Rafael raised his hand in salute, and rode down the drive. This time there were no cheers from the watching peons, only tears from their wives. It seemed that even the dogs were cowed.
Toni was suddenly angry, because she knew she was afraid too. She wished she could ride off with her husband, into the comparative safety of the hills. But he had never even suggested it. Because she could not now abandon Obrigar, and Dona Carlotta, and Christina. She had just been placed in charge of them all. At twenty years old, she must face the storm, with her chin thrust out. If she could.
Christina stood beside Toni at the verandah rail. ‘What do we do now?’ she asked.
Toni glanced at her. There were deep shadows beneath her eyes, and she looked as if she had aged ten years overnight. ‘You had better go to bed,’ she suggested.
‘I must help you.’
‘You will. But you cannot while you are exhausted. Besides, today is Sunday. Tomorrow we will start to work.’
While waiting for Lumbrera, she thought.
*
She gave those of the peons who wished it permission to go into Daiquiri for church, and asked Martinez, who went with them, to find out where the police were. Then she busied herself with the house. It was necessary to keep doing something, however tired she was. She had the bloodied sheets taken out the back and burned, together with the settee, which was impregnated, and had Salvador drive his footmen over the verandah and stairs time and again to remove all traces of mud and blood. She bathed and dressed herself again, in more cheerful clothes than the black she had worn to the funeral, and went over her story time and again, in case Lumbrera arrived that day. But he did not come, and Martinez reported that there was no word of him in Daiquiri. The plantation remained quiet, even peaceful, as if the last twenty-four hours had never been.
She dined alone, Christina being still in bed, like her mother, and slept heavily that night, from sheer exhaustion. Next morning she was up early, dressed in her divided skirt. She sent the saddled horse back to the stables to be altered; she intended to ride astride. It was time to be a McGann, and not a Diaz. She went down to the village and gave Martinez instructions to commence cutting what fields he could with his reduced labour force, and instructed Sanchez, the engineer, to prepare the factory for at least a limited grinding. She badly wanted to go into Santiago and wire Ma and Pa, but she did not know what to say, what she dared say. Not until Lumbrera came. In any event she had no doubt that the news of the Battle of the Dos Rios, as Rafael called it, would have been reported in the international press by now. No doubt they were already on their way here.
She and Christina ate lunch at the huge dining table, served as punctiliously by Salvador as if it had been the most normal day of the year. They stared at each other across the expanse of polished mahogany.
‘How do you feel?’ Toni asked.
Christina had spent most of the previous twenty-four hours in bed, but she didn’t look as if she had slept very much. Her hair was loose and her face was pale.
‘I feel tired,’ she said. ‘Unreal.’
‘Yes,’ Toni agreed.
‘I cannot believe it has all really happened,’
Christina said. ‘Or is still happening.’
‘Yes,’ Toni said.
‘And I am so afraid,’ Christina confessed. ‘What do you think will happen next?’
Overnight their roles had been reversed. She now had the strength and the authority. Christina was just a terrified little girl. But that perhaps was the most frightening aspect of everything that had happened, the way Christina and her mother, so aggressively determined before the revolution had started — ‘We have our part to play’ — had collapsed completely with the first blow to their dreams. They had undertaken this life and death struggle without the least concept of what it could, and in their case would, mean.
What was even more disturbing was that Toni had an uneasy feeling the same criticism could be made of the self-styled generals who had led their people into battle.
‘I don’t know what happens next,’ she told her sister-in-law. ‘Save that for us, there will be Lumbrera.’
*
The police arrived that afternoon. Toni had actually lain down for a siesta when she was awakened by a tap on the door from Manuela, her maid. ‘The police are coming, senora,’ Manuela said.
She looked terrified, as well she might, Toni supposed; she could anticipate little mercy should Lumbrera turn nasty. Toni realised that she was in fact the only protection anyone on the plantation now possessed. She was certain Lumbrera would never dare harm her. Therefore she had to interpose herself between him and anyone he felt he could harm. Over and over and over again, no matter how frightened she might herself be.
