Remi stepped over to Sam and stared with anguish into his eyes. “Who are you?” she gasped. “You’re not the man I’ve known and loved.”

He gave her a look of indifference she’d never seen before.

As Remi turned to speak, Sam had walked from the vestry without looking back at his lovely wife.

Chapter 30

SANTA MARIA DE LOS MONTAÑAS

The next day, the mothers, children, and the elderly were led by Remi to the ruined stronghold on the plateau. There they would gather hundreds of stones to throw down at the attackers if they tried to climb the narrow path up. Remi determined where the best locations were behind a rock-stack barrier to fire at any attacker who reached the top.

Remi kept her mind off Sam’s strange behavior and directed her squad of women and children to make effigies of townspeople, stuffing clothing with leaves and brush. “If your son is firing a rifle, you want the enemy to waste ammunition shooting at the five or six dummies you made and placed around to protect him.”

She had other people bringing empty bottles, cans of gasoline, and rags to the plateau and making Molotov cocktails. “If men are coming up the path, these will stop them for a time. And if it’s night, they’ll light them up so anyone with a gun can hit them.”

At dusk, Sam stood on the crest of the hill beside the ancient fortress, surveying the preparations the townspeople had made. He knew there were hundreds of human effigies, beginning on the trail to the ancient stronghold. There were pits from building the old rock barrier. Within the walls of the ancient fortress were enough food and water for the whole town for a couple of weeks, and there were shelters for the children. The whole perimeter had dummies at the ramparts, and the supply of rocks and Molotov cocktails was impressive.

Sam was suddenly aware that Remi was standing next to him.

“I can’t live without you,” she said softly. “Please don’t stay in the village and die there alone.”

Sam shook his head and looked down. “I’ve never asked you to blindly follow my direction. I have to ask you now. Trust me.”

She turned to him and looked for something in his eyes. “We’ve never had any secrets between us.”

“I’m sorry, Remi. But I swore an oath many years ago that I have to stand by. And now I have to see this through.”

“I know you have something up your sleeve. But will it work?”

He ran his hand through her hair. “The final throw of the dice and I can’t even tell you what I hope is going to happen.”

Sam looked up at the last of the sun-painted mountain peaks. “It’s time for me to go.”