by Helena Rose
" What happened?" She asked turning to Lucas.
"He was attacked," said Lucas, panting.
"Lie him down on the couch, I’ll go and get the medication I need to treat him with. Begin removing his jacket and shirt," said Aurora. After her initial distress, the typical cold bloodedness that came from her profession engulfed her, while her mind quickly began to plan her next actions.
She soon returned with her bag and clean cloths.
"Bring me some fresh water," she said to Lucas. Lucas ran to the kitchen and returned soon after with a basin full of water. Cristobal had fainted and lay motionless on the sofa, his face pale.
Aurora wiped the blood from the wound and studied it carefully.
"It's quite deep ... Let's hope it doesn’t get infected," she commented. She disinfected the cut and prepared the suture thread. Then she began to stitch the wound up, trying to bring the flaps of the cut skin together as much as possible. When she had finished stitching, she bandaged the shoulder with care.
Cristobal soon recovered his senses and looked around.
" Where am I?" He asked seeing Aurora’s face.
"Don’t worry you’ve been injured and Lucas brought you to our house to get treated."
" Lucas?" Cristobal said, turning his head in search of him.
"I'm here," Lucas replied, leaning against the doorjamb and watching the scene.
" What became of the bandit?" Asked Cristobal in a small voice.
"He's dead. When you’re feeling better we must go to the police to file a report."
" You saved my life..." Cristobal said, struggling to speak.
"Now, don’t get agitated." interrupted Aurora, forcing him to lay his head on a cushion. "Sleep a little and think about the rest tomorrow."
Cristobal did not have the strength to protest and fell into a deep sleep.
"He’d better stay here tonight, the stitches could come apart if you take him upstairs to the guest room," she said.
"Now tell me exactly what happened?" She asked Lucas worried.
Lucas told Aurora what had happened while she bandaged his hand, although he assured her it did not need it.
"Penelope did this? But why kill Cristobal? What reason could she have?" she asked surprised. "I can’t believe that there are such evil souls!"
Lucas grimaced.
"I don’t think Penelope acted on her own..." He whispered, thoughtfully.
Night had fallen, and he thought it best to wait for Cristobal to wake up before deciding what should be done. Together, they went up the stairs to their room.
" Every now and then we must make sure that he doesn’t need anything," said Aurora.
Lucas sighed.
"So you mean that we'll go down together... " And kissed her on the lips.
The next morning Cristobal felt better and insisted on accompanying Lucas to see Don José to inform him of the attack and file a complaint against Penelope.
Cristobal seemed embarrassed, as he waited to go to the barracks.
" I don’t know how to thank you, both of you," he said. "Especially you Lucas ... You saved my life at the risk of your own. I’ll never forget the debt I owe to you."
Lucas made a gesture with his hand.
" Don’t worry." He said abruptly, “there’s no need to say anything else."
Together they went to see Don José.
Don José listened attentively to the two men’s testimony and remained silent for a moment collecting his thoughts.
" If both of you heard the bandit accuse Penelope Robles of having hired him, we can issue an arrest warrant against her. Don’t worry, very soon we’ll have her in our hands."
Cristobal cleared his throat.
" Don José, since the time of the attack I haven’t returned home and as you can understand there is the man’s corpse in my living room ... "
" I'll send my men to remove the body at once."
" Thank you, Don José."
As they left Don José’s office, Cristobal felt faint, but Lucas managed to support him. Despite the timely treatment he had lost a lot of blood and the wound still gave him a lot of pain.
"It’d be best for me to accompany you home, you are still very weak. I’ll tell Aurora to go to see you after the clinic."
Cristobal hesitated for a moment then squeezed Lucas’ arm.
"I was wrong about you, I didn’t deserve your risking your life to save mine ..."
"You’d have done the same," replied Lucas.