‘Then help me dress,’ she said, getting out of bed. She was downstairs in only fifteen minutes, but the colonel was already on the verandah, and she knew he had been inside the house: Salvador was hovering most anxiously, waggling his eyebrows at her — but she had no idea what he was trying to convey.
‘Well, Colonel,’ she said. ‘You have come at a bad time.’
‘I came as soon as I heard the news,’ Lumbrera said. ‘Can it be true? That Don Arnaldo is dead? I cannot believe it. Besides, a man does not die, tracking cattle thieves.’
‘Don Arnaldo had a heart attack,’ Toni told him, as she and Rafael had agreed would be best. ‘He was brought back here, but died only a little while after arriving. He was buried yesterday morning.’
Lumbrera nodded. ‘Father Jaime has told me this.’ He looked past at Christina, descending the stairs. She wore her black riding outfit, but today had omitted the red scarf. ‘Senorita, my deepest condolences. Such a tragedy. Your mother … ’
‘Is in bed, and cannot be disturbed,’ Christina said.
‘I quite understand. Don Rafael … ’
‘Has returned to look for the rustlers,’ Toni told him.
Lumbrera looked from one of the girls to the other, then sat down, uninvited. ‘You think it is all a game, eh, senora? A game you play with Juan, eh?’
They stared at him, remaining standing. ‘You are being disgusting, senor,’ Toni said. ‘This is a house of mourning.’
‘Oh, yes. Don Arnaldo is dead. Of a heart attack. Well, I tell you what I am going to do. I am going to have that coffin dug up, and I am going to see just what that old villain did die of.’
‘No,’ Christina gasped.
‘You would not dare,’ Toni snapped. ‘That would be defiling the dead.’
Lumbrera gazed at her for a few moments, then he went into the house. They watched him go to the stairs, take out a pocket knife, and scrape along where the bottom step joined the riser. When he stood up, there was a black paste on the blade of the knife. Salvador, standing in the background, could only raise his shoulders helplessly; the policeman had clearly spotted the telltale mark during his earlier inspection.
‘This blood,’ Lumbrera announced. ‘Blood which has been spilled within the last few days, Dona Antoinette. Tell me whose blood it is?’
‘Ah … Dona Carlotta had a nosebleed,’ Toni said, grasping at straws.
‘A nosebleed,’ Lumbrera commented. ‘I will dig up that coffin.’
‘No,’ Toni snapped. ‘I will not permit you.’
Lumbrera raised his eyebrows. ‘You, senora?’
‘I,’ Toni said, staring at him. ‘You must have a warrant authorising you to dig up that grave. You need a warrant to enter this house at all.’
‘There is martial law.’
‘Then get a warrant,’ she said, her voice grating. ‘Otherwise you are breaking the law, and be sure, Colonel Lumbrera, that I shall convey that information to General Blanco himself.’
Lumbrera as usual attempted to glare her down. ‘I could arrest you now,’ he said. ‘Both of you, for obstructing a police officer in the performance of his duty. I could command my men to strip you and hold you down while I flogged you.’ He was clearly enjoying his imagination, an
d Christina caught her breath and took a step backwards.
Toni’s knees touched, but the colonel could not see that. And she refused to lower her gaze. ‘Then go ahead and do that,’ she told him, her heart pounding. ‘Do that, flog me, and see what happens next — to you.’
They continued to stare at each other for a few moments more, then Lumbrera turned away. ‘Ha, ha,’ he said. ‘No, no, senora, you will be the one to see what happens next.’ He stamped down the stairs, mounted his horse, and rode off, followed by his men.
‘Oh, God. Oh, Holy Mary, Mother of God,’ Christina sank into a chair and crossed herself.
‘He will be back, senora,’ Salvador warned. ‘With the necessary papers.’
Toni sighed. ‘I know,’ she said. ‘But so long as we force him to do everything legally, and with the full knowledge of General Linares, he cannot harm us.’ She hoped and prayed.
