who was satisfied with the answer, and then she fell silent for the rest of the ride to the vineyard.
Once at the vineyard, Don Fernando stopped at the winery with Lucía to check on the wine production. There he met Zito, who was examining the newly made oak wine barrels for leakage, and then they were off to the underground chamber, where the wine was stored and where Don Fernando took a count on the number of stored barrels.
Lucía noticed the darkness of the wine cellar if not for torches on the wall, which lit the way. The barrels were three high, and each barrel was carefully rolled in place. Each barrel was tapped with a spigot for tasting, as the wine was aged a month before delivery. Either Don Fernando or Zito would taste the wine to ensure quality of the barrel. When ready for delivery, a barrel would be marked with an x in charcoal. The barrels left over, and usually there were plenty, would be either for the use of the palace or used for gifts. Lucía was given a small sip from a couple of barrels and asked her opinion, under the guidance of her father, and was even allowed to mark several barrels with an x, which were taken out and placed in a horse-driven cart for delivery. Each shipment was accompanied by three soldiers to safeguard delivery and payment.
The sun was now only a few hours old in the sky, as Don Fernando rode around the remainder of the vineyard to inspect the grapes yet to be picked. Then he grabbed a basket and, with Lucía’s help, loaded it full with grapes. Lucía became a hit with the working peasants, as she politely engaged in conversation with the people she met in the field and sometimes played with the village children that she encountered. But today it was all business, for the last quarter of the vineyard had to be picked before the weather changed.
The vineyard was running with incessant energy when suddenly Don Fernando thought he heard screams and smelled smoke. He stood straight up and quickly ran out from the row where he had been working and saw about a mile away down the road in front of the vineyard what appeared to be a Moorish raid. His quick movements scared Lucía, who started to tremble in fear.
“Papa!” she yelled. “What’s happening?”
Don Fernando rushed back, quickly had Lucía lie on the ground, and covered her with all sorts of debris that he could find. “Lucía, I want you to stay here and not move or make a sound until I come back. Do you understand me?”
“Sí, Papa, but what is going on?” asked Lucía, who was visibly upset.
“It will be all right, I promise, but you must do as I tell you. Do you understand?”
Lucía nodded.
“That’s mi pequeño sol,” said Don Fernando, and he ran out to the road. To his horror, Don Fernando saw a raiding party of twelve Moorish soldiers, who wore black garments and black turbans wrapped around their necks and covered their faces. With only his white shirt, which was unlaced, a pair of green breeches, and a dagger, he ran toward the commotion. Suddenly, the village church bells rang and sounded the alarm. He could see from a distance that several huts were on fire and several peasants had been cut down and lay strewn across the landscape. Several women and children of the village had been kidnapped and hung over the saddles horns of their captors.
The small army in single file started to leave the premises and headed in Don Fernando’s direction, carrying their captives, but the enemy line maintained a good distance between each soldier. The first soldier came by swinging his scimitar. Don Fernando braced himself as he saw a soldier poised for the kill with eyes dark and foreboding. He quickly jumped on the back of his horse, pulled his dagger, and slit his throat. As he threw the dead soldier off this horse, he retrieved his scimitar.
The next soldier rode by, but a young girl who had been kidnapped was so busy trying to fight off her captor he couldn’t pull his scimitar. When he saw Don Fernando, he quickly dropped the girl, who ran off, and pulled his sword, but he quickly fell under the blow of Don Fernando’s scimitar. Two more arrived and fought Don Fernando on horseback, but they lost the fight with one losing another captive. The eight surviving soldiers rode off with several young women from the village.
A few minutes after the raid, Captain Gómez arrived with a contingent of twelve well-armed men ready for battle. Captain Gómez noticed Don Fernando still on the enemy horse and halted his contingent. “I see that you have been busy, Don Fernando,” said Gómez after he perused the bodies of the four dead soldiers, and found Don Fernando apparently unscathed. “Well, thanks be to God that you were not harmed.”
“You surprise me, Gómez. I never took you for a man of religion,” said Don Fernando with a smile.
“You know me, Don Fernando, always straight in the saddle.”
Don Fernando laughed at the comment and then became serious. “Eight escaped, carrying several women, and headed south on the Madrid road.”
“Most likely they are heading back to al-Andulus. Well, we’ll find them and bring back the women and whatever else they stole. Adiós, my friend.” With that parting comment, Captain Gómez led his contingent south toward the direction of the enemy.
“Good hunting as always, Gómez,” said Don Fernando as he hurried back for Lucía. “Lucía! Lucía!” cried Don Fernando.
“Over here, Papa!” cried Lucía, who stood up and wiped her garment off from the clinging debris of the ground.
“Are you okay, mi pequeño sol?” asked Don Fernando, holding onto her tightly.
“Sí, Papa, but I was very worried.”
“Well, it’s all right now.” After an embrace, Don Fernando started to walk down the road in front of the vineyard with Lucía. To his surprise, Yamina came riding on a horse. After having heard of the raid, she had hoped to find Lucía.
“You certainly came at the right time, Yamina. Take Lucía back to the palace and have her cleaned up. Avoid the village. It’s no place for her right now.”
“Of course, Don Fernando,” said Yamina.
Don Fernando bent down and told Lucía, “I want you to go back with Yamina. I will be back later.”
“Sí, Papa,” said Lucía. Don Fernando mounted her on Yamina’s saddle, and they both rode back to the palace.
As Yamina rode away with Lucía, Don Fernando traveled to the village to see the devastation. Smoke filled the air and masked the confusion that was taking place. The men of the village had formed a fire brigade with the help of several soldiers to put out the fires. A line extended from the well to the huts that were still ablaze. Another group of men were putting out the fire that had destroyed several rows of the vineyard. Peasants were milling about in confusion and disbelief. Father Piña was already praying over the bodies of the dead.
Zito met Don Fernando as soon as he dismounted.
“How many are dead, Zito?”
“Three here in the village and two more in the vineyard, where the men were cleaning up the debris from the harvest.”
Don Fernando stood in stunned silence. The attack had been a complete surprise. This had been the first raid as long as Don Fernando could remember.
Don Fernando turned to Zito after he had examined the area from the spot where he was standing. “I would have thought the Duero Valley to be safe from the Moors, but they seem to be growing bolder. But I never thought they would be so bold as to attack here.”
“There was no defense, Don Fernando. They struck in complete surprise from nowhere.”
“There is no such place as nowhere, Zito, and that was my first mistake. But I do wonder what happened to the scouts I sent out several days ago. They should have been back by now and could have warned us about a possible attack.”
Father Piña interrupted his conversation, “Don Fernando, it’s good to see you here. The village people are frightened and need reassurances from you. There are already five dead and several wounded.”
“I understand, Padre,” said Don Fernando, and he called one of the soldiers who had helped