Page 151 of The Moon Sister
‘I am sure you will be better soon,pequeña.’
‘No.’ Lucía dragged her body back onto the bed and held onto the sides of the cot as the ship heaved to the right. ‘I will die before I reach shore, I am convinced. And the sharks will eat my body and it will be my fault for wanting to come.’
‘Well, if you don’t eat anything, they won’t have a very good supper,’ commented Meñique, who was the only one of thecuadrowho hadn’t been seasick since theMonte Pascoalhad left the port of Lisbon a week earlier. ‘Now, I’m going to find a steward to clean up in here. Can I get you anything else?’ he said as he opened the door.
‘An engagement ring would be wonderful,’ she called as the door closed behind him.
*
‘We are dining at the captain’s table tonight,’ Lucía declared three days later as she pinned her hair up and dabbed some rouge onto her cheeks, which still betrayed the pallor of her previous sickness.
‘Are you well enough,pequeña?’ Meñique asked.
‘Of course! The captain has asked especially for me, and I cannot let him down, or he might run this ship aground,’ she said, with not a hint of irony. ‘Now come.’
Dinner at the captain’s table was a pleasant occasion. The captain plied them all with fine wine, and waiters brought out course after course, which only Meñique managed to eat. José sat beside him, talking heatedly to the captain, a great aficionado of flamenco music.
‘And you will have heard the news from England?’ the captain said. ‘The Prime Minister, Mr Chamberlain, has promised “peace for our time” – he is certainly keeping Hitler in line.’
‘You see,hombre,’ José said, slapping Meñique on the shoulder, ‘peace! We needn’t have ventured onto this wretched sea after all! Oh, how I long for Spain . . .’
‘Ah, my friend,’ the captain said as he leant over and poured some brandy into José’s glass. ‘Once you have seen the splendour of Buenos Aires and Argentina, you will never wish to leave.’
*
‘I just went to Mamá’s cabin, but it was empty!’ Lucía declared exultantly the next day.
‘So? She could be anywhere on the ship.’
‘Not at six in the morning. So then I walked as quietly as a little kitten along to Papá’s cabin. And guess what?’
‘Tell me.’
‘I push open the door and see them in bed together in each other’s arms. Isn’t it wonderful?’ Lucía performed a quickzapateadoaround their own bed. ‘I knew it! I just knew it.’
‘Yes, it is good news that they have put their pasts behind them, for now at least.’
‘Meñique!’ Lucía rounded on him, hands on hips. ‘True love is forever,sí?’
‘Of course. Now, I am off to practise a new song with Pepe.’ Before her pronouncement caused him, too, to be violently ill into the bucket that still stood by the bed just in case a further attack of seasickness overtook Lucía, Meñique left the cabin.
*
As theMonte Pascalsailed along the coast of Brazil, the weather at least cheered the spirits of its residents. Thecuadrocame onto the deck, basking in the heat like the sharks they so feared. Now all their energy was focused on preparation for their arrival in Argentina. Even Lucía, out of practice due to her seasickness, deigned to rehearse with them.
‘Meñique?’ she said the night before they were due to dock in Buenos Aires.
‘Yes,pequeña?’
‘Do you think that we can be a success in Argentina?’
‘If anyone can be, it’s you, Lucía.’
Her small hand snaked to his. ‘Can I be better than La Argentinita?’
‘I cannot answer that. This is her homeland.’
‘I will be,’ Lucía stated with certainty. ‘Buenas noches, querido.’ She placed a kiss on his cheek and turned over.
