Tale of the Two Virgins

Jenny Francis

Description

It is 1963. When General Franco, right-wing leader of Spain, decides to take a short break in the small fishing town of Los Tidos, incognito, of course, a catalogue of events is set in motion that could never have been foreseen by his long-suffering security team... The outward appearance of Los Tidos is deceptive. Within the bougainvillea-clad exterior live a rich cast of characters, some of whom have love on their minds; others, murder. While local carpenter Jaime tries with limited success to find love using a dating agency, his friend Pepe plots to poison his harridan wife, and town drunk Uncle Pablo causes mischief wherever he goes. Pablo's dog, Waldorf, becomes entangled in the poisoning plot with near-calamitous consequences and a honey trap intended to kidnap General Franco goes disastrously wrong when the honey in question mistakes Uncle Pablo for the Spanish dictator. And all the time, Los Tidos' priest, Father Miguel, is worrying about where he might find two saintly figures for the town's Feast of the Two Virgins, an event only celebrated in Los Tidos every 25 years...Set against the backdrop of 1960s Spain, The Tale of the Two Virgins is a rollicking tale of murderous plans, mistaken identities and convoluted affairs of the heart. It is ultimately a light, humorous read that will appeal to a wide range of readers.

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 09 juin 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783066827
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Copyright © 2014 Jenny Francis
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.
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ISBN 978 1783066 827
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Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd
This book is dedicated to fond memories of Barcelona and the happy times spent living there in the early 70s.
CAST OF CHARACTERS Jaime Campello jobbing carpenter whose entangled love life is the central thread to the story. Pepe Gomez hen-pecked work-shy owner of a backstreet bar in Los Tidos’s port quarter; Jaime’s best friend and, some would say, a bad influence. Conchita Gomez Pepe’s sharp-tongued nagging wife. Uncle Pablo brother of Jaime’s father; town drunk and scrounger. Waldorf Uncle Pablo’s dog whose flea-bitten form flits in and out of the story and brings it to its final catastrophic end. Nathalie Theroux daughter of a wealthy French family living with her mother and sister on the outskirts of town. Father Miguel Priest whose secularist views are not shared by all. El Serpiente (The Snake) Republican Civil War veteran; the most wanted and dangerous man in Spain. Lola Martinez curvaceous femme fatale prepared to put her charms to any purpose which serves her own avaricious interests. Suarez Spain’s long-suffering security chief. Capitan Luis Garcia ham-fisted, accident-prone officer of the Civil Guard who is recruited to ensure Franco’s safety. Ramon Ramon Garcia’s assistant. Zamora socially ambitious owner of the bar next door to Gomez. Theobald Zamora’s much-pampered tom-cat. Also: Doctor Pascal town physician whose services are called on increasingly as the havoc unfolds. Ernesto husband of the conserja at the apartment block where Lola moves in and who quickly falls under her spell. Raul young Naval officer who also falls under Lola’s spell and becomes her unwitting accomplice. Flores Acting Chief of Police who, along with his officers, has the bad luck to be thrust into the centre of the mayhem. The Senoras Crespo self-appointed guardians of public morals and religious observance. Lopez and the others card players who gather every day to gossip. Esteban Sanchez son of the local ironmonger. Old Roberto smallholder who, along with his mule Emilia, is frequently to be seen in the narrow streets of the town. Felipe shepherd who wanders the countryside with his flock. Robles bad-tempered town rat catcher. Alvarez Manager of the exclusive Hotel Bahia. Casares Hotel Bahia’s celebrated chef. Herrero Head Waiter of the Hotel who oversees its fabulous candlelit dining room. Navarro Town Mayor and chief recipient of backhanders. Araya Conductor of the town band. And not forgetting Generalisimo Franco Dictator of Spain whose secret visit to Los Tidos sparks off the chain of events which quickly gets out of control.

