JК
Sharpes Escape :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 88 из 283There was enough food here to feed Massena's army all the way to Lisbon and enough hogsheads of tobacco to keep it coughing all the way back to Paris. He stooped to tickle the throat of a great one-eyed torn cat, scarred from a hundred fights. The cat bared its teeth at Ferragus, but submitted to the caress, then Ferragus turned to two of his men who were standing with the feitor who wore a green sash to show he was on duty. "What is the trouble?" Ferragus demanded.
A feitor was an official storekeeper, appointed by the government to make certain there were sufficient rations for the Portuguese army. Every sizable town in Portugal had a feitor, answerable to the Junta of Provisions in Lisbon, and Coimbra's storekeeper was a middle-aged, corpulent man called Rafael Pires who snatched off his hat when he saw Ferragus and seemed about to drop to one knee.
"Senhor Pires," Ferragus greeted him affably enough. "Your wife and family are well?"
"God be praised, senhor , they are."
"They are still here? You have not sent them south?"
"They left yesterday. I have a sister in Bemposta." Bemposta was a small place nearer to Lisbon, the kind of town the French might ignore in their advance.
"Then you are fortunate. They won't starve on the streets of Lisbon, eh? So what brings you here?"
Pires fidgeted with his hat. "I have orders, senhor."
"Orders?"
Pires gestured with his hat at the great heaps of food. "It is all to be destroyed, senhor. All of it."
"Who says so?"
"The Captain-Major."
"And you take orders from him?"
"I am directed to do so, senhor."
The Captain-Major was the military commander of Coimbra and its surrounding districts. He was in charge of recruiting and training the ordenanqa, the "armed inhabitants," who could reinforce the army if the enemy came, but the Captain-Major was also expected to enforce the government's decrees.
"So what will you do?" Ferragus asked Pires. "Eat it all?"
"The Captain-Major is sending men here," Pires said.
"Here?" Ferragus's voice was dangerous now.
Pires took a breath. "They have my files, senhor," he explained. "They know you have been buying food. How can they not know? You have spent much money, senhor. I am ordered to find it."
"And?" Ferragus asked.
"It is to be destroyed," Pires insisted and then, as if to show that he was helpless in this situation, he invoked a higher power. "The English insist."
"The English," Ferragus snarled.
A feitor was an official storekeeper, appointed by the government to make certain there were sufficient rations for the Portuguese army. Every sizable town in Portugal had a feitor, answerable to the Junta of Provisions in Lisbon, and Coimbra's storekeeper was a middle-aged, corpulent man called Rafael Pires who snatched off his hat when he saw Ferragus and seemed about to drop to one knee.
"Senhor Pires," Ferragus greeted him affably enough. "Your wife and family are well?"
"God be praised, senhor , they are."
"They are still here? You have not sent them south?"
"They left yesterday. I have a sister in Bemposta." Bemposta was a small place nearer to Lisbon, the kind of town the French might ignore in their advance.
"Then you are fortunate. They won't starve on the streets of Lisbon, eh? So what brings you here?"
Pires fidgeted with his hat. "I have orders, senhor."
"Orders?"
Pires gestured with his hat at the great heaps of food. "It is all to be destroyed, senhor. All of it."
"Who says so?"
"The Captain-Major."
"And you take orders from him?"
"I am directed to do so, senhor."
The Captain-Major was the military commander of Coimbra and its surrounding districts. He was in charge of recruiting and training the ordenanqa, the "armed inhabitants," who could reinforce the army if the enemy came, but the Captain-Major was also expected to enforce the government's decrees.
"So what will you do?" Ferragus asked Pires. "Eat it all?"
"The Captain-Major is sending men here," Pires said.
"Here?" Ferragus's voice was dangerous now.
Pires took a breath. "They have my files, senhor," he explained. "They know you have been buying food. How can they not know? You have spent much money, senhor. I am ordered to find it."
"And?" Ferragus asked.
"It is to be destroyed," Pires insisted and then, as if to show that he was helpless in this situation, he invoked a higher power. "The English insist."
"The English," Ferragus snarled.