Chapter 9-10 Summary

The sight that greets the men as they enter the village in chapter 9 both angers and saddens the men. Every man, women, child, and animal is dead, except for one man from Sharpe's Company that is alive in the village because he is not a Partisan but a prisoner of war, so must be treated honorably. Ramon explains that not everyone wanted to be part of the war and those left in the village were mostly the very young, old or sick.

Sharpe orders the men to be buried and immediately gets back to business. He asks Kearsey where the gold is located so that they can get on with their purpose. Kearsey indicates it is under the hermitage in the Moreno family vault.

After opening the vault, the group discovers that the gold is no longer there. Sharpe angrily interrogates...