Conquistadora - Esmeralda Santiago [66]
“There is no mistake, señora,” Severo said so quietly that it sent a chill to her scalp.
He stood and took one step toward the porch railing. He looked down at the batey, where, in deference to the crisis in the patrón’s house, the workers had stopped what they were doing and squatted in small groups under trees and against the buildings. Ana followed Severo’s gaze, and its effect. One by one the workers, the bosses included, quietly returned to their duties, their eyes cast down, afraid to look in his direction.
Inside, Miguel wailed again. Inés will not sing to Miguel, not anymore, Ana thought; neither will Flora. This is now a house in mourning. In the bedroom, Ramón groaned. Since his brother had left, tears were never far from his eyes. Ana had not known what to say, wasn’t able to console him when there was a possibility that Inocente would return. What could she do now? And who would console her? Suddenly she was shaking with fury.
“Who did it?” she asked, her throat so tight she could hardly speak.
Severo turned to her as if seeing a different person. He was always considerate and respectful around her. She sometimes had the impression that he made himself smaller when he was near her, not to frighten her with his bulk, so that he wouldn’t tower over her, like Ramón and Inocente. He didn’t do that now. He stood over her, brawny, solid. Nothing could move him.
“Alejo and Curro have vanished. The lieutenant assumes they are responsible.”
“What else did the lieutenant say?” she asked, and Severo flinched. “Tell me!” she demanded.
His eyes went vacant. “They were stabbed and hanged by their ankles from the branch of a ceiba tree,” he said flatly.
She gasped, and he moved as if to catch her, but she wasn’t falling. She would not fall. “What else?” Severo didn’t speak. “I want to know everything,” she said. “Todo.”
He gave her the details bit by bit, waiting until she reacted before the next one. She listened, her arms wrapped around her rib cage. Her breath came in spurts, and she fought hard to control it. “What else?” she asked once she could breathe, her eyes fixed on Severo’s flinty eyes.
The crime was only recently discovered because the men were dragged far from the main trail. Their bodies were so badly decomposed that they were identified only when Inocente’s pouch was found near the bodies with the letters to Elena and to her parents in Spain still inside. A soldier was sent with the news and the pouch to don Eugenio’s house in San Juan.
“The lieutenant is organizing a hunting party with men and hounds.”
“Find them.”
“¿Señora?”
“Find them,” she said again. “They’re our slaves. Find them.”
“Sí, señora, I’ll join the search, and you can be sure that when I find those devils, they’ll be punished. Now, if you will permit me?” He bowed.
She nodded and Severo went down the stairs giving orders to the bosses. Within minutes, he rode into the forest, a whip coiled around his left shoulder, his rifle and revolver holstered, his two favorite hounds alongside his horse.
Ana had not been afraid of Hacienda los Gemelos. She was curious about her new world and determined to prevail over its challenges. But as soon as Severo Fuentes rode out of the batey to seek Inocente’s murderers, Ana felt absolute terror. The comings and goings of people she’d taken for granted took on a different significance. Why was Marta crossing the yard from the kitchen to the barn? Why was Teo standing near the coops with his wife, Paula? If Alejo and Curro could kill Inocente, were the others planning to kill her and Ramón? Where was José going with what looked like a fence post? Severo had left one of the foremen to guard her and Ramón. Did he think someone would turn on her and Ramón while he was away? She tried to suppress