Chapter 95: Retelling
I made Kasily our cuartel for the training, where there was no busy civilian activity to interrupt. Not to mention that the town proper was already housing 150 recruits. A hundred more and the town would be as busy as Boac, and I didn’t think the townsmen there had signed up for that.
Alicia helped me greatly with the preparations. As it turned out—though not entirely surprising—her father was the cabeza of the barrio. She knew exactly whom to talk to, and the villagers, out of gratitude to me and respect for her, cooperated without hesitation.
Two storehouses had been emptied of salt and copra to be converted into the quarters of the recruits, while a large hut had been arranged to accommodate the four officer cadets.
Alicia’s house, one of the few bahay-na-batos in the area, would host me, the senior officers, and the two tenientes.
I had contacted the gobernadorcillo in the town proper to arrange the delivery of the necessary supplies to feed us in Kasily, since that would be an overwhelming task for the small barrio.
The modified Garay warship, with its reduced crew and oaring ports, had enough space for a hundred passengers. It landed along the same shore where the pirates did several weeks ago.
I was smiling as I watched them jump down to the sands, until I noticed someone jumping done who wasn’t supposed to be there. Isabela looked like she enjoyed the journey, smiling and waving at the curious crowd of villagers that had gathered at the beach.
"Vicente, why is she here?" I asked the lieutenant. I had not indicated in the letter for Isabela to be brought. In fact, I wanted Sargento Guzman to take the role of guarding Isabela and taking command of the security around the Casa Real.
Teniente Triviño placed his hands on his hips and gave Isabela a hard stare, to which she responded with a pout and a shrug. "She insisted, Heneral. Told me that if I were to stop her, she would tell you to hang me."