" No, and you know it! I acted miserably towards you, due to envy. I couldn’t admit that, despite being raised in a disadvantaged situation, you have become a great man, better than I can ever hope to be... Brave, respected and loved by Aurora and your people. Please accept my apologies and my friendship if it isn’t too late," he said, holding out his hand.
Lucas looked into his eyes, suspicious, but saw only honesty and sincerity. He shook Cristobal's hand and gave him a brotherly hug.
Along the way they both remained silent until they arrive at Cristobal’s house, where Cristobal turned to Lucas, looking at him intently.
" Lucas, about the problem you wanted to discuss with me last night ..."
Lucas looked at him quizzically.
" The mortgage you mean?"
Cristobal nodded.
"I know how you can keep the hacienda."
Lucas was astonished, "What do you mean?"
"I'll show you myself. Please, meet me tomorrow morning at eight o'clock in Father Julian’s church."
"At Father Julian’s?"
" Yes, please don’t ask me any questions, tomorrow you’ll know everything that I should have told you some time ago."
Lucas frowned. "All right," he said shaking his hand.
In a small, generally quiet town like Tampico, the news of the attack on Cristobal and the death of the bandit soon circulated the city and was not long in arriving to Penelope’s ears.
She learned what had happened and immediately ran to Doña Raquel’s house to tell her everything, ignoring the existence of the arrest warrant issued against her.
The maid invited her into the study, where Doña Raquel was busy embroidering.
"I hope that you’ve come to bring good news!" Raquel said, without taking her eyes from her embroidery.
" Doña Raquel, something unforeseeable has happened ... "
Raquel looked up and stared at her with annoyance.
"Speak. Come on! Don’t make me lose my patience!"
Penelope hesitated, frightened by the reaction Doña Raquel would have.
"Unfortunately, Cristobal survived the ambush thanks to Lucas,” she said in one breath.
Raquel stiffened, fixed her icy gaze on Penelope and said angrily," That damn meddler!"
"Unfortunately, that’s not all, ma’am, the bandit is dead," Penelope went on.
"Do you think I care about that scum? Rather you, incompetent, you haven’t managed to accomplish what I'd ordered you to do and for which I paid you handsomely!"
" But Doña Raquel ..." Penelope tried to protest.
"Quiet, useless person!" Raquel suddenly stood up, dropping the embroidery she was working on and approached Penelope threateningly.
"You're no good, I no longer need you, vanish and don’t be seen in this house again!"
"Ma’am, I’ve always served you faithfully, so you can’t kick me out like a dog!"
"I’ll treat you as you deserve to be treated! Get out, not only from this house but also from this town! I’ll make sure that your little shop of useless rubbish closes and from now on all doors will be barred to you!" Anger burned in Raquel’s deep black eyes.
Penelope was silent for a moment, but gave no sign of wanting to leave, she even retorted angrily.
" If I were you I would think twice before alienating people like me who know your worst secrets ... if that policeman, Don José, becomes aware of even a fraction of the atrocities you have committed, or that you have commissioned ..."
<
br /> Doña Raquel’s impassive face, assumed a terrible expression.
" Miserable beggar, do you really think the police will take the word of an old mad witch living by her wits preparing concoctions and reading the cards over the word of a Navarra y Reyes?"
"The police will decide this..." Penelope retorted with an unexpected surge of pride.
Doña Raquel, unable to control herself, picked up a poker from the fireplace and lunged at Penelope who covered her head with her hands trying to ward off Raquel’s blows.
At that moment Federico entered, attracted by the screams, and Penelope managed to flee while Doña Raquel fell exhausted on her knees due to anger and physical exertion.
"Mother! What's going on?" Asked Federico helping her to her feet.
"You have to kill her, Federico! She knows too many of our secrets and has threatened to go to the police!"
" But she’ll never dare to do so ..." said Federico.
" You don’t understand, we can’t risk losing everything, even if the police don’t believe her, the news could reach Lucas’ ears and he could begin to investigate ... No, you must eliminate her before she destroys everything we've built up over so many years!" Raquel burst into tears, covering her face with her hands.
