trembling, their hands raised high above their heads.

They were strangers.

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

High on a hill above the convent, Jaime and the others observed Acoña and his men move in on the van. They saw the terrified passengers get out, hands raised, and watched the scene played out in pantomime.

Jaime could almost hear the dialogue: Who are you?

We work at a hotel outside Logroño. What are you doing here?

A man gave us five thousand pesetas to deliver this van to the convent. What man?

I don't know. I never saw him before. Is this his picture?

Yes. That's him.

"Let's get out of here," Jaime said.

They were in a white station wagon, heading back to

Logroño. Megan was looking at Jaime in wonder.

"How did you know?"

"That Colonel Acoña would be waiting for us at the convent? He told me."

"What?"

"The fox has to think like the hunter, Megan. I put myself in Acoña's place. Where would he set a trap for me? He did exactly what I would have done."

"And if he had not shown up?"

"Then it would have been safe to take you into the convent."

"What happens now?" Felix asked.

It was the question uppermost in all their minds.

"Spain isn't safe for any of us for a while," Jaime decided. "We'll head directly for San Sebastian and into

France." He looked at Megan. "There are Cistercian convents there."

It was more than Amparo could bear.

"Why don't you give yourself up? If you keep on this way,

there will be more blood spilled and more lives taken—"

"You've lost the right to speak," Jaime said curtly. "Just be grateful you're still alive." He turned to Megan. "There are ten mountain passes across the Pyrenees leading from San

Sebastian to France. We'll cross there."

"It's too dangerous," Felix objected. "Acoña's going to be looking for us in San Sebastian. He'll be expecting us to cross the border into France."

"If it's that dangerous—" Graciela began.

"Don't worry," Jaime assured her. "San Sebastian is Basque country."

The station wagon was approaching the outskirts of Logroño again.

"All the roads to San Sebastian will be watched," Felix warned. "How do you plan for us to get there?"

Jaime had already decided. "We'll take the train."

"The soldiers will be searching the trains," Ricardo objected.

Jaime gave Amparo a thoughtful look. "No. I don't think so. Our friend here is going to help us. Do you know how to reach Colonel Acoña?"

She hesitated. "Yes."

"Good. You're going to call him."

They stopped at one of the telephone booths along the highway. Jaime followed Amparo into the booth and closed the door. He was holding a pistol to her side.

"You know what to say?"

"Yes."

He watched her dial a number, and when a voice answered,

she said, "This is Amparo Jirуn. Colonel Acoña is expecting my call… Thank you." She looked up at Jaime. "They're putting me through." The gun was pressing against her. "Do you have to—?"

"Just do as you were told." His voice was ice.

A moment later, Jaime heard Acoña's voice come over the phone. "Where are you?"

The gun pressed against her harder. "I—I'm—we're just leaving Logroño."

"Do you know where our friends are going?"

"Yes."

Jaime's face was inches from hers, his eyes hard.

"They've decided to reverse themselves to throw you off.

They're on their way to Barcelona. He's driving a white Seat.

He'll be taking the main highway."

Jaime nodded at her. "I—I have to go now. The car is here." Jaime pressed down the receiver. "Very good. Let's go.

We'll give him half an hour to call off his men here."

Thirty minutes later they were at the railroad station.

There were three classes of trains from Logroño to San

Sebastian: The TALGO was the luxury train; the second-class train was the TER; and the worst and cheapest trains,

uncomfortable and dirty, were misnamed the expresos— they stopped at every little station from Logroño to San

Sebastian.

Jaime said, "We'll take the expreso. By now all of Acoña's men will be busy stopping every white Seat on the road to

Barcelona. We'll buy our tickets separately and meet in the last car of the train." Jaime turned to Amparo. "You go first. I'll be right behind you."

She knew why, and hated him for it. If Colonel Acoña had set a trap, she would be the bait. Well, she was Amparo

Jirуn. She would not flinch.

She walked into the station while Jaime and the others watched. There were no soldiers.

They're all out covering the highway to Barcelona. It's going to be a madhouse, Jaime thought wryly. Every other car is a white Seat.

One by one the group purchased their tickets and headed for the train. They boarded without incident. Jaime took the seat next to Megan. Amparo sat in front of them, next to

Felix. Across the way Ricardo and Graciela sat together.

Jaime said to Megan, "We'll reach San Sebastian in three hours. We'll spend the night there and in the early morning we'll cross over into France."

"And after we get to France?"

She was thinking of what would happen to Jaime, but when he replied, he said, "Don't worry. There's a Cistercian convent just a few hours across the border." He hesitated.

"If that's what you still want."

So he had understood her doubts. Is that what I want? They were coming to more than a border that divided two countries.

This border would divide her old life from her future life… which would be… what? She had been desperate to return to a convent, but now she was filled with doubts. She had forgotten how exciting the world outside the walls could be.

I've never felt so alive. Megan looked over at Jaime and admitted to herself: And Jaime Miró is a part of it.

He caught her glance and looked into her eyes, and Megan thought: He knows it.

The expreso stopped at every hamlet and village along the track. The train was packed with farmers and their wives,

merchants and salesmen, and at each stop passengers noisily embarked and disembarked.

The expreso made its way slowly through the mountains,

fighting the steep grades.

When the train finally pulled into the station in San

Sebastian, Jaime said to Megan, "The danger is over. This is our city. I've arranged for a car to be here for us."

A large sedan was waiting in front of the station. A driver wearing a chapella, the big, wide-brimmed beret of the

Basques, greeted Jaime with warm hugs, and the group got into the car.

Megan noticed that Jaime stayed close to Amparo, ready to grab her if she tried to make a move. What's he going to do to her? Megan wondered.

"We were worried about you, Jaime," the driver said.

"According to the press, Colonel Acoña is conducting a big hunt for you."

Jaime laughed. "Let him keep hunting, Gil. I am out of season."

They drove down the Avenida Sancho el Sabio, toward the beach. It was a cloudless summer day and the streets were crowded with strolling couples bent on pleasure. The harbor was awash with yachts and smaller craft. The distant mountains formed a picturesque backdrop for the city.

Everything seemed so peaceful.

"What are the arrangements?" Jaime asked the driver.

"The Hotel Niza. Largo Cortez is waiting for you."

"It will be good to see the old pirate again."

The Niza was a medium-class hotel in the Plaza Juan de

Oiezabal, off the Calle de San Martнn on the corner of a busy square. It was a white building with brown shutters and a big blue sign at the top. The rear of the hotel backed onto a beach.

When the car pulled up in front of the hotel, the group got out and followed Jaime into the lobby.