La Gitana

by Carol Ann

  Marie said it would end in a minute or so and then he would sleep. She further stated that she would have the doctor look in on him.

  Marie looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “My love, We will never permit him to take you. Of that you can be sure.”

  I said that I knew and took her slender body in my arms. I could feel her hip bones pressing in to me. When I released her, her face was drenched with tears.

  Yet, the rat had advanced toward me and I envisioned Torquemada with his skeletal hands and glistening, black, beetle eyes. I was suddenly so cold. So very cold.

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  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  On the Day of Our Lord 10 October 1688, a week before we were to sail for France, Torquemada came for me. He came pounding on the castle door with his staff.

  He was so assured of his righteousness he resembled a cat that had just swallowed a fat, white mouse. He knocked on my chamber door explaining that he came himself to honor my high position, and that there would only be one visit instead of three.

  “I have come for you, Carmen Caballito, because you have committed a grave sin against Our Lord Highest and the Holy Catholic Church.”

  I looked upon this monster as if to memorize his thin, sour visage for all time.

  His hard, black beetle’s eyes were rheumy and dull as a dead person’s. His mouth was etched into a thin, grim line as if all the world gave him was displeasure. I could not imagine him ever smiling or laughing. With his black robes he scuttled across the floor like a scorpion. How much more fitting for it to be the Archangel, Gabriel, blond of hair and blue of eyes. An ugly man is a sin against the Lord. Marie was soon at my door with King Carlos trailing behind, weak but still determined. I asked him in what way had I sinned and he replied that the complaint was not to be told and said, “Under my direction you shall confess your sin and be saved.”

  I told him I was saved the day I renounced my gypsy faith and became a Catholic, and that I went to my Father Confessor once each day to absolve my sins.

  I said, “You will not save me or shall I find salvation in the flames like those other unfortunate souls in the Auto de Fe?”

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  Marie said she would not release me, and any further action would be interpreted as an act against the Crown, and she stepped between us. She was very upright in stance unlike Torquemada’s stoop and her eyes shot fire. He replied that he answered to a higher power and would indeed have the gypsy. The Queen exhorted King Carlos to speak and he did saying, “You shall not take Carmen. We are the prime power in this land, second only to the Lord Highest. What you propose is treason and that is law. You tricked Us with the Auto de Fe.”

  “Torquemada, you are out of favor with the Spanish people. Many good Catholic men and women died in the flames. I have lately been hearing the complaints and sorrows of their survivors as Carmen brings them in to see me. You are hated and feared,” said Marie.

  I then remarked that nowhere in the Holy Bible was there the sanction of torture for non-believers. Jesus conquered with love and kindness and I said, “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.”

  He replied that he, alone, was without sin, and that it was his duty as God’s representation on earth to punish sinners, and that he would be back for me with an army.

  He raised his voice and said, “You see, Your Highness, I am not so easily discouraged. It is my holy and sacred duty to bring the gypsy miscreant to justice.”

  “You are mad with power. Come again and We shall execute you,” said Marie Luisa.

  He replied that he would be back with an army of angels and further said, “The sword of righteousness shall reign, and the crowned heads shall burn in hell with their beloved gypsy.”

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  With those words he strode out of the room. Marie ordered the guards to circumvent him and bring him back but the guards froze in their places doing nothing.

  Marie asked them why they disobeyed a direct order and they replied that their immortal souls were of greater importance that the life of their bodies. Why had they not grasped me when he commanded it. They were confused until they understood that His Majesty and his Queen were of the devil.

  “If We are of the devil so is that murderer. You shall be beheaded immediately and your heads put on posts in the main courtyard for all to see. That is what happens to traitors. In this life We are obeyed,” said Marie Luisa. And that is what she did.

  Then Marie suggested to the King that they would need a special army to defend me as “Vellum does not guarantee loyalty.” And she further explained that the actual prisoners were the only ones who would be loyal because they knew Torquemada was not the “Angel” of the Lord.

