Lucia

In the early 1990’s a young Englishman Harry Burgess, inherits a substantial sum of money. With no domestic ties and never having previously journeyed further than northern France he decides now to travel the world. Initially he heads for the Caribbean on a cruise ship, first stop Cuba. When he steps ashore in Havana he is instantly entranced by the ambience of the town and by the Cuban culture.A twenty-four hour stopover simply isn’t sufficient and he decides to abandon ship and prolong his stay.After a week or so he meets, purely by chance, a beautiful young Cuban woman of mixed race, and almost instantly falls in love. Her name is the title of the story.She confesses to him right from the outset that she is a hooker, although he is completely undeterred by her frank admission.In a matter of weeks they are married, __at her proposal!In spite of the rather obvious pitfalls in the hasty union, her feelings for him are at least mutual and they are both blissfully happy.At her suggestion he buys an old, but robust fishing boat. The plan (her plan) is to run charters for American visitors to the island to catch Marlin. The venture is instantly successful. They then move from her cramped rooms in a tenement slum to a small apartment near the centre of Havana, and life for them both appears to be idyllic. Unknown to Burgess, his wife, at the request of an old school friend, has agreed to run weapons in the boat and in secret for the Cuban government. The cases of guns are taken at night to the western tip of Cuba and hidden on uninhabited islands, where they are later to be picked up by revolutionaries from Central America. When Burgess eventually discovers what is happening he is furious. He intercepts her and her friend in early morning, as they are about to leave port on another trip, and forbids his wife to embark on what he considers is a hazardous enterprise. He manages to deter his wife, but in her stead agrees to accompany her female friend on what he demands must be the final expedition!They deliver the cases of guns to an isolated location, but at night, on the return journey, they are intercepted by two large power-boats. Burgess is forced on board one of the vessels and beaten. His fishing boat is then sunk by means of a rocket launcher, with the young woman alive, but still on board. The two boats then race off leaving her to her fate in total darkness.The CIA is behind the interception. They have been watching events and have intervened, their sole purpose being to force Burgess to work for them by continuing the gun running project and to inform them when and where deliveries are to be made. The intention being to capture the rebels when they arrive to collect the weapons. They also demand that he must provide them with information on Cuban agents who they will then also (presumably) eliminate. If he refuses to cooperate they promise that first his wife, who is now pregnant, will be killed in a very unpleasant fashion and that his own death will then surely follow. He sees no choice but to agree and to continue with what seems an impossible venture, although he now has an unlikely ally! The father of the young woman who has died is the Chief of Police in Havana. Burgess confides in him and between them they devise a plan to deceive the CIA agent involved. Burgess is unaware of the full extent of the plan, an ingenious scheme, the eventual outcome of which provides a massive diplomatic advantage to the Cuban Government. After a series of complex events, Burgess is seen to have fulfilled his part of the bargain, and the CIA eventually releases him from their imposed threat.All appears to return to normal, but a year later the police chief, who has now become a firm friend, finally explains to Burgess everything that has happened as a result of the strategy and of his personal, albeit unwitting, role in the drama. To the Englishman’s complete astonishment.