Anarquista Ibérica; and then the other big trade union group (there are more cars in town), U.G.T.: Unión General de Trabajadores. 76 Those are the three great labor unions in Spain . . . Oh, and hereâs a present,â he added, fishing a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. âBisontes; they must be made by the Lucky people, theyâre packed like Luckies; one peseta fifty, and the English are stocking up on them. You ought to see their providence and foresight,â he waved his hand, âbread, Vichy, candlesâtheyâre setting up houseon the train. I donât know what they think weâre in for; theyâve bought enough to last a week.â
âWhat about guns?â Olive asked him.
âI think the whole townâs armed,â he answered. âI didnât see a man without a gun; and civilians are guarding the road up there, stopping every car that goes through. I heard the story about two regiments in Barcelona, and then someone said fourâone thingâs certain, this is all over Spain. Somebody said the tracks were blown up; somebody else said there was a train stopped in every station all along the line.â
âWhen do you suppose the train will move?â
âCanât say. But theyâll let us know. The townâs all right,â he said violently. âKnow what theyâre doing? Feeding the whole darn Olympic crowd, at their own expense!â
He sat down and opened the pack of Bisontes.
âI met some more people, too,â he said. âThereâs a stunning South American woman with the English, who told me that about the foodâthatâs the mayorâs order; and your friend from New Jersey, Helen,â he told her, âSheâs looking for you all over the platform.
âNo, leave your bag here,â Peter went on, âYouâll be staying with us.â They looked at her, with their intent grave looks. She had come to rely on them already.
âSee you in a few minutes,â she said.
PEAPACK WAS HUDDLED in her corner still. âGod,â she was muttering, âwhat have I let myself in for?â She sprang up when she saw Helen. âItâs war,â she cried, âbut the Fascists are going to rescue us, I mean the Anarchistsâoh, do you know whatâs happening?â
Helen sat down with her.
âNo,â she said, âI wonât move, Helen, I wonât leave this compartment, I canât bear it. Did you hear the Belgian woman rush down the train? She came in here and said that noise was guns. It did sound like backfire, didnât it? Whoâs that?â
Toni was at the window, calling Helen. She leaned out. He was an old friend, his face was immensely, touchingly familiar, the purple lips darkening in the half-light, his gay dark eyes. He wanted her to come to dinner, she was with the Olympics, the town was standing them all dinner.
âGo ahead, Iâll see you later,â she promised.
Peapack was behind her, pulling her arm.
She turned to the older woman, the whitened harassed face, sunken with fear.
âDonât leave me, Helen,â she demanded, âdonât leave me alone. It sounds like war, I canât bear it, weâll never get out of this, donât go, only donât go!â
Evening was coming down. The radio was very loud.
              CHAPTER FOUR
                 Finally, in times when the class struggle nears the decisive hour, the progress of dissolution going on within the ruling class, in fact, within the whole range of old society, assumes such a violent, glaring character, that a small section of the ruling class cuts itself adrift and joins the revolutionary class, the class that holds the future in its hands.
âThe Communist Manifesto 77
T he crowds had drawn away; only a few small boys were left, concealed and
Nicole MacDonald
Amy Woods
Gigi Aceves
Michelle Sagara
Marc Weidenbaum
Mishka Shubaly
S F Chapman
Trish Milburn
Gaelen Foley
Jacquelyn Mitchard