Agueda

They could see their goal, feel pride in an achievement, and tomorrow they would wake up on the west bank of the Agueda and march to the Coa.

Sharpe's Gold Cornwell, Bernard, 1944- 1981

He certainly knew the countryside, from the farmlands along the road from Almeida to Ciudad Rodrigo, to the high country that was to the north, the chaos of the valleys and hills that dropped finally to the river Duero, into which the Coa and the Agueda flowed.

Sharpe's Gold Cornwell, Bernard, 1944- 1981

The question could not be answered and the threat of defeat, like the rain-clouds that still built in the north, accompanied the Light Company on its empty march towards the river Agueda.

Sharpe's Gold Cornwell, Bernard, 1944- 1981

Crawling up the map, dividing it into three, were the Coa and Agueda rivers, and the long finger was pointing between the rivers, north of Almeida.

Sharpe's Gold Cornwell, Bernard, 1944- 1981

If Richard Sharpe wanted to lead them to Paris they would go, blindly confident that he would see them through, and they had grinned when he had told them they were to march behind the enemy patrols, across the Coa, across the river Agueda " for Hogan had known that much " and then back again.

Sharpe's Gold Cornwell, Bernard, 1944- 1981

It had to be the river Agueda, off to the left, and the stream at the bottom of the valley flowed east to west to join the river where the track led to the ford.

Sharpe's Gold Cornwell, Bernard, 1944- 1981

Sitting in the mist that ghosted up from the Agueda, he talked, in his gruff voice, about the Partisans.

Sharpe's Gold Cornwell, Bernard, 1944- 1981

They crossed the frontier somewhere in the darkness, a grunt from Kearsey announcing the news, and then the route led downhill to the river Agueda, where they waited for the first sign of dawn.

Sharpe's Gold Cornwell, Bernard, 1944- 1981

Once over the Agueda, waist-high and cold, they were beyond the farthest British patrols.

Sharpe's Gold Cornwell, Bernard, 1944- 1981

There were British patrols on the far bank, to be sure not as many as there were French, but the river Agueda marked some kind of limit, and after a day's effort like this they needed that limit.

Sharpe's Gold Cornwell, Bernard, 1944- 1981