{"id":7647,"date":"2011-11-23T13:58:49","date_gmt":"2011-11-23T17:58:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thegreathorse.com\/?p=7647"},"modified":"2017-06-04T12:57:23","modified_gmt":"2017-06-04T16:57:23","slug":"book2-excerpt-2-the-captains-orders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/2011\/11\/book2-excerpt-2-the-captains-orders\/","title":{"rendered":"The Captain’s Orders"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image“After God, we owe it to the horses.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
\u2014Diego Duran (1495-1579), conquistador led by Hern\u00e1n Cort\u00e9s in conquest of the Aztec empire<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Brother has<\/span> not heard the Captain\u2019s orders. That can be the only explanation.\u201d An uncomfortable moment passed as the men contemplated each other. \u201cUnless his wine has made him forgetful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe flesh is weak, Padre Giaollo. I meant nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe English-speaking woman is to be left alone by strict order of the Captain. You are a brave man.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo! No, Padre Giaollo. Allow me to repent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, is it now understood?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, yes! And I will watch carefully for signs of disobedience in the others. I will be vigilant, Padre Giaollo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I will say nothing of it. Perhaps, Brother, this time could be used in prayer?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, of course.\u201d Bowing his head, the priest turned to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait there, my Brother! Spirits only dull the mind.\u201d Macario held out his hand, and the first priest reluctantly placed the bottle into it. \u201cTo temperance, amigo!<\/em>\u201d Macario toasted him, and upended the bottle in a swig.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod be with you, Padre Giaollo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd also with you. Good night.\u201d Macario offered the bottle to Meagan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, but no,\u201d Meagan refused politely.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u2018thank you\u2019 is accepted, the \u2018no\u2019 is not. It is a sin to drink alone, se\u00f1orita<\/em>, and I am a man of God. Now hold up your glass.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meagan consented and sipped the fiery liquid. \u201cYou speak English well, Padre Giaollo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMacario! Please, call me Macario! Why would I not speak English, por Dios<\/em>? It has all the good words and twice the bad! By my lights, I cannot understand why anyone speaks anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the ship and the soldiers, aren\u2019t they Spanish?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the days are hot, hang their mothers … but not I. I am Italian by birth, schooled in Oxford before I joined the seminary.\u201d He spit onto the beach. \u201cRot all Spaniards!\u201d he shouted, waiting for the chorus of returned insults. \u201cFoul devils,\u201d he said, turning back to Meagan with a grimace. \u201cThey will rule the world, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are you here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Church likes Her lofty hand in others\u2019 affairs, and She can be a persuasive wench. And you? From England, have you said?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, not really.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrance, then? You could be French. Ah, sweet Avignon, those blasphemers \u2026 begging your pardon if it offends, of course.\u201d Macario took a swig and shouted, \u201cGod hates all Spanish and the dogs they lie with!\u201d Catcalls were flung back. \u201cThey are all going to Hell,\u201d he said offhand, listening to the returning curses.<\/p>\n

\u201cExcuse me, but they do not seem the kind of men one provokes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a priest, child. What are they going to do? They have gotten themselves into a corner here on this beach, and chances are they will need me to get out…\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n\"GH2-2ndEd_cov_5FIN_142px\"<\/p>\n

The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy is an adventure through history \u2026 the above excerpt is from the chapter \u201cDragons\u201d set in 1519 AD during the invasion of Mexico. Meagan is an unwilling passenger aboard a Conquistador’s ship …<\/p>\n

The Golden Spark<\/strong><\/em> (Book #2 of the Legend of the Great Horse<\/b> trilogy) won the 2011 Written Arts Awards<\/em> for best Science Fiction\/Fantasy.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n__________<\/p>\n

Quick Links:<\/p>\n

<\/strong>\n<\/div>\n

\u00bb See All Excerpts<\/strong><\/a> from The Legend of the Great Horse<\/strong> trilogy.<\/p>\n

\u00bb Read the 1st Chapter online<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00bb Check out Reviews<\/strong> <\/a> for the trilogy.<\/p>\n

\u00bb See the Media Kit<\/strong><\/a> for more information about the trilogy.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI am a priest, child. What are they going to do? They have gotten themselves into a corner here on this beach, and chances are they will need me to get out, so to speak.\u201d …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[315],"tags":[118,168,313,376,314,396,301],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7647"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7647"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15247,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7647\/revisions\/15247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}