Page 194 of The Moon Sister
‘They know each other well?’ Angelina turned wide-eyed to Lucía.
‘They did once, yes.’
‘They love each other,’ she decreed. ‘This is a beautiful thing, is it not?’
‘It is,’ Lucía nodded.
Overcome with emotion, Ramón was helped to sit down on a stool before he keeled over.
‘Where is the furniture?’ María asked.
‘Long gone to looters,’ Ramón sighed. ‘All I have is a straw pallet, but at least I am free and that is worth everything. Now tell me why you are here in my kitchen?’
‘Micaela has passed on to the Upperworld and we must bury her. Do you know of any men left here in Sacromonte who can help us?’ María asked him.
‘I do not know, but we can find out. I just . . . cannot believe you are back, my María.’ Ramón looked at her in total rapture.
‘Another miracle,’ Angelina whispered to Lucía.
*
The two women, the child, and the man as frail as an eighty-year-old searched the dusty paths of Sacromonte to find help to bury their once-reveredbruja. Many doors did not open immediately, and the deep level of fear that had descended on this broken community was palpable. Many homes were empty, but once those that were coaxed out of their caves heard what had happened, they were happy to offer their services. The few able-bodied men were despatched with spades to dig Micaela’s grave, while the women pooled their meagre resources and prepared food for a gathering afterwards.
One of the women lent her mule to be attached to another neighbour’s cart, and after heaving Micaela’s earthly remains onto it, they trooped off in a ragged procession to the forest, where they laid theirbrujato rest.
The gathering afterwards was held in María’s cave and an oldgitano, who used to run one of the illegal drinking caves, brought up some brandy to toast Micaela’s passing. Out of perhaps four hundred former residents, now only thirty or so of them were left. María and Lucía received much teasing about their new hairstyles, but beyond the horror and destruction of the past ten years, the flame of the community still flickered. Some of the men had brought their guitars along, and for the first time in years, the sound of flamenco music filled the Sacromonte air.
‘Lucía! You must dance for us,’ shouted one of the men, his shrunken stomach sending the brandy straight to his head.
‘I have a cannonball in my stomach.’ Lucía rolled her eyes. ‘Maybe Mamá would like to dance? She taught me everything I know.’
‘No,’ María said, blushing, as other women pushed her forward.
‘Sí! Sí! Sí!’ the crowd chanted, clapping their hands to the beat. María had no choice but to agree and, terrified that her feet and hands would not remember what to do, she performed her firstalegrías por rosasin twenty years. The rest of the crowd – or at least, those who had the strength to – eventually joined her, little Angelina staring wide-eyed at the spectacle.
‘You have never attended afiesta?’ Lucía bent down to ask her.
‘No, but it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,’ she said, her eyes shining. ‘Lucía, this is not an end, it is a new beginning!’
And as María encouraged Ramón to dance, supporting him as he did so, Lucía rather thought it was.
*
‘Lucía, I have something to ask you.’ María appeared by the makeshift hammock that the two of them had tied between two orange trees so Lucía could rest outside in the afternoons.
‘What is that, Mamá?’
‘I was wondering whether you would mind if I invited Ramón to come and live with us for a while. He is so very sick, and has nothing. He needs someone to care for him.’
‘Of course I don’t mind. With Angelina moving here, and the new baby on the way, we are starting our owngitanocommunity right here,’ Lucía chuckled.
‘Thank you,querida. Even though he is sick now, Angelina believes he can make a full recovery and then he can at least be useful.’
‘Useful or not, you want him here, and that is fine. So,’ Lucía said innocently, ‘will he sleep on the couch in the sitting room?’
‘I . . . no. I thought it would be easiest if he—’
‘Mamá, I am only teasing you. I know exactly where he will sleep, and that is in your arms. What on earth will Alejandro think when he knows his girlfriend has found another?’ Lucía didn’t wait for an answer, but climbed out of the hammock to walk up to the house for a glass of water.