AUTHOR’S NOTE
The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
Sometimes referred to as the forgotten war because of the great struggle between nations that followed, the Spanish Civil War was a bitterly fought-out foretaste of what was soon to come for much of the rest of the world. On one side was the Republic, the democratically elected government of Spain at times on the brink of descending into chaos and deeply divided within itself. On the other was Generalisimo Francisco Franco’s Nationalists, a reactionary movement born out of a rising led by right wing army officers and backed by Hitler and Mussolini who sent the soldiers, aircraft and modern weaponry that eventually tilted the balance of power in the Nationalists’ favour. The Republic had its support too in the shape of aid from the Soviet Union but countries like France, Britain and the United States stood back behind a policy of non-intervention.
Though atrocities occurred on both sides, at the final reckoning there was more blood on the hands of the Nationalists than their opponents. As well as seasoned regulars Franco’s forces had in their ranks mercenaries recruited from the tribes of North Africa who set about their work of ‘mopping up’ after battles with the rape and butchery of countless innocents. In contrast the Republican army was for the large part made up of workers’ militias plus a steady stream of ordinary men from all over the world who came to Spain to fight in the famous International Brigades. In the end though they were no match for German and Italian guns and bombers.
Pushed back on all fronts and only after the heroic defence of the city of Madrid and defeat in the battles of Teruel and the Ebro, the Republic finally surrendered in 1939. As the war came to an end thousands of refugees streamed across the frontier into southern France where they were herded into concentration camps and where many of them died from cold, disease and starvation. Franco meanwhile set about imposing his iron fist on a war torn and battered nation. Few objected because they knew the price they would pay but one by one the freedoms they had enjoyed under the Republic were taken away. Spain became a land where only brave men and fools spoke out against the regime and the prisons and torture chambers were filled with those that did.
Franco, known as the Caudillo to his supporters, went on to rule Spain until his death in 1975. To some he will be remembered as the saviour of the nation who stood for the values of the Catholic Church and stopped Spain becoming a Marxist state whereas to others even today he is a figure of deep and enduring hate.
It is in the time of Franco that this story is set.
CONTENTS
Author’s Note: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
Chapter One: The Aubergine and the Beanstick
Chapter Two: The Night of the New Jumilla
Chapter Three: Three Gentlemen in Girona
Chapter Four: A China Doll
Chapter Five: The Poisoning of the Paella
Chapter Six: A Single Red Rose
Chapter Seven: A Night of Strange Encounters
Chapter Eight: A Storm in the Night and an Ancient Vow
Chapter Nine: The Wrong Generalisimo
Chapter Ten: The Haunted Lagoon
Chapter Eleven: Two Men on a Bridge
Chapter Twelve: A Sad Bouquet of Rue
Chapter Thirteen: A Few Old Bones
About the Author
CHAPTER ONE
The Aubergine and the Beanstick
The events in this story took place many years before the town of Los Tidos de Los Dos Virgenes (or Los Tidos as people always call it for short) became known throughout Europe as a popular destination for package holidays. In 1963 it was still a seldom visited place tucked away in a quiet out of the way corner of south eastern Spain. The sky-scraper hotels, the discos and the burger stalls all came later. For now Los Tidos thrived, as it had done for centuries, on the fish caught in the sea off its shores and the trade that passed through its busy port. Some foreign tourists came, true, but for the most part these were well-heeled types who arrived in their large yachts and confined themselves to the area of boutiques, bars and restaurants that had grown up lately on the waterfront around the new marina. Few of their number ever ventured up the steeply stepped streets of the Old Town with its over-hanging, bougainvillea-clad wrought iron balconies. Here, life went on as it had always gone on and little ever changed.
The month of November is always a pleasant time of year in this part of Spain – a time when the stifling heat of the summer has passed; a time when the oranges and lemons are ripening on the trees; a time when it is still warm enough to walk outdoors without a cardigan. And it was on one such pleasant balmy November afternoon that two characters well-known in the town were to be seen taking a stroll along the Promenade. One of these characters was noticeably short and stout whereas the other was tall and thin explaining right away why the two of them when seen together, were always referred to as the Aubergine and the Beanstick (though not necessarily to their faces). The short stout one, Pepe Gomez, was the proprietor of a working man’s bar in the port quarter of Los Tidos while his companion, the tall thin one, was the local jobbing carpenter: a young man named Jaime Campello.
The promenade along which the two of them strolled was a new construction and, like most things new in Los Tidos, it was slowly falling apart. Successive alcáldes or town mayors had seen to it that they lined their own pockets when awarding municipal contracts and recipients of these contracts, not wanting to see their profits eaten away by the alcálde’s back handers, made ends meet by cutting corners and using poor materials. In the case of the Promenade, the result was that after eighteen months, its surface was pitted with holes and, at one point, the sea had made a more serious encroachment, undermining a whole section of the side walk and causing it to cave in leaving behind a jumbled mass of broken concrete and reinforcing iron cascading onto the beach and defying all but the most intrepid pedestrians to go any further.
Since neither Pepe Gomez nor Jaime Campello qualified by any definition of the word as intrepid it was at this point on their walk that they routinely turned round and went back. A brief look out to sea, where the first of the returning fishing boats could be seen out towards the horizon, then they retraced th