Sidney Sheldon - The sands of time

The car started down the street. At the first corner,

Calle de Tudela, Jaime made a left turn. Suddenly, appearing out of nowhere, a policeman moved in front of the car and held out a hand signaling him to stop. Jaime stepped on the brake. Megan's heart began to pound.

The policeman walked over to the car.

Jaime asked calmly, "What's the problem, Officer?"

"The problem, señor, is that you are driving the wrong way down a one-way street. Unless you can prove you are legally blind, you are in trouble." He pointed to the sign at the entrance. "The street is clearly marked. Motorists are expected to respect a sign like that. That is the reason it has been placed there."

Jaime said apologetically, "A thousand pardons. My friends and I were in such a serious discussion that I did not see the sign."

The policeman was leaning into the driver's window. He was studying Jaime, a puzzled expression on his face.

"You will be so good as to let me see your registration,

please."

"Of course," Jaime said.

He reached down for the revolver that was under his jacket. Felix was ready to spring into action. Megan held her breath.

Jaime pretended to be searching his pockets. "I know I have it here somewhere."

At that moment from across the plaza came a loud scream and the policeman turned to look. A man on the street corner was beating a woman, hitting her about the head and shoulders with his fists.

"Help!" she cried. "Help me! He's killing me!"

The policeman hesitated for only an instant. "Wait here," he commanded.

He raced back down the street toward the man and woman.

Jaime put the car in gear and slammed down on the accelerator. The car shot down the one-way street, scattering traffic headed toward them, horns angrily blaring at them.

When they reached the corner, Jaime made another turn toward the bridge that led out of town on the Avenida Sanchez de

Arjona.

Megan looked at Jaime and crossed herself. She could hardly breathe.

"Would you—would you have killed the policeman if that man had not attacked the woman?"

Jaime did not bother to answer.

"The woman wasn't being attacked, Sister," Felix explained. "Those were our people. We are not alone. We have many friends."

Jaime's face was grim. "We're going to have to get rid of this car."

They were leaving the outskirts of Valladolid. Jaime turned onto N620, the highway to Burgos, on the way to

Logroño. He was careful to stay within the speed limit.

"We'll get rid of the car as soon as we get past Burgos," he announced.

I can't believe this is happening to me, Megan thought. I escaped from the convent, I'm running away from the army, and

I'm riding in a stolen car with terrorists who just robbed a bank. Lord, what else do You have in mind for me?

Colonel Ramón Acoña and half a dozen members of the GOE were in the middle of a strategy meeting. They were studying a large map of the countryside.

The scarred giant said, "It's obvious that Miró is heading north toward Basque country."

"That could mean Burgos, Vitoria, Logroño, Pamplona, or

San Sebastian."

San Sebastian, Acoña thought. But I have to catch him before he reaches there.

He could hear the voice on the phone: You're running out of time. He could not afford to fail.

They were driving through the rolling hills that heralded the approach to Burgos.

Jaime was quiet behind the wheel. When he finally spoke,

he said, "Felix, when we get to San Sebastian, I want to make arrangements to get Rubio away from the police."

Felix nodded. "It will be a pleasure. It will drive them crazy."

Megan said, "What about Sister Lucia?"

"What?"

"Didn't you say that she had been captured too?"

Jaime said wryly, "Yes, but your Sister Lucia turned out to be a criminal wanted by the police for murder."

The news shook Megan. She remembered how Lucia had taken charge and persuaded them to hide in the hills. She liked

Sister Lucia.

She said stubbornly, "As long as you're going to rescue

Rubio, you should save them both."

What the devil kind of nun is this? Jaime wondered.

But she was right. Smuggling Rubio and Lucia out from under the nose of the police would be wonderful propaganda and would make headlines.

Amparo had sunk into a sullen silence.

Suddenly, in the distance on the road ahead of them were three army trucks filled with soldiers.

"We'd better get off this road," Jaime decided.

At the next intersection he turned off the highway and headed east.

"Santo Domingo de la Calzada is up ahead. There's an old deserted castle there. We can spend the night in it."

Before long they could see its outline from the distance,

high on a hill. Jaime took a side road, avoiding the town,

and the castle loomed larger and larger as they approached it. A few hundred yards from it was a lake.

Jaime stopped the car. "Everybody out, please."

When they were all out of the car, Jaime pointed the steering wheel down the hill toward the lake, jammed the accelerator down, released the hand brake, and jumped clear.

They stood there watching as the car disappeared into the water.

Megan was about to ask him how they were going to get to

Logroño. She stopped herself. Foolish question. He will steal another car, of course.

The group turned to examine the abandoned castle. There was a huge stone wall circling it, and it had crumbling turrets on each corner.

"In the old days," Felix told Megan, "princes used these castles as prisons for their enemies."

And Jaime is an enemy of the state, and if he is caught,

there will be no prison for him. Only death, Megan thought.

He has no fear. She remembered his words: I have faith in what I'm fighting for. I have faith in my men, and in my guns.

They walked up the stone steps that led to the front gate,

which was made of iron. It had rusted away so badly that they were able to push it open and squeeze through into a courtyard paved in stone.

The inside of the castle seemed enormous to Megan. There were narrow passageways and rooms everywhere, and facing the outside were gunports, from which the defenders of the castle could repel attackers.

Stone steps led to a second floor, where there was another claustro, an inner patio. The stone steps narrowed as they walked up to a third floor, and then a fourth. The castle was deserted.

"Well, at least there are plenty of places to sleep here."

Jaime said. "Felix and I will go forage for food. Pick out your rooms."

The two men started downstairs again.

Amparo turned to Megan. "Come on, Sister."

They walked down the hall and the rooms all looked alike to Megan. They were empty stone cubicles, cold and austere,

some larger than others.

Amparo picked out the largest. "Jaime and I will sleep here." She looked at Megan and asked slyly, "Would you like to sleep with Felix?"

Megan looked at her and said nothing.

"Or perhaps you'd rather sleep with Jaime." Arnparo stepped closer to Megan. "Don't get any ideas, Sister. He's much too much man for you."

"You don't have to concern yourself. I'm not interested."

And even as she said it, Megan wondered whether Jaime Miró was much too much man for her.

When Jaime and Felix returned to the castle an hour later,

Jaime was clutching two rabbits and Felix was carrying firewood. Felix bolted the front door behind them. Megan watched as the men made a fire in the large fireplace. Jaime skinned and cooked the rabbits on a spit over the fire.

"Sorry we can't offer you ladies a real feast," Felix said, "but we'll eat well in Logroño. Meanwhile—enjoy."

When they had finished their meager meal, Jaime said,