  “Furthermore, We shall replace Torquemada with one who is not so bloodthirsty, a saintly man, Father Pio. Carmen ready yourself to accompany me to the dungeon, and Carlos, have the cooks prepare a sumptuous meal for one hundred starving men. Dismiss all the guards right this day. Tell them they are on vacation: give them full pay and a bonus and tell them they must leave Seville for a time until We summon them back. And Carlos, answer no questions. Pull the guards from the dungeon first and let Us know when it’s clear of them,” said the Queen.

  “Do you really think this will work, Marie?”

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  “We will do my King’s bidding. My King is very great and fearless and can act quickly in an emergency. The Spanish people shall worship you and this day will be remembered in history, Our love,” said Marie.

  “Will people stop mocking me and fear Us?” asked Carlos.

  “They will fear you more than God. You are a strong King, Carlos.”

  “I am a strong King, Marie. I shall command it. The inquisition shall stop.” Carlos’ face lit up and he smiled for the first time in a long time. “People shall love and worship Us?”

  “That they will. This day you achieve greatness,” said Marie who went over and kissed him squarely on the mouth. “We love you more this day than any other, past or present.”

  “We shall be great and all Our enemies shall be vanquished. We, too, love you Marie,”said Carlos.

  We reached the dungeon shortly after the guards had cleared out, and Marie proclaimed her purpose and all the prisoners cheered. The sight of Marie’s ivory hand resting on their poor heads brought tears to my eyes. I never loved her more than on this day. I can still see in my mind’s eye Marie’s silver silk gown glowing like a night star in the darkness of the dungeon and her soft gold slippers padding over the rough cobblestones of the prison. They were to be her ragged, courageous army and they perceived her as their savior. A number of them professed a strong desire to kill Torquemada outright but I explained we had a much more horrible fate in store for him for being dead is not always the worst thing to befall a person. Sometimes living can be much worse.

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  The prisoners were in various stages of disease and injury yet some were still amazingly strong. One man had but one good arm. He had lost the use of the arm on the garrucha (a devise where the prisoner is hoisted up and heavy weights are placed on all four limbs. Then the weights are released and the prisoner is jerked upwards to break the connecting joints). His body was so strong and muscular that only one limb, his left arm, was damaged. Even though he was starving, he had still maintained his warrior’s body.

  He asked to join the army stating that he was the Duke of Ortiz Y Pino, a nobleman, and that he was accused of stealing a side of beef from a neighbor’s meat larder while in reality he had owned a thousand head of cattle, a castle, and had a beauteous wife and four lovely children.

  “Envy was the cause of my downfall. Now my wife eats at his table, and sleeps in his bed and my children probably call him ‘papa’.” He further stated that he knew the hearts of the prisoners and understood their pain. He had been a colonel in the King’s army as a tactician at one time in his youth. He suggested that he could command the army and that he wished to fight for those tortured, beaten men who would neve
r walk again or enjoy the light of day. One such man was named Hector and he said, “If you really want to see the evils of the Inquisition go visit him. He lives in a basket. For the sum of a peso I would kill Torquemada.”

  Nothing could have the prepared us for the sight of Hector. His head lolled out of the basket and his limbs were all broken and twisted from numerous tortures. But his eyes were amazing, bright, warm, intelligent, and the color of raw umber, a reddish brown. He was a soothsayer or a wizard, if you will. He could foresee things in the 141

  future: I have that talent too. I thought two of us would be better than one. He spoke in a whisper.

  “As you can see Torquemada destroyed my body but he could not get my mind. I am a soothsayer. I, who am no longer a man, want to be in your army too though I cannot fight physically. I can tell you on the day he will come, how many, and how they will fight. Gitana, your real name is Tekla, your sister’s name is Rupa but she now goes by the name of Clementina, and your first love was a man named Julio. So you see I am real in what I say I can do.”

  “Senor, I am sorry. We will get you the best doctors to relieve your pain,” I said.

