[h3]Galicia, Spain[/h3]

"Does anything ever happen here?" The comment came from Veronica, a black haired beauty who would normally have spent her summers half naked on Baker Beach back home in San Francisco. She was not what you might call whiney, but she was certainly a bit high maintenance. But she was also damn fine to look at, so she was forgiven. 

"What do you mean?" Josh was her boyfriend, and the one who had organized their little summer walking tour of the Spanish Mountains. He was a well built twenty something, with three years in the US Marines under his belt. Veronica was just behind him and he had swung around as he spoke, just in time to see their friends and hiking partners, James and Sarah, roll their eyes. The two were from Britain and found Veronica to be very "American", as they put it. 

"We haven't seen a car in two days, just that bus, the trees are all the same, I could have been hot and sweaty on the beach back home if I knew we were just going to drag ourselves up mountains."

"Afraid you'll break a nail, Ronnie?" Sarah said teasingly. The two girls got along most of the time, but when they had a falling out it was often spectacular.

The American flipped the bird and stuck out her tongue as she did so, but they all laughed. 

"You are right though, Ronnie, it's damn hot out and I really could use a beer." James cut in before the girls could continue their insults. He was a Royal Marine, having met Josh on a joint US/British exercise in Canada a year previously. The two had kept in touch and decided to meet up again in Spain. Originally it had been a boys trip but Veronica and Sarah had demanded they be included and so here they were, the four of them, hiking up another long brutal hill on the Pilgrim's Route to Santiago de Compostela, reportedly the site of the Holy Grail. 

"The next village, El Cebreiro, is just there." Josh pointed upward to where a rounded roof was just showing above some small trees. "The guide book says we can find a hostel there. And a pub."

"Thank goodness..." Muttered Sarah as she shifted her backpack. All of them had brought far more clothing than was needed in Spains dry climate and each was paying for it, though all were loath to part with of their belongings. 

Nothing more was said as the four continued their climb up the steep hill toward the village. Spread out behind them, and covering the valley floor, was a forest of Evergreen Oak and Ash trees that had been planted some fifty years before and were now taller than a man. Part of the Old King's plan to reforest his country after it had been so devastated by his predecessor. 

Scattered among the larger trees were orchards of almond and cherry trees, easily noticeable for their white and pink flowers that came and went in an never ending cycle during the summer. They had crossed a river at the bottom of the valley, a modern arched bridge replacing the medieval one that had collapsed. The Romans, it seemed, had never made it this far.

"Oh thank fucking Christ..." Panted Veronica as they at last stepped onto the top of the ridge, the roadway levelling out and running in to the village. 

"Look out!" James gave a shout from the rear of the group and they all hurried to one side as a car roared up the steep roadway. Roar was a generous term, the engine was roaring, but the heavy vehicle was moving barely beyond a walking pace as it crested the hill. A green and white Guardia Civil vehicle rolled in to view. It was a Viasa off-road vehicle, done in the style of the American Willys jeep, with four officers seated in the open topped interior. 

James waved and two of them waved back, a third nodded, the fourth ignored them altogether. The Viasa didn't even pause as it shot through the village, stirring up a little swirl of dust behind it as it went. Several people watched it pass and one spat in the dirt as it went. Like many place in Spain, it seemed the Guardia Civil were not liked here either.

"I see a Pub!" Sarah exclaimed happily, pointing at one of the buildings that fronted on to one of two streets in the village. It was the only building in town with any plaster on it, a faded dark green with dark wood trimmed windows. A row of backpacks sat outside against the wall, not unlike their own.

"I suppose we leave our stuff out here?" Josh asked no one in particular as they got closer.

"I can run in and grab us a pint." James offered as they finally stepped in to the shade of an avocado tree and sank to the ground with relief. A stray dog, one of the thousands that seemed to plague Spain, trotted over and hopefully sniffed around Sarah's ankles until she leaned forward to pet it.