"As you wish mother!" He said, hugging her.
Seeing Raquel, always so self-confident and arrogant, so helpless, filled his heart with tenderness that he did not believed he was capable of feeling.
Chapter 26
Aurora went to La Virgen de la Caridad convents infirmary, as usual. Mother Agostina greeted her, smiling.
"We’re fortune to have you here, my child," she said. "You don’t know how much we missed you when you were in Zacatecas, even Dr. Peron commented on this."
Aurora was flattered by the compliments.
"You know I can’t stay long ... sooner or later I’ll go back to Zacatecas with my husband," she said. Yes, as long as there’s still a home for us there ...
" Of course, your first duty is to follow your husband," Mother Agostina hastened to say, accompanying Aurora to see the day’s patients.
After some simple cases, Aurora recognized a familiar face, lying isolated on a bed was Alma. The disease had now made her almost unrecognizable, pale, emaciated and her face scarred by syphilitic acne.
Carefully, Aurora put her hand on Alma’s forehead and noted that it was burning. She put fresh dressings on her head to try to lower her temperature and administered quinine. Not even mercury would be much more effective, but in this state of general weakness I certainly can’t increase the dose, she thought worried, the toxicity would be lethal to her.
She noted with concern Alma’s difficulty in breathing. Aurora had never encountered such a case of syphilis that had developed so rapidly, not even during her studies. Even Dr. Peron was shocked and had attributed the particular virulence of the disease to the general state of severe weakness. It’s as if her body is voluntary doing everything possible to accelerate the disease, Aurora thought with a shudder, to put an end to her suffering...
Alma, on feeling Aurora’s gentle touch stirred and opened her eyes. It took her a moment to recognize the face in front of her.
" Doña Aurora!" She said with a hint of a smile on her dried lips.
" Hello Alma, how are you feeling?" Asked Aurora.
Alma looked at her with an air of suffering.
"Not good... I think my time has come."
" Don’t say that, you still have a long time to go," exclaimed Aurora, laying her hand on the sheets that covered Alma’s tormented body.
" Don’t lie! I know I’ve come to my end ... But there's one thing I want to ask you so that I may die peaceful."
" Tell me," Aurora urged gently, while her eyes filled with tears.
" My son ... I don’t want him to spend his life in the brothel experiencing hardship, I would like him to have what I've always been denied ... The love and warmth of a family." She said in a faint voice, closing her eyes due to the immense effort that talking involved.
"Do you want me to bring him here?" Asked Aurora.
"No," said Alma half opening her eyes. "I don’t want him to see me like this, even though he is so small, I want him to remember me as I was ... Say goodbye to him from me when I'm gone, please tell him that I’ll always watch over him from heaven."
Aurora looked at her gently, no longer able to hold back the tears at Alma’s sad fate.
" Do me one last favor, I beseech you!" Alma continued.
" Whatever you want," said Aurora, drying her cheeks with the back of her hand.
"Go to Federico and tell him that I would like to see him one last time."
Exhausted Alma closed her eyes while her labored breathing was also slowing down.
"I'll return soon with your Federico, try to hold on." Aurora promised her.
"You mustn’t cry for me ... I'm so tired of living and I’m not worthy of your compassion. To pursue my dreams I’ve ruined my life and I even hurt my poor aunt following the advice of that wicked Penelope...God will never forgive me!"
"God has already forgiven you," replied Aurora.
Alma, exhausted by the effort, fell into a restless sleep, while her breathing became more and more shallow and irregular.
As she walked away from Alma’s bedside Aurora remained doubtful about what to do. She did not know if she could ever convince Federico to follow her here and feared that in any case he would not arrive in time. She decided, however, that she could not betray the promise made to Alma on her deathbed, therefore, without further ado, she decided to go to the Navarra y Reyes’ hacienda.