  “Do not trouble yourself. I have not long to live. The reaper lies with me each night. Let me help. I want one last victory,” he said. I assured him it would be so.

  Though we saw many prisoners, a few really impressed us with their courage to hate. To be wronged and feel sorrow is more common than to hate and think on revenge.

  One such woman was named Hortencia. She was accused of sorcery and of course, she had no idea of the exact deed. She begged to be in the army because she was as large and as strong as a man. Her long red hair hung in tangled knots about her head and looked like a forest of evil. In her green eyes there was a madness: all traces of human warmth had been beaten out of her.

  She spoke with these words and her voice was low and harsh.

  “I will gut him like a cow and cut off his shriveled little manhood and throw it to wild dogs. My father got me with child when I was twelve and I have never wanted a man for as long as I’ve lived. That was enough to make me hate men much less to what Torquemada did to me. I am equal to any man in battle by fist or by sword.” 142

  Marie made her special attaché to the Queen and dressed her as a male soldier.

  Silks and lace would have withered on her skin. She hated so much: she was poisonous.

  Even Marie could not look in her eyes nor could I.

  They came on that fateful day, 15 October 1688, as Hector predicted and we were ready for them. Torquemada came to the castle gates and pounded on the door with his sword. There were sixty soldiers with Torquemada in the forefront.

  “Open the gates of the castle, sinners. I have come for Carmen Caballito.” The gates opened slowly and Torquemada looked shocked to see his own prisoners dressed as royal soldiers.

  King Carlos said, “We are His Majesty Most High, second only to God. We command you to leave immediately. We have pardoned all these prisoners and they will live as free men and women. We have done your evil and regret it. You shall leave this town. We have already appointed a just, less bloodthirsty bishop to rule in your place.” King Carlo was sitting down due to illness.

  “I am the representative of God on earth and cannot be dismissed. I will have the gypsy,” he said.

  “Next you will try to put the King and Queen on the potro (wrack). You are mad with power, Tomas Torquemada. We have addressed the Spanish people and told them of Our plan. Padre Pio will preside over the church. Go now before the crowd assembles,” said the Queen.

  “I am the highest authority in the land. You may not dismiss me. I have the support of the Spanish people. Padre Pio is a fool and the King is an unfit ruler,” said Torquemada.

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  “Was an unfit ruler. You tricked me into the Auto de Fe and innocent people were murdered. The families of these people wait for you outside the gate. You shall see how the Spanish people feel about you. A thousand or more,” said the King.

  “But how can that be. I help people overcome their sinful natures. I have helped numerous people. Suffering encourages faithfulness. He who suffers becomes closer to God’s teaching.”

  “Then senor, you shall be coming very close to God. Closer than you want,” I said.

  “I don’t believe you gypsy.”

  I told him to listen to the silence. I told him that our soldiers would kill him as readily as one kills a beetle underfoot and that they would kill him slow, one piece at a time. I told him he could take his chances with the crowd outside since he was such a good orator.

  “Why don’t you see if you can sway the crowd, the victim’s relatives. In here we will simply impale your soldiers or behead them. You are vastly outnumbered,” I said.

  The Queen addressed his soldiers asking if their consciences were so clear, so pristine that they would risk a sure death. She said her soldiers were ready to die for their King and Queen as they had nothing to lose. She asked if they recognized the names and faces of those they used to torture. There was a silence as one cannot hear fear.

  Torquemada asked how they knew the exact day and time.

  And the Queen bought Hector forth.

  “Do you recognize this handsome man, Torquemada?” asked Hector.

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  “You sinned against the Almighty. You had to be punished. You were rife with sin,” he said in a high voice.

  “I have no doubt that you believe that. Soon you shall see what payment for sin is. You dealt in fear and pain. You did not save souls: you destroyed souls.”

  “Jesus is the God of love and kindness. I am curious to know how many soldiers will stand for you now,” I said.