*
But she didn’t propose to leave anything to chance. She sat down immediately and wrote letters, one to General Linares, one to General Blanco, one to Joe, and one to Ma and Pa. She didn’t know how many of them would reach their destinations, but they made her feel better. In them she explained the situation she and Christina found themselves in, that they had been unable to restrain their men folk from joining the revolution, and that they surely could not be blamed for receiving the body of their father and father-in-law, and giving it a decent burial.
To her parents she also added a vehement plea for help, from any source they could tap in the United States; Pa had a lot of friends in the Navy Department in Washington.
Those done, she considered her other options. Flight into the hills was the most attractive, at first consideration. It became less so when examined in detail. The wet season was upon them, and it rained almost every day. Dona Carlotta was in a state of complete collapse, and could not possibly be exposed to such conditions, even if she could be moved. Nor did they have any idea where the insurgents were. If the three of them set off by themselves they might well encounter some real bandits, who would rape them at the very least.
In any event, she could not just abandon the servants and the peons to the anger of Lumbrera, while the logistics of taking them all were appalling. She asked Christina if she wanted to go on her own, with perhaps a single servant, as she felt that her sister-in-law was in the gravest danger, but Christina would not leave the plantation, certainly not by herself. So there was nothing for it but to resolve to sit it out, and pray for some early response to her letters. And get on with managing the plantation as if nothing had happened. During the next week Martinez managed to cut several fields of cane, and Toni felt that soon they would be able to start grinding, with at least a quarter of the crop to be turned into sugar and shipped. Indeed, as the week went by with no sign of Lumbrera, she began to allow herself to hope that he might have been told by his superiors to leave die Diaz women alone.
No news came from the hills, either. There were rumours enough in Daiquiri, of more engagements between the government troops and the rebels, of victories and defeats, but they knew better now than to pay any attention to rumours. Of actual word from either Jack or Rafael there was none. Pray they know what they do, Toni thought, leaving us here to face the police. Yet even up to the following Sunday night she dreamed of them returning, either to defend the plantation — and what a splendid Gotterdamerung that would be — or to take their women into the hills with them.
On the Monday morning, she and Christina were up early, intending to ride over to the factory and themselves oversee the beginning of the grinding, when Salvador told them the police were returning. Toni hurried down on to the verandah, gazed at far more than the normal troop of twenty men. Now there were wagons, and even soldiers. She took her place at the top of the stairs, and watched Lumbrera dismount, with him a tall, thin gentleman in civilian clothes, with bushy side-whiskers, whom she recognized as Mr Walkshott, the American consul in Santiago; he had been a guest at her wedding.
Lumbrera led the way up the steps. ‘Buenos dias, senora,’ he said. ‘Bien?’
‘Until now,’ Toni told him,
‘Ha ha. It may interest you to know that we now have witnesses who have sworn to having seen Don Arnaldo Diaz de Obrigar leading a force of rebels into battle at the Dos Rios, with his son at his side.’
‘Do you not boast, Colonel, that once you have arrested a man, or a woman, he or she will tell you anything you wish to know?’ Toni asked. ‘Whether it is true or not?’ She looked past him. ‘Good morning, Mr Walkshott,’ she said in English.
‘I wish it was a good morning, Mrs Diaz,’ he said. ‘The situation looks mighty grim, to me.’
‘You told me to get warrants,’ Lumbrera said, and threw a sheaf of papers on to the table. ‘I have them. I have a warrant for the exhumation of the body of Don Arnaldo Diaz … ’
‘Oh, God, no. Please,’ Christina begged.
Toni squeezed her hand. If Lumbrera had a warrant, there was nothing they could do about it.
‘And one for a complete search of Obrigar, one for the arrest of anyone who resists me, or who may be suspected of having concealed any rebels or rebel movements … ’
‘Am I, then, under arrest?’ Toni enquired.
‘Ha ha,’ Lumbrera said. ‘We shall see. I have another warrant. We shall discuss that when I return.’ He stamped down the stairs, signalled his men to follow him, and walked up the hill.
