SPOILERS!!!
I really enjoyed Andresillo's account of the siege of Gerona. The main problem is that the French soldiers ware re too many, and the governor insists they should not surrender. The food startsto run out, and the population dies of hunger. Many go crazy for just a chunk of bread. An example of this was D Pablo Nomdedeu, who goes crazy to find food for his daughter, Josephine.
In one episode D. Pablo starts to eat the kittens that Siseta's cat had, and then he discovers that Pipeta, the cat, is in the attic. Andres agrees to help him hunt for the cat on condition they share the meat. Yet, when they catch the cat, D Pablo refuses, and they even fight. Yet, Don Pablo manages to get the whole cat for Josefina.
Then the youngest child, Gasparó, becomes very sick, and D Pablo says that there is nothing to do. He is going to die. Siseta is almost lethargic with pain. Andres hears that the canon's house has been bombed, and he discovers the two boys there with friends. In this building Andres also finds an army of rats, which the boys ambush to kill and sell afterwards. There is a great description of what Andres sees, and they name the biggest rat Napoleón. In the house they find a baby Jesus made of marzipan, and the boys tell Andres to take it to Siseta and Gasparó. When he is leaving, Don Pablo appears. As soon as he sees the Baby Jesus, he wants it for Josephine, and they start to fight. At some point Andres realises that Don Pablo is not breathing, and thinking that he has killed him, he flees.
Andres rejoins his unit, and he is wounded. For many days he is looked after by the nuns, and when he is finally well enough to talk, a priest tells him that as far as he knows, Don Pablo is alive even though he is not in the best health. When Andres is able to leave his bed, he discovers that the building where Don Pablo and Siseta lived has been bombed. He discovers where Don Pablo lives, and he goes there. The man is forgiving, saying that he was not himself when they fought. Now Josefina has recovered, but Don Pablo thinks that his days are numbered. When Andres asks after Siseta, the man says he knows nothing.
Andres finally find the boys and Siseta. Gasparó died in those days when Andres was wounded. Now things are better because the town has surrendered and food has been arriving. The boys tell Andres that they left the house because Don Pablo went crazy. He demanded food from them, and when he got nothing, he came to them with a knife, intending to kill and eat them. Andres says that he is there now, and they will go to live to the land he has in Almunia.
Andres learns that now that he has recovered, he is a prisoner of war, and he is taken to France with the governor, who is very sickl. Andres tells us about the group being taken to Perpiñan, and then they and the governor are separated. Later they learn that the governor has died, and there are all theories about the death of the man at the hands of the French. Andres and some others manage to escape, and it is how he find himself in the company of Gabriel.
The last part of the novel focuses on Gabriel again. He is Puerto de Santa María, and when he is walking the streets with a friend, two women call him, and when they approach the window, one says that they need their help. The maid needs to go to Cadiz, and she needs the help of Gabriel. The young man agrees to help, but as soon as the woman, whose face is covered in veils, walks next to him, he knows that she is no maid, but a woman of high class. As soon as she talks, he knows that the woman is Amaranta. The Marquise is happy to see him, and she tells him that it is fate that they found each other. She needs his help to get to Cadiz because her relative the lady of Rumblar and another woman plan to take Ines to Lisbon, and Amaranta wants to stop them.
Gabriel and Amaranta reach Cadiz and go to the apartment where Ines is. That is where the story ends, and it will continue in the next instalment.
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