She took off her apron and said goodbye to Mother Agostina, announcing that she had suddenly remembered an engagement. She arrived in the Cathedral Square and paid a carriage to take her directly to the hacienda.
The first time she had been there was at Federico and Marisol’s marriage and it had seemed like a fairytale place, a rich estate whose luxury had entered into the folklore of Tampico’s common people. Now she looked at the house with other eyes, the elegant building with its harmonious form appeared to her like an evil and dark cavern, full of pain and sadness. Here Lucas had suffered terribly as a child, only to be driven out without any regard.
The maid, not knowing her, made her wait while she went to announce her visit to Doña Raquel. She finally returned saying that Doña Raquel would receive her immediately. Aurora was shown into a large and opulent living room. Doña Raquel was sitting in a luxurious armchair, dressed in one of her usual exquisite black dresses, her face pale and stern, her hair shiny and smooth resembling ebony, was tied back in a complicated hairstyle.
"Thank you for seeing me without warning ma’am," said Aurora, giving her little nod of respect.
Doña Raquel replied with a simple nod. Aurora’s visit had made her very curious and she really hoped that it could be of help in her plan to destroy Lucas.
" To what do I owe your visit?" She asked coldly.
"I absolutely must talk to Federico, it is a matter of life or death."
Raquel remained impassive, staring at her with her piercing black eyes.
"Federico is still asleep and I don’t see the need to wake him. You can come back later if you really want to talk to him."
"Ma’am, forgive my insistence but I absolutely have to see him!"
" I’ve already told you that he is asleep and so do me the favor of leaving my house!" Raquel exclaimed impatiently. She had not expected that Aurora would asked for Federico, she had hoped that she was there to plead for help for Lucas, and had already imagined a very different speech to deeply humiliate her.
"In my life I’ve known many cruel and ruthless people, but never anyone like you and Federico..." Aurora said heatedly. Raquel’s indifference, her hard and contemptuous look, had filled her with rage. "But you can’t go unpunished forever, a day will come when life will hold you to account!"
“Please, spare me your nonsense and go!" Laughed Raque
l acidly.
At that moment, Federico, who had been awakened by the agitated voices, appeared. With a sleepy face and tousled hair, he slowly descended the stairs still wearing his purple dressing gown.
How did I ever think that I was in love with him? Aurora thought, seeing him come down stairs looking so slovenly and still with obvious signs of drunkenness.
"What’s wrong?" He asked, yawning without bothering to cover his mouth.
He passed very close to Aurora, eyeing her from head to toe with a malicious look and kissed her hand. She withdrew it immediately and Federico sunk into a nearby chair placing his feet on the adjacent coffee table.
" Nothing’s wrong, son," said Raquel. "Aurora was just leaving."
"I need to talk to you," Aurora said, without even looking at Raquel but feeling her evil gaze.
" Well? I'm all yours!" encouraged Federico, untying his dressing gown and giving a hint of a smile.
"Please, you have to come with me to the convent’s clinic, Alma is dying and has asked to see you one last time," exclaimed Aurora, pretending not to notice Federico’s deliberately suggestive moves.
" Alma? Alma .... Alma?" Federico raised his head, letting his eyes wander along the decorated ceiling with a confused air. "Oh yes, one of the prostitutes in Tampico’s brothel! And why should I care about the death of a whore?"
"You should be interested since she’s the mother of your son," said Aurora coldly.
A silence fell in the living room.
Federico burst into laughter.
" My dear, you obviously aren’t a woman of the world! Someone who does the profession of that ... what's her name? Alma, has made hundreds of men happy, why do you insinuated that her bastard is my son?"
"You know very well that he is your son, that she didn’t have anyone else before you, and that she loves you more than anyone else in the world! You stole her youth, illusions and dignity. You’re despicable," cried Aurora red in the face.
Federico, cornered, replied coldly, "Go ahead and tell that slut that I'm sorry for what's happening to her but she should have been more careful with the men she went with! And as for the little bastard ... I wouldn’t know what to do with it!"