Daughter of Fortune (42 page)

“But that is a long time,” argued Luz.

“Then go back to sleep,” said Maria, coaxing Luz to
lie down. “The time will go faster then, will it not?”

Luz
put her head in Maria’s lap and sighed. “Perhaps. I am so hungry I
would even eat bread pudding.”

Maria patted the child. “That tells me something.
But think of it this way, my child. Think how good whatever it is
will taste tonight when we do find something!”

Luz
nodded and closed her eyes. Catarina curled up on Maria’s other
side, looking up at her. “And you, Catarina,” murmured Maria. “How
goes it with you?”

“I find adventures are not as much fun as I thought,
Maria.”

“They seldom are, my child.”

Maria closed her eyes and dozed restlessly. She awakened to
Diego, standing over her. He sat down and pulled Catarina gently to
his lap, stroking her shoulders as she slept on. “Maria
querida
,”
he
said softly, looking at his little sister, “do you think we will
ever sleep like that again?”

Maria’s eyes filled with tears. She bowed her head
over Luz and tried to gulp back her sobs. Diego quickly pulled her
close to him and put his arm around her. Catarina stirred but did
not waken. Diego’s fingers were gentle on Maria’s neck.

“I am
sorry,” he whispered. “But I think I will never close my eyes again
without seeing Cristóbal hanging at the end of my scarf. My own
brother.
Dios
,
what a sin I have committed! Or Erlinda, lying on
that chest. Or Mama’s eyes.” His voice faltered, and he hugged
Maria tighter. She put her arms around him in wordless attempt at
solace, and they slept again.

When
Maria woke again, the shadows were lengthening across the cave
front, and Luz and Catarina were gone. She jumped up, waking Diego,
who grabbed her ankle in a sudden reflex as she tried to
run.

“Hold still, Maria,” he ordered, “don’t run out of
the cave!”

“But Luz, Catarina!” she implored, trying to pry his
fingers off her ankle.

“You
listen to me, Maria, for once!” She stopped struggling and he let
go of her ankle. He looked around the cave, then crawled to the
front, where he found his dagger. “Stay here, Maria. I will find
them. ”

She
squatted on her heels by the cave entrance. She could almost see
the girls running slowly across a field, their hair floating behind
them, followed by Indians, all the Indians in the river kingdom.
Indians large and dark like Popeh, Indians slim and graceful like
Cristóbal. But not Cristóbal. He was hanging dead at the end of
Diego’s scarf.

Diego was back almost before he was gone, shepherding his
two sisters in front of him. The girls carried something between
them, and they called to her even as Diego hissed at them to be
quiet.

They
carried honeycomb. As the girls clambered up the rocks toward the
cave, Maria saw that one of Catarina’s eyes was swollen shut, her
face puffy. In spite of her obvious discomfort, she grinned at
Maria.

Maria stepped out of the cave, braced herself
against a boulder and reached for Luz. Diego boosted both sisters
up to her and followed them in. The girls set the honeycomb down on
a rock by Maria carefully, as if it were gold. They stood together,
their backs straight, their hands behind them, looking up at Diego.
Maria saw the muscles in his face working as he tried to control
himself. He turned away, quivering with anger.

Maria put her arms around the girls and shook them.
They were sticky everywhere she touched. “Luz, Catarina, how could
you!”

Tears rolled down Luz’s sticky, dirty cheeks.
“Maria, we did not think Señor Gutierrez would mind if we took just
a little honey. It was a beehive by itself in his field.”

Diego let out an explosive sigh and turned around. His face
was white under his growth of beard.
“
Niñas
...
"
he began, but could
not speak.

“My
darlings,” said Maria, shaking them again, and then pulling Luz to
her. “I am sure that Señor Gutierrez does not mind.”
He will probably
never know
,
she thought. “But suppose an Indian saw you!
Niñas
,
we would all be dead now.”

Catarina burst out, “Like Mama and Erlinda?”

It
was the first time either sister had mentioned the events at Las
Invernadas. Catarina exploded into helpless sobs that came from
deep within her. Diego drew her to him and held her close. “Go
ahead,
hermana mia
," he crooned, all anger gone. “You will feel
better.” He rocked her in his arms, humming one of his Indian
tunes.