To desecrate her father-in-law’s grave, Toni thought. And she just had to stand here and accept it. But at least she was better protected now than at any moment during the past fortnight. ‘I am so glad you have come here, Mr Walkshott,’ she said. ‘That man is a thug. If you knew how he has threatened me … ’
‘Threats he may well be in a position to implement, Mrs Diaz,’ Walkshott said, gravely. ‘I'm afraid things have taken a turn for the worse over the past few days. The rebels have not surrendered, as they have been summoned to do, by the government, but instead have retreated into the mountains, from where they are launching hit and run raids against loyalists all over Cuba, while their leader, this General Gomez, has issued a proclamation announcing his determination to fight to the death until the Spanish rule has been overthrown, and calling upon all Cubans who believe in liberty to join him.’
‘Hurrah for him,’ she said. ‘Won’t you sit down? Ah … you remember my sister-in-law, Senorita Christina Diaz de Obrigar?’
‘Of course.’ Walkshott shook Christina’s hand.
‘My mother sends her apologies,’ Christina said. ‘But she is unwell. Have you come to protect us from these bandits who call themselves policemen, Senor Walkshott?’
‘Well … ’ Walkshott looked embarrassed.
While Christina appeared to see the soldiers for the first time. ‘Is there going to be a battle?’ she asked.
‘Well … ’ Walkshott said again, looking more embarrassed than ever.
‘Oh, please sit down,’ Toni invited once more, and did so herself. ‘Salvador, some punch. I am sure we all feel like it.’
‘That would be very nice,’ Walkshott said, and sat down. Christina sat beside Toni on the settee. ‘The fact is,’ the vice-consul said, ‘this other warrant the colonel has empowers him to treat such areas as he regards as suitable, or necessary, as known assembly points for rebel forces.’
‘And he intends to treat Obrigar as such a point,’ Toni said.
‘Exactly.’
‘Meaning what, from our point of view?’
‘Ah … ’ Walkshott cleared his throat. ‘As I mentioned just now, the situation has worsened to a most unfortunate extent. It appears that at the Battle of Don Rios some of the rebel prisoners were hanged out of hand by the victorious troops. This was serious enough, but it naturally inspired retaliation by the insurgents, and this has got out of hand. Word has been received that they have, for instance, raided the plantation of a loyalist sympathiser, hanged him and his sons, and, ah … gravely insulted their women folk.’
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‘I can’t believe that,’ Toni cried.
Christina sighed. ‘So many of them are just brigands, at heart,’ she said.
‘Quite,’ Walkshott agreed. ‘The upshot of all this is that this war is now beyond what we may call the confines of civilised conduct. The government is determined to win by whatever means may be necessary, and it believes that the quickest way to bring the rebels to heel is to prevent them from being able to make contact with their families, prevent them from even knowing what has happened to their families … ’ ‘That is barbaric,’ Toni protested.
‘So is war, Mrs Diaz. There is also the very pertinent point of being able to shut the rebels off from all supplies of food and ammunition, and what is probably most important of all, money. The object of declaring certain areas as assembly points will be to shut off such areas from all contact with the outside world, except as may be permitted by the commander of the garrison, and he is under instructions, I have been informed, to be as strict as possible.’ He pointed. ‘Those wagons are full of barbed wire, which is going to be strung around a perimeter which will enclose the heart of Obrigar plantation. There will be control towers and machine gun batteries at regular intervals, preventing the entry of anyone not authorised. They will also prevent anyone from leaving, without authorisation, of course.’
‘But … we are about to grind our cane, and then ship it,’ Toni said.
‘I am afraid that will not be possible, Mrs Diaz, for the duration of the insurrection.’ ‘Good Lord.’ She glanced at Christina, whose hands were twined together in her lap.
‘This place will, in effect, become a military encampment, and all those within it will be subject to military rules and discipline,’ Walkshott went on. ‘I do not think it will be very pleasant here. That is why I have come to see you, Mrs Diaz. I understand that your husband is with the rebels … ’
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