[TWO]
Estancia San Pedro y San Pablo
Near Pila, Buenos Aires Province
1140 11 April 1343
Clete stood with Enrico on the verandah, waiting for the Fieseler Storch to take off.
He could hear the pilot test the magnetos, and then the roar as he pushed the throttle to takeoff power. Much sooner than he expected, the airplane appeared above the cedar tree windbreak in a slow, incredibly steep climb.
He's showing off, of course, the sonofabitch. But look at that thing climb!
The pilot dipped the wings, waving good-bye, and then passed over the house.
Christ, the flaps are as big as the wings. No wonder he could get it off that way!
"What do you think of Martin, Enrico?"
"For a clown, he is not so bad. Of course, he is a cavalry officer."
"There is no such thing as a bad cavalry officer, right?"
"That is not what I said, Se¤or Clete."
"How do you feel about aviators, Enrico?"
"El Coronel wondered why you did not go into the cavalry, Se¤or Clete."
"We don't have cavalry anymore," Clete said. "But in the Marine Corps, we sort of think of airplanes as flying horses."
Enrico considered that carefully but didn't reply.
"I'm going to take a ride," Clete said.
"To see el Jefe"-the Chief- "I will go with you, Se¤or Clete."
"And Ettinger," Clete said. "You are not going. You are full of holes, and I don't want you bleeding all over a horse. It will attract flies, and annoy the horse."
Enrico looked at him long enough to decide that argument would be futile.
"Rudolpho will go with you," he announced.
"OK. If either Se¤ora Carzino-Cormano or my Uncle Humberto arrives be-fore I come back, do not tell them where I am."
"S¡, Se¤or Clete."
With Enrico on his heels, Clete turned and walked down the corridor to-ward the entrance foyer, where Antonio intercepted him.
"Is there anything I can do for you, Se¤or?"
"I'm going for a ride."
"I will lay out riding clothes for you."
"Antonio, I'm a Texas Aggie. This is all the riding clothes a Texas Aggie needs."
He pulled up his khakis to reveal his boots.