The Olive Tree: Leaves

By Hannah Howe

While tending the wounded at the Battle of Brunete, young nurse Heini Hopkins wonders about her boyfriend, International Brigades volunteer Deiniol Price - will she ever see him again?

Meanwhile, as the battle rages, Dr Miguel Martinez is faced with a dilemma: should he evacuate his young daughter, Espe, on the last cargo steamer to sail from Spain?

Following the fascists as they advance, journalist Bernie Miller proves that principles are more important to him than propaganda, while his companion, Naomi Parker, discovers a shocking secret about her would-be lover, Prince Nicolas Esteban.

Book three in The Olive Tree: A Spanish Civil War Saga represents a turning point in the civil war, and in the lives of Heini and Naomi.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Goylake Publishing
• Release date: Aug 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781838354855

Hannah Howe

Hannah Howe is the bestselling author of the Sam Smith Mystery Series (Sam's Song, book one in the series, has reached number one on the amazon.com private detective chart on seven separate occasions and the number one position in Australia). Hannah lives in the picturesque county of Glamorgan with her partner and their two children. She has a university degree and a background in psychology, which she uses as a basis for her novels.Hannah began her writing career at school when her teacher asked her to write the school play. She has been writing ever since. When not writing or researching Hannah enjoys reading, genealogy, music, chess and classic black and white movies. She has a deep knowledge of nineteenth and twentieth century popular culture and is a keen student of the private detective novel and its history.Hannah's books are available in print, as audio books and eBooks from all major retailers: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Kobo, iBooks, etc. For more details please visit https://hannah-howe.comThe Sam Smith Mystery Series in book order:Sam's SongLove and BulletsThe Big ChillRipperThe Hermit of HisaryaSecrets and LiesFamily HonourSins of the FatherSmoke and MirrorsStardustMind GamesDigging in the DirtA Parcel of RoguesBostonThe Devil and Ms DevlinSnow in AugustLooking for Rosanna MeeStormy WeatherDamagedEve’s War: Heroines of SOEOperation ZigzagOperation LocksmithOperation BroadswordOperation TreasureOperation SherlockOperation CameoOperation RoseOperation WatchmakerOperation OverlordOperation Jedburgh (to follow)Operation Butterfly (to follow)Operation Liberty (to follow)The Golden Age of HollywoodTula: A 1920s Novel (to follow)The Olive Tree: A Spanish Civil War SagaRootsBranchesLeavesFruitFlowersThe Ann's War Mystery Series in book order:BetrayalInvasionBlackmailEscapeVictoryStandalone NovelsSaving Grace: A Victorian MysteryColette: A Schoolteacher’s War (to follow)What readers have been saying about the Sam Smith Mystery Series and Hannah Howe..."Hannah Howe is a very talented writer.""A gem of a read.""Sam Smith is the most interesting female sleuth in detective fiction. She leaves all the others standing.""Hannah Howe's writing style reminds you of the Grandmasters of private detective fiction - Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Robert B. Parker.""Sam is an endearing character. Her assessments of some of the people she encounters will make you laugh at her wicked mind. At other times, you'll cry at the pain she's suffered.""Sam is the kind of non-assuming heroine that I couldn't help but love.""Sam's Song was a wonderful find and a thoroughly engaging read. The first book in the Sam Smith mystery series, this book starts off as a winner!""Sam is an interesting and very believable character.""Gripping and believable at the same time, very well written.""Sam is a great heroine who challenges stereotypes.""Hannah Howe is a fabulous writer.""I can't wait to read the next in the series!""The Big Chill is light reading, but packs powerful messages.""This series just gets better and better.""What makes this book stand well above the rest of detective thrillers is the attention to the little details that makes everything so real.""Sam is a rounded and very real character.""Howe is an author to watch, able to change the tone from light hearted to more thoughtful, making this an easy and yet very rewarding read. Cracking!""Fabulous book by a fabulous author-I highly recommended this series!""Howe writes her characters with depth and makes them very engaging.""I loved the easy conversational style the author used throughout. Some of the colourful ways that the main character expressed herself actually made me laugh!""I loved Hannah Howe's writing style -- poignant one moment, terrifying the next, funny the next moment. I would be on the edge of my seat praying Sam wouldn't get hurt, and then she'd say a one-liner or think something funny, and I'd chuckle and catch my breath. Love it!""Sam's Song is no lightweight suspense book. Howe deals with drugs, spousal abuse, child abuse, and more. While the topics she writes about are heavy, Howe does a fantastic job of giving the reader the brutal truth while showing us there is still good in life and hope for better days to come."