"Grab four of whatever," Josh said with a groan as he pulled off his hiking boots. "Unless anyone else wants something different?"

There was no argument and James made his way inside the pub, ducking through a small doorway and pausing to let his eyes adjust to the darkened interior. A number of heavy wooden tables and chairs were scattered about the space, every seat filled with elderly Spanish men who turned in their chairs to observe the towering Brit. He nodded to a couple, they nodded back, and the rest returned to their cards or complaints about the current state of affairs in the country.

"Four beers, please." James spoke passable Spanish and the bar tender, a swarthy fellow with a dark black beard, nodded and busied himself in the old fridge that hummed away behind him. James glanced up toward the rear of the pub and, for a fleeting moment, made eye contact with a wide set deep brown eyes set in a decidedly pretty face. Then the girl was gone behind a curtain.

"My daughter." Growled the bar tender as he placed four Estrella beer bottles on the counter. "She stays in the back like a good girl."

James didn't reply as he pulled out his wallet, drawing out a handful of pesetas. Spain, especially the more rural areas like this, had some strange ideas when it came to women. In the bigger centres a woman could easily own a business, drive a car, and enjoyed the same rights as any man. But out here, where the Catholic Church still held sway, women were often controlled by their fathers or husbands. It certainly struck him as backward but it wasn't his country to say anything. He thanked the man for the beers, handed over the pesetas and headed back outside.

The other three took their drinks gladly. Sarah was still petting the small dog which was panting along beside her. Sarah was leaning against Josh who had managed to find a comfortable spot against the tree trunk. 

"Cheers." Josh raised his beer and all four touched their bottles together before tipping back the cooling liquid. 

"Ah, it always tastes better when I'm hurting." Sarah said with a satisfied smack of her lips. She leaned back on her elbows, pointing down in to the valley with her beer bottle. "Train."

The others followed her gaze to where a steam locomotive was chugging through the endless landscape, black plumes of smoke marking its lazy passage. Nothing else seemed to be moving save for a pair of huge vultures that were circling in the updraft. It was a scene of peace and serenity they had been hoping for.

"You know..." It was Veronica who broke the silence. "There might be a business idea here. Could you imagine how much easier this would have been with someone who knew the area. And thank goodness James speaks some Spanish or we would have been screwed."

"That's not a bad idea actually." James was in agreement, he had done almost all of the organizing for the trip and the others had struggled badly with Spanish. English was not as popular down here as they had expected after Spains tight rope act during the Great War had resulted in French and German being spoken as infrequently. "We sure as hell aren't the only young folks out there who want to see Spain. It's a pretty cool place. Though I wouldn't go to Portugal right now..."

Josh snorted. "If you consider Portugal a part of Spain..."

"Don't have much choice do they?" James shifted his position so he could look at Josh. "The Spanish surprised them, rolled in, took the whole lot. Anyone who resists has been massacred and no one can be bothered to do anything about it."

"They can't do much." Sarah broke in. She was studying Political Science at Oxford. "Britain's Empire hangs in the balance already, the United States pretty much keeps to itself and France is a political mess. There is no real balance in Europe, or in many places in the world. You've got the Chinese in Asia, Ethiopia in Africa, Spain in Europe and the United States in the Americas. Who on earth is going to challenge any of them?"

"Well, I don't think the Japanese are going to just lie there and let China do what it wants." Josh had sat up now, Veronica's head resting on his thigh. "I wonder how that will play out. Even here, I don't think Delgado's ambitions for Empire ends at the Atlantic coast of Iberia."

"And let's not even talk about Russia. Can we even call it Russia anymore? I don't know."

"Don't we sound pompous." Veronica broke in, her eyes still closed. "A bunch of twenty somethings discussing the state of world affairs when there is not a thing we can do about it. Can you guys not just enjoy the moment. I want to hear more about this business idea."

The four friends fell back into the rhythm of their earlier conversation as they sat beneath the avocado tree. More beers were consumed and, though they did not know it, Backpackers International would be born from their conversation.