  Only twenty stood by him and he gave the order to charge. Some were disemboweled: others were beheaded. A few of the Queen’s soldiers experienced injury yet none died. In the end, Torquemada stood alone, bleeding but alive.

  I spoke. “Now you see a river of blood and no one in here wishes you well. Go outside the gate and confront the crowd that awaits. Who knows, maybe you can save your self. Use your most powerful words, Tomas. Those who deserted you shall be rewarded. The others are just refuse to be buried on unhallowed ground.

  As the gate opened I whispered to him these words, “An eye for an eye: a tooth for a tooth” and I kissed him on one bloody cheek. Un beso de muerte. (A kiss of death) The crowd became silent as the wind moving through leaves. They peered at him as though he were the visage of Satan.

  “People of Spain, I come to you as your servant.” And he stretched his arms wide as if in an embrace. “I have been sorely abused by your King and Queen. They are not of God: they conspire with the devil and shall burn in hell everlasting. I am of God: I am God’s representative on earth. They propose to replace me with Padre Pio, a man I neither trust nor respect. People of Spain, I am the guardian of sin in this republic. Sin is everywhere, in your minds, in your actions, even in things you fail to do. Sin must be 145

  punished and purified. Everyone must move closer to God. And I, Tomas de Torquemada, lead people into the light of eternal salvation. Suffering purifies the soul.

  The sin inside you must be purged.”

  The first stone hit him above the eye and someone yelled, “Go purge yourself, bastard.” More stones followed. A woman emerged from the crowd and said,

  “I am the wife of Hector Savada. You’ve kept him imprisoned for three years, and I hear he is a cripple now. My children have no bread to eat and I am homeless on the street. He was a good man and never did anything wrong. He was not a sinner.

  Where is your salvation now?”

  The stones kept flying and words came from the crowd like “murderer, thief and Satan.”

  “You accused my wife of sorcery. If she were a true witch, you would not be alive now nor would her accuser.” The tall man in leather trousers came up and spit in his face.

  A heavy set peasant woman approached him and she said, “You accused my daughter of bewitchi
ng a man. Most likely this man was a spurned suitor. She lost all her hair, and all her teeth while in prison. Today she lies in bed playing keys on an invisible piano. She used to play when she was well. Now she can do nothing for herself. How is it you brought her soul to God? She knows not God nor the devil. She is totally mad and sometimes she does not even know me. I damn you to hell.” She came up and slapped him in the face.

  He replied. “I only persecute witches, Protestants, Jews and criminals. I rid society of cheaters, murderers, schemers, and adulterers. I am an innocent man of God.” 146

  “My husband never stole a thing in his life. We did not want for anything. And now I hear he cannot use one arm thanks to the garrucha. He was a great huntsman and father to our children. Now I lie in another man’s bed like a common whore.” She went up and placed a piece of cow dung in his mouth and further said, “You are no innocent man of God! I curse you and all your henchman. May you perish of syphilis and boils.

  May your cocks fall off.”

  “Spanish people! By doing these things you are incurring the wrath of the Almighty! Stop this at once. You have been misled. I help the sinner come to grips with his sin, and become holy in the eyes of God. It is salvation through suffering.” I stood apart from the crowd and thought that Torquemada was working on some salvation of his own through suffering. Then I spoke.

  “People of Spain, you’ve suffered under this monster for far too long. The Crown is putting a stop to these practices. I suggest we give this abomination of a man some of his own medicine. The potro (wrack) seems most judicious.” A cheer burst forth from the crowd and they carried his bloody body to the dungeon, stripped him bare of any clothing to heighten his humiliation and fear. His shriveled little penis was at first flaccid but became hard with the torture. His screams echoed throughout the empty prison.

  “Oh, God in heaven save me, a good just soldier in the army against Satan. Oh, Lord, I have displeased You. Tell me of my sin that I may repent.!” After a time, I could hear his joints cracking and I had them turn off the machine.