Luz looked at Maria. “I want some honey,” she said
simply.

Maria smiled in spite of herself. “Well, then, you shall
have some. Get your brother’s dagger and choose your own slice.
”

Luz took Diego’s dagger from his belt and knelt by
the honey. She frowned, holding the dagger first this way, then
that way. She hesitated and looked at Maria. “Erlinda would say I
should be fair,” she explained.

“Erlinda taught you well,” replied Maria, the words almost
sticking in her throat. “Make it even, and then you say the
blessing. ”

Luz glanced up from her effort. “Me?”

“You know the words. Diego will not mind.”.

Luz
brought the dagger down, separating the honeycomb into lumpy
fourths. She put the dagger on the rock and crossed herself. “Bless
us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts,” she prayed, her eyes shut
tight.
“And please do not let Señor Gutierrez be angry. In
the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, Amen.”

She crossed herself again and picked up the
honeycomb in one swift motion. Catarina sat up on Diego’s lap,
watching her sister eat. She wiped her eyes and joined Luz, picking
up a section of honeycomb.

“After you, Maria
querida
,” said Diego,
wiping his knife on his leather breeches and putting it back in his
belt.

Maria picked up the honeycomb with thumb and
forefinger. It was dusted with a fine coating of grit, but she
pulled off a piece and put it in her mouth, enjoying the flavor of
Señor Gutierrez’s honey.

Diego sat cross-legged on the floor of the cave and
put the remaining piece in his mouth. He closed his eyes and chewed
on the wax. “I haven’t had anything to eat since the night we came
back from making your San Francisco, Maria.”

“That was long ago, Diego,” she said, licking her
fingers.

“Seems like years.” He chewed and swallowed, then
flashed a wolfish grin. “The governor did not even offer me any
wine when I threw myself into his office.”

“I can’t imagine what he was thinking,” Maria handed
Diego the rest of her honeycomb.

He shook his head, but when she continued to hold
the gray lump out to him, he took it from her with a smile. “I’ll
pay you back someday,” he said.

“No need,” she replied, and quickly wiped her sticky
fingers in his hair. Catarina whooped with laughter, and Luz’s eyes
were wide as she watched her brother anxiously.

Without missing a beat, Diego grabbed Maria with his
one good arm, turned her on her back and sat on her. Maria freed
one hand and began to tickle him.

Giggling, Catarina came closer, while Luz stuck two
fingers in her mouth and continued to stare at her brother. But
gradually she started to laugh, too.

“I surrender!” Diego finally gasped and flopped down
next to Maria on the ground, still laughing. Then he grabbed her
again and pulled her over on top of him. Her hair came undone from
her few remaining hairpins, and his hands tangled in its thickness
as he kissed her on the mouth. He tasted like honey, and Maria
started to laugh again.

“Will you never be serious?” he murmured, then tried
to let go of her hair, but it clung to his hands in sticky patches.
He pulled her close again. “I vow we are yoked together, Maria,” he
said, his voice caressing. “Marry me. ”

She sat up quickly. “Oh, no,” she said, tugging at
her hair even as he drew her close again.

“What possible objection can you have now,
querida
?” he asked, pulling her down until her head was on
his chest again. “I am poor. You are poor. We have not one
possession between us, so it cannot be money anymore. Can it be
that you do not love me?”

She didn’t answer, lying there with her cheek
against his doublet, a smile on her face. Luz and Catarina had
turned back to the flecks of honey remaining on the rock.

“Well?” he said. He tried to tip her head up, but
she would not look at him. She lay listening to the steady rhythm
of his heart, her eyes closed.

“Well?” he prompted again.

Maria sat up. “I love you, Diego,” she said.

His eyes opened wide. “Somehow, I did not think I
would ever live to hear you say that,” he said. “So you will marry
me,” he said, pulling her hand to rest on his chest.

“I didn’t say that,” Maria replied. “I said that I
loved you.”

