Prologue2

Prologue2

Miguel lifted his canteen to his lips.  Before he could take a swallow, he saw three men carrying weapons coming down the road from the highway.  He dropped the canteen and sat stunned for a seemingly long moment that ended abruptly when the canteen clattered onto the floor below.  He grabbed the thick bell rope and pulled.  A note that sounded like a very loud version of a coin wobbling on the marble counter in Nestor’s store rang out.  Much to his surprise, vibrations shook his body and threatened to addle his brain.  He managed to pull the rope again.  He waited until the sound was almost gone before he pulled once more.  Then he repeated the signal.  Boing.  Boing.  Pause.  Boing.  The whole process took less than thirty seconds, but to Miguel it seemed an eternity.  As soon as he struck the last note, he half scrambled and half slid down the rickety ladder.   He ran across the green to the clinic.

“Mijo!”  One of the ladrones called out to him.

Miguel ran faster, imagining himself a jaguar, and leaped onto the porch and through the doorway in two bounds.  He crashed into Doctor Neill who caught him before he fell.  Nearly breathless, Miguel said, “Tres hombres.  Not wearing uniforms.  Two semi-automatics and a pistol.”

Doctor Neill gave him a quick pat on the back and said, “Good work.  Now get into line with the others.”

Only then did Miguel see the children from the classroom standing in the upper landing staring at him.  Their silence a tribute to the respect they now felt for him. 

Nurse Margaret clapped her hands and said, “Rapido! Rapido!” 

The children broke into a mad dash down the stairs, yelling, laughing, and acting as if they were on their way to recess.  Doctor Neill stepped into their path and said, “The Plan says you’ll walk, not talk, and stand quietly in front of the church. Saben porque?”

“Si,” the children responded by rote, “So the ladrones won’t kill us.”

Doctor Neill stepped out of their way.  The children walked solemnly down the steps and through the doorway.  Miguel hurried along until he found a place in line beside Isabella.

Isabella stole a glance at the common street punks standing with their weapons pointed at the men and women who had already gathered at the church.  “Aye!!!!  Son los mismos!” she said.  She had been very afraid of them the last time they’d raided Mateo.  Every time she had entered the church, she’d prayed that they wouldn’t come back.

“No preocupes!” Miguel said, “Worrying is a waste of time.  The Plan will work.”

“Odio el viejo!  Es feo y huele mal!”

“Quieto!” Nurse Margaret said fiercely.  No telling what the bandito would do if he heard Isabella, such a foolish child, say she hated The Old Man and that he stank.     

The children took their places beside their parents.  Doctor Neill, Nurse Margaret, Father Thomas, and Miguel stood in front of everyone, face to face with the thieves.      

Father Thomas said, “Bienvenidos a Mateo!”

The Old man pointed his semi-automatic rifle at Father Thomas’ head and said, “Cayete”

“Tranquilo!!!!,” Father Thomas said, “Lleven todo si quieren y vayan con la bendicion de Dios!!!”  He’d heard that raids on other small villages had turned violent and his greatest fear was that they would do more than take what they wanted and leave.  He made a sign of the cross for each bandit.

“Cayete dije, hijo de puta!!!,” The Old Man snarled.  Father Thomas bowed his head in acquiesce.  The Old Man pointed his weapon at one woman and then another.  “Muevensen!! Ayudan cargar las mulas!”  The men walked behind the women with their weapons pointed at them.  The Old Man looked over those remaining and pointed at Isabella and said, “Tu tambien.”   

Miguel lunged toward Isabella as if to stop her from obeying the command to go with the other two women, but Doctor Neill managed to grab him and hold him back.  He cupped his hand over the boy’s mouth to keep him from saying anything that might get himself and maybe others into very serious trouble.  For they had all agreed at a meeting in Nestor’s store after the first raid, in case banditos came again to Mateo, the only way to escape the violence done in other villages was full co-operation.        

When she was gone, The Old Man said, “Todos en la iglesia!”

The villagers took their usual places in the church.  Father Thomas stood in the small pulpit and said, “Recemos” as he folded his hands and bowed his head. 

The Old Man fired his weapon, filling the church with a terrifying noise while a dozen rounds ripped through the sanctuary.  Shards of glass, splinters of wood, and chunks of plaster flew into the air.  Everyone screamed crouched down.  Men threw their bodies over their wives and children.  The Old Man said, “Hay preguntas?”

After a long moment, there was the timid sound of a kneeler being lowered into place.  Everyone held their breaths.  Then came the squeak of another followed by the scrape of metal as it met the tiled floor.   The Old Man did nothing.  A whole chorus of kneelers being lowered into place filled the church. “Padre nuestro que estas en el cielo…..”one woman began The Lord’s Prayer in a barely audible whisper.  Others joined in.  The whisper swelled.  Father Thomas knelt down at his place said the softest of prayers.  When they finished, the woman began, “Dios te salve, Maria……..Santo Maria, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros pecadores….”  Still The Old Man did nothing. 

Father Thomas and the entire congregation worked their way around their rosaries over and over.  Soon, through the blessing of prayer and the blessed unity of their voices and spirits, Father Thomas, and he hoped everyone in the church, felt His presence.  As their priest, he felt safe in the Lord and he hoped his parishioners did, too.  Even little Miguel, Father Thomas thought as he stole a glance at the boy, who refused to believe, might be moved.   

Then Father Thomas’ sense of the nearness of the Lord and his trust in Him as their protector was shattered by an unholy scream and a woman crying, “No!  Por favor, no me toques!!! Dios, ayudame!!!” 

The husbands of the two women, Isabella’s father, and several other men jumped up from the kneelers, pushed through to the ends of the pews, and charged up the aisle.  The Old Man shot them, hitting each one many times.  Nurse Margaret, with the help of several men, restrained Doctor Neill.  There was nothing he could do for them because they were all obviously dead.  The villagers screamed and shouted at The Old Man.  Father Thomas shouted, too, but his cries were directed at God. 

                     

             

Comments

[Sheila]

Exciting scene. A little to much spanish for me.

[Cynthia]

Agreed, very exciting scene. Pero, me gusto mucho espanol. Added to the authenticity of the scene. Buen hecho.