore." She looked up at me. "They are such fools. I could not believe they would contemplate such a thing. One would think they had never traveled along a shore."
"And you have?"
"I am of Peru. We lived in the mountains at the jungle's edge, but sometimes we came to the shore where some of our people had lived long ago."
"I would like to have known Peru," I said, "in the time of the Incas or before."
She shrugged a shoulder. "It was different then, but I do not know that you would have cared for it. The life had dignity, and it had a kind of splendor."
She looked at me suddenly. "Our civilization did not begin with the Incas. It was old before they came." She
"It is a fault we share, senor. To a degree." I smiled. "My friend, I have been many things in my life, and when at the end they speak of me I fear all they can say will be: 'he survived.' "
"So must we all. The rest comes after."
"You are of their party?"
He shrugged. "I was a passenger upon their ship. I am a man whose honesty has defeated him. I commanded soldiers in the armies operating from Luna. I was ordered to take my men against a foe I knew to be too formidable. I replied I would be taking the men to destruction. I was told I had no choice, to do as I was told or resign my command and return to Spain. I knew the Araucanians, Captain. I could beat them but not as they wished--"
"You gave up your command?"
"What else? And in doing so I gave up all. I am no longer a boy who can play games with fortune, Captain. I will not have another command in the armies of Spain. I have no other trade. But I do have a wife and a son."
"There are other armies."
"Of course. That has been much in my thoughts. And you, senor? Have you fought elsewhere?"
"I am Irish. At home we have no future, so we of good family have become like the wild geese. We fly away to whatever army will employ us. We are everywhere."
"And now you are here. Why?"
"I saved a little, and made a venture. It brought me here. I had a dream, you see. I fled my own land after my parents were killed, yet I love it still. I thought to win a fortune abroad and then return and buy the old place again ... buy what is rightfully mine anyway."
"It is a good dream. I wish you good fortune."
"And Guadalupe Romana?" I suggested. "What of her?"
"What, indeed? Somehow she must escape their designs. Somehow, I believe she will. She is beautiful, but make no mistake, there is steel in her, too. When we reach the end of our journey, she will be there still. She may be the strongest of us all."
Suddenly his mood changed. "Come! Let us look at the boat."
We started, and as we passed Guadalupe Romana she fell in step beside us. "You are going to the boat? May I come?"
"Please do," I said.
It was only a short distance to the stream where the boat lay. Twice along the path, snagged by brush, I found threads from the clothing of the women. If I found them, then so might the Indians.
The boat was of a common enough type, built to carry twenty men easily and a few more under crowded conditions. I walked around the bow, looking at the damage and the contents, about which I offered no comment.
There was a mast and sail, unused on the trip ashore, three sets of oars, a water cask ... empty ... a sea anchor, and a few tools.
Obviously, the boat had been banged about in the launching or afterward. A plank near the bow was splintered and a shirt stuffed in to stop the leak. I removed the shirt--well worth saving under the circumstances.
Someone moved up beside me. It was Guadalupe Romana. She looked at the boat. "What do you think?" She spoke softly.
"It can be done," I said.
She looked at me, right into my eyes. "Are you then good for something?"
I liked her, and I smiled. "It is a matter of opinion, butthat ..." I indicated the damage, "I can do."
"We must pray for good weather. Still, it will be better than walking along the shore." She looked up at me. "They are such fools. I could not believe they would contemplate such a thing. One would think they had never traveled along a shore."
"And you have?"
"I am of Peru. We lived in the mountains at the jungle's edge, but sometimes we came to the shore where some of our people had lived long ago."
"I would like to have known Peru," I said, "in the time of the Incas or before."
She shrugged a shoulder. "It was different then, but I do not know that you would have cared for it. The life had dignity, and it had a kind of splendor."
She looked at me suddenly. "Our civilization did not begin with the Incas. It was old before they came." She
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