Book preview

THE OLIVE TREE

LEAVES

THE OLIVE TREE

LEAVES

Hannah Howe

Goylake Publishing

Copyright © 2021 Hannah Howe

All rights reserved.

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Goylake Publishing, Iscoed, 16A Meadow Street, North Cornelly, Bridgend, Glamorgan. CF33 4LL

Print ISBN: 978-1-8383548-6-2

eBook ISBN: 978-1-8383548-5-5

Printed and bound in Britain by Imprint Digital, Exeter, EX5 5HY

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places and events are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is purely coincidental.

The Olive Tree

available in print, as eBooks and audio books

Roots

Branches

Leaves

Fruit

Flowers

Ann’s War available in print, as eBooks and audio books

Betrayal

Invasion

Blackmail

Escape

Victory

Eve’s War available in print, as eBooks and audio books

Operation Zigzag

Operation Locksmith

Operation Broadsword

Operation Treasure

Operation Sherlock

Operation Cameo

Operation Rose

Operation Watchmaker

Operation Overlord

Operation Jedburgh

Operation Butterfly

Operation Liberty

The Sam Smith Mystery Series

available in print, as eBooks and audio books

Sam’s Song

Love and Bullets

The Big Chill

Ripper

The Hermit of Hisarya

Secrets and Lies

Family Honour

Sins of the Father

Smoke and Mirrors

Stardust

Mind Games

Digging in the Dirt

A Parcel of Rogues

Boston

The Devil and Ms Devlin

Snow in August

Looking for Rosanna Mee

Stormy Weather

Damaged

Stand-alone Novel

Saving Grace

To my family, with love

You are history. You are legend. You are the heroic example of democracy’s solidarity and universality...we shall not forget you; and, when the olive tree of peace is in flower, entwined with the victory laurels of the Republic of Spain – come back. – La Pasionaria, 1938.

Chapter One

July 1937

The Battle of Brunete had raged for a fortnight.

Situated twenty-four kilometres west of Madrid, Brunete was central to the overall control of the region. With Franco’s forces gaining ground in the north, the Spanish Loyalists had devised the attack on Brunete to divert the fascists and thus allow the Loyalists time to flee from the coast and reorganise.

Furthermore, Brunete was situated on the Extremadura road and its capture would frustrate Franco in his efforts to resupply his forces who were besieging Madrid.

The terrain varied from hills, ridges and creeks to wide-open plains. The open plains abetted the Loyalists’ latest weapon, tanks supplied by the Soviet Union.

The Loyalist forces comprised of eight divisions: 50,000 men supported by 140 tanks along with members of the International Brigades. Franco’s army also consisted of eight divisions, plus a thousand Moroccan mercenaries and air support from the Condor Legion.

After initial success, the Loyalists suffered setbacks and losses. Bullets and bombs took their toll. However, many men also succumbed to the intense heat and a lack of water. The casualty rate stood at sixty percent and was set to climb higher.

Heini Hopkins mopped the sweat from her brow and dressed yet another head wound. Along with her colleagues Dr Miguel Martinez and nurse Lise Lazard, Heini had travelled to Brunete during the early days of the battle, her ambulance following a trail established by lorries loaded with soldiers and munitions.

Upon their arrival, Dr Martinez, Heini and Lise established a hospital in the Escorial. They chose the location with great care – the fascists were fond of bombing hospitals; however, Heini hoped that they would spare the Escorial hospital due to the historical importance of the region.

The building, a former Catholic school for boys, was situated on elevated terrain within generous grounds. The medical staff transformed the dormitories into wards for the wounded while the grounds offered a view of the local villages.

When off-duty, Heini would sit in the hospital’s gardens and watch the various lights as they danced across the sky. Those lights emanated from anti-aircraft guns and from fires that engulfed the local villages.

Heini’s ward was on the