'Sir? A squeaking voice. 'Sir?

The bugler walked slowly towards him, Sharpe's rifle on his small shoulder, a plate balanced precariously on one hand. 'The kitchen sent it, sir. For you.

Bread, cold meat, and ships' biscuits. 'Have you eaten, lad?

The boy hesitated. Sharpe grinned.

'Help yourself. How old are you?

'Fourteen, sir.

'Where did you get the rifle?

'Soldier put it in your room last night, sir. I've been looking after it. You don't mind, sir?

'No. Do you want to be a Rifleman?

'Yes, sir! The boy was suddenly eager. 'Another two years, sir, and Captain Cross says I can join the ranks.

'Maybe the war will be over.

'No. The head shook. 'Can't be, sir.

He was probably right. There had been war between Britain and France for as long as this boy had lived. He would be the son of a Rifleman, he would have grown up in the Regiment, he knew no other life. He would be a Sergeant by twenty, if he lived, and if the war did end he would Be spat out onto the rubbish heap of the old soldiers whom nobody wanted. Sharpe looked away from him, knelt again at the parapet, and stared at the horsemen who once again had appeared at the end of the village street. A full General, no less, coming to fight Sharpe.

The General drummed his fingers on the leather writing box of his saddle. Damn this Sharpe, damn this pass, and damn this morning! He looked to the aide-de-camp who scribbled figures. 'Well?

The Captain was nervous. 'We think half the Battalion is in the Castle, sir, maybe more. We've seen one Company on the hill, and some redcoats in the Convent.

'Damned Riflemen?

'Certainly a Company on the hill, sir. But they've a few in the Castle and we saw a half dozen in the Convent.

'You mean there's more than one Company?

The Captain nodded unhappily. 'It would seem so, sir.

The General looked at Ducos whose eyes watered without the protection of his spectacles. 'Well?

'So they have two Companies. One on the hill, the other split in two.

The General did not like Ducos' nonchalance. 'Riflemen are bastards, Major. I don't like the way they're breeding over there. And tell me who those Lancers are, yes?

Ducos shrugged. 'I did not see them. His tone suggested that if he had not seen them, then they could not exist.

'Well I saw them! God damn it, I saw them! Alexandre?

Dubreton shook his head. 'The English don't have lancers, and if they did they would dress them in cavalry cloaks, not infantry greatcoats. And this morning, remember, they did not charge home.

'So?

Dubreton shifted in his saddle, the leather creaking beneath him. 'Well. We know La Aguja is here, and I think it's unlikely she would travel alone. I think they were Partisans, given army greatcoats by the English. He shrugged. 'They give them everything else.

The General looked to his other side. 'Ducos?

'It makes sense. The voice was grudging.

'So we add fifty Partisans to the garrison. Now tell me how many British troops there are, and where?

The Captain did not like the responsibility. His voice was unhappy. 'Sixty Rifles and a hundred redcoats on the hill, sir. Thirty and three hundred in the Castle, and thirty and one hundred in the Convent?

The General grunted. 'Dubreton?

'I'd agree, sir. Perhaps a few less in the Convent.

'Guns?

Dubreton answered. 'Our prisoners are certain of that, sir. One in the Convent which can't bear. One over the broken wall which isn't a danger till we reach the courtyard, and two on the hill.

'And they brought gunners with them?

'Yes, sir.

The General sat silent. Time, time, time. He wanted to be at the river this afternoon, across by evening, and at Vila Nova by nightfall tomorrow. That was optimistic, he knew, and he had allowed himself one more day to achieve his object, but if this damned Sharpe held him up all day today, then the operation would be jeopardized. He played with an idea. 'What if we ignore them? Ring that damned Castle with Voltigeurs and march straight past them? Eh?

It was a tempting thought. If the three Battalions that were to garrison the Gateway of God remained to continue the siege, then the rest of the force could go on into Portugal, but all of the officers knew what might happen. If the Castle was not taken by the three Battalions, then the General's retreat was blocked. There was another reason too. Dubreton voiced it. 'The pass is too narrow, sir. Those damned Rifles will kill every horse that goes through. He imagined the light guns that were to go with the General smashed on the lip of the pass, their horses shot, the weight of barrel and carriage running the wheels over wounded animals, turning over, blocking the road beneath the pitiless aim of the Greenjackets.

The General looked left, at the high tower. 'How long to take that?

'How many Battalions, sir? Dubreton asked.

'Two.

Dubreton looked at the thorns, at the steepness of the hill, and he imagined the soldiers climbing into the Rifle fire. 'Two hours, sir.

'As little as that?

'We'll offer them medals.

The General gave a humourless laugh. 'So we could have the tower by one o'clock. Another hour to put guns there. He shrugged. 'We might as well put our guns here! They can pound those bastards into mincemeat.

Ducos' voice was a sneer. 'Why take the tower at all? Why not just take the Castle? No one answered him, so he went on. 'We lose time with every minute! Colonel Dubreton has already given them till eleven o'clock! How many men would you lose attacking the tower, Colonel?

'Fifty.

'And still the Castle will have to be taken. So lose the men there instead. The Castle was a mere blur to Ducos, but he waved at it dismissively. 'The attack en massel Give medals to the first five ranks and go!

En masse. It was the French way, the method that had brought victory to the armies of the Empire throughout Europe, the way of the Emperor, the irresistible mass. Throw the mass like a human missile at the Castle's defenders, overwhelm them with targets, terrify them with the massed drummers in the columns' centre, and push over the dead to victory. The Castle could be theirs by mid-day, and the General knew that the Convent was not the same threat, that it was less heavily garrisoned and more vulnerable to the twelve pounder shots that would crumble its walls about the British. Take the Castle, unseat the gun in the Convent, and then his troops could be marching into the pass by two o'clock, the garrison on the watchtower forgotten, ignored, treated with the contempt that it deserved. En masse.

He tried to work out casualties. They would be heavy in the first few ranks, perhaps a hundred dead, but that was a small price to pay for the time he needed. He could afford to lose twice that number and still not notice. The Emperor's way, and this wretched Ducos would write his report and it would be a good thing if it was said that victory was won in the Emperor's way!

'All the Battalions in the village. He was thinking out loud. 'Fifty men in each rank, how many ranks?

'Eighty. The aide-de-camp said. A great rectangle of eight thousand men, drums in the centre, eighty ranks pushing irresistibly home. Dubreton had lit a cheroot. 'I don't like it. The General wavered. He liked the idea, he did not want to be dissuaded, but he reluctantly looked at Dubreton. 'Tell me?

'Two things, sir. First he's dug a trench in front of the wall. That could be an obstacle. Secondly I'm worried about that courtyard. We'll get in there and find every exit blocked. We'il be marching into a cul de sac, with Rifles on three sides.

Ducos had a small spyglass to his right eye, the barrel slightly contracted to compensate for his missing spectacles. 'The trench does not extend the full width. True.