He sat up suddenly. “
Dios mio
! You are a
difficult woman!” he shouted, and then looked around him as the
sound echoed in the cave. Luz and Catarina were still seated by the
rock, picking at the honeycomb. Diego lay down again, whispering in
her ear. “Will you marry me, Maria? ”

She turned to look at him. “And I have a question
for you,
querido
. Do you really think we will live much
beyond tomorrow or the next day? ”

He was silent, looking at the stone shelter above
them. “I doubt it, Maria, but do answer me this: If by some miracle
we get to Santa Fe and find a priest, will you marry me?”

“Of course,” she replied promptly. “My
grandfather—and he knew what he was talking about—always used to
say that it is poverty that makes the man.”

Diego laughed. “So you think I will be better for
being poor? Make you a better husband, eh?” he said, his hand
caressing her hip.

She put his hand back on his chest, her voice
suddenly serious. “I think it will be a long time before you
presume to call anyone
your
Indians again. I only hope your
education does not begin too late.”

“Aiyee, you have stabbed me. But perhaps your
abuelo
was right. Perhaps I have learned something.”

Maria ran her fingers over the gypsum bandage on
Diego’s arm. His skin was still hot to her touch, but his arm was
not as swollen. He touched her sticky face, then licked his finger.
“You are sweet to me, Maria, and in spite of everything, I am a
happy man.” He held her close to him, gently rubbing her neck. “A
day at a time, a sunrise, a sunset, another day. Do not think
beyond that. And I am a happy man. Who would have thought it?”

They sat that way for a while, then Diego rose and
went to the entrance to the cave. “We are close to the Gutierrez
estancia. Perhaps there will be something to eat. Then we will
follow the river and branch off toward Santa Fe.”

Diego motioned to his sisters. “Let us go. Catarina,
you walk with me, and you, Luz, stay with Maria. Do not say
anything, no matter what you see or hear. Do you understand?” Both
girls nodded, impressed by the steel in his voice. “And do not
ever, ever leave us,” he added quietly.

Diego let himself down from the cave, holding his
good arm up for Catarina and then Luz. When the girls were standing
beside him, Maria followed. She took Diego’s hand and steadied her
way down the rocky pile. When they were on level ground again,
Diego put his arm around her waist, leaning toward her. “Over
there, across the river, is the Gutierrez place. Can you see
it?”

She shook her head.

“Well, it is there, or I suppose it was there. I
propose that we cross the river, hide the girls in the Gutierrez
cornfield and look around.”

The silence of death was on the land. Maria shivered
in the cool night air. The stars bright overhead seemed to dangle
just on top of them. The trees thickened as they neared the river,
the smell of
piñon
almost overwhelming. But along with the
piñon
was another smell, a sweetish odor. The smell was
death.

They crossed a little-used road. Maria could make
out several large whitish lumps lying across the narrow path. Diego
drew closer to examine the bodies and then returned to his women.
Maria covered Luz’s ears. “The Gutierrez family?” she
whispered.

He looked at her, then glanced away. “No. Cousins of
my mother’s from Taos.”

They reached the river quickly. Diego and Maria had
to hold the girls back to keep them from rushing to the stream to
drink. “It is such actions that will see us all dead, Catarina,”
Diego whispered to his sister as he held her back. “I will go ahead
and look around first, and then you will follow with Maria.” He
disappeared among the trees.

The girls crowded close to Maria, shivering in the
cool of the night. “
Pobrecitas
,” Maria said, “and still you
wear only your nightgowns.”

“It
is
night,” said Luz, her teeth
chattering.

“Ay, you have hit on it,” Maria replied. “How you
sound like Diego!”

Diego was coming back through the trees. “I see no
sign of anyone at the river, although there were some tracks from a
fairly recent crossing. I would beg you to move silently.”

They hurried to the river. Although the water was
still low with the season of drought, it was swift, and came to the
girls’ waists. Luz gasped when she stepped into the water. She bent
forward for a swift drink, lapping like a small animal. Catarina
crossed the stream, then knelt at the water’s edge for a drink.

“While we are here, get the honey out of your hair,”
Diego said to Maria. She knelt in the stream and ducked her head
under. Diego waded slightly downstream where the water was deeper.
Maria followed him, calling to him, “Diego, don’t put your arm
under or the gypsum will melt.”