Blood in the Valencian Soil (Secrets of Spain) (30 page)

“I don’t want to go,” she said in a quiet voice. “Why should we escape, but not these people?”

“You think they would stop and think of you, given a change in fortune?”

“No, no one seems to care about anyone. Why would God do this to us?”

Alejandro stormed over to his sister. “God? What God? How can you persist in believing in a higher power when we live in the world that we do? There is no God, the lives we have are what we carve out for ourselves.”

“So, what? We did this to ourselves?” Luna challenged him.

“Now isn’t time for this,” Cayetano said.

“We’re anarchists!” Alejandro cried. “We stand by our beliefs!”

“Your beliefs!” Luna yelled her brother. “Who ever said they were my beliefs? No one ever asked me what I wanted!”

Scarlett charged
out of the office towards the group. “This isn’t the time for this,” she said. “Come on!”

They filed into the building
, where another tired-looking man stood. “This is Mark,” Scarlett said for him. “He doesn’t speak any español. He works on the Stanland.”

“Hello,” Alejandro and Cayetano both replied. They had learned some
inglés from Scarlett on those trips on the road with her. Luna, however, didn’t have a single word.

“You have to appreciate my problem,” Mark said to Scarlett, aware that most in the office couldn’t understand him. “It was hard enough for us to get our ship here. We’re
ready to leave, and we’re aware that there are a lot of people who want out of España. I can’t just fill the ship with people who have nowhere to go. I can take you, Scarlett, if you need to get to London, but I can’t fill our decks with refugees. We barely made it into Valencia. The British consul has been in mediation to get us out again. If we set sail with a boat full of refugees, the Mar Negro or the Mar Cantábrico off the coast will capture us, and then who knows what will happen. I wouldn’t put it past them to sink the whole ship and everyone on it. Let’s not forget what happened to the Ciudad de Barcelona.”

“There was a New
Zealander on that ship when the Italian submarine torpedoed it,” Scarlett said. “He drowned along with 60 other Republican soldiers.”

“It would have been even worse if those Spanish fishing boats hadn’t sailed out to their rescue.”

“The Republican planes trying to fire at the submarine were no help, they killed many innocent souls in the water. What a disaster. Mark, I’m not asking you to save the world, just these few,” Scarlett said. “It’s different for you and I, we can commission other governments to help us, but what about ordinary Spaniards? They have nothing.”

Mark looked at the group. “How can you stand here with a child and expect me to say no?” He sighed. “Yes, al
l right, as I told Antonio, I can get you on, but it won’t be a comfortable ride. You can’t bring anything with you. We have no room, not even beds for you.”

“We don’t need anything,” Scarlett said. “We have provisions for the baby, and that is all we have to take.” She turned to Luna. “Sorry, we can’t take the Beltrán chest with us.”

“If you’re coming, you need to come right now,” Mark said. “We are getting ready to dock out, and the moment we think we’re safe to set sail, we will. There will be no waiting.”

“I would rather die like a dog in the street than run away,” Alejandro said.

Scarlett spun around. “What? I’m standing right here, trying to help you!”

“I don’t want help! If the
rebel bastards want my country, they will have to shoot me.” He turned to Luna and took the baby off her, the first time he had held him. “Name him Paco,” he said. “It was what Sofía wanted to name him, after her father.” He kissed the child on the head. “You will do great things one day,” he whispered. “Remember me then.”

“Ale, what are you doing?” Luna said as he handed the bundle
back to her.

“Now is the time I stay and fight.”

“Don’t be a fool, it’s much too late for that,” Scarlett said.

“I would rather be dead with Sofía than live the rest of my life without her,” he replied.

“Ale!” Cayetano yelled after his friend who turned and darted out of the office.

“I’ll go get him,” Scarlett sighed.

“No, I’ll go,” Cayetano said. “You ladies need to get on the ship.”

Mark looked to Scarlett, unsure what was going on. “Scarlett, we need to leave. I have things I need to do. Like I said, we are readying the ship for dock out.”

“I thought all you wanted was to get the women on board and not yourselves anyway,” Antonio said to Cayetano.

“You planned to abandon us on the ship?” Scarlett asked.

“No!” Cayetano said. He looked at Luna, who had an equally unhappy face. “I wouldn’t do that.”

“After everything, you treat me as the weak one of the group,” Scarlett shot at him. “I don’t need to be rescued.”

“You’re four months pregnant, you need to be helped, whether you like it or not. I’ll go after Alejandro. You both have to get on the ship. I will get Ale, and bring him back here. We will meet you on board.”

“You… you’re coming… aren’t you?” Luna asked Cayetano.

“Get on the ship, la chispa. Please. I love you. I want you to be safe.”

“Come on, Luna,” Scarlett said. “If we don
’t get on, they won’t hold a place for any of us,” Scarlett said. “Let’s take baby Paco, and get him fed and settled.”

Cayetano placed one hand on Scarlett’s stomach for a moment, and held her gaze. They look
ed as frightened as each other. Without a word, she turned away from him, and he knew she never expected to see him again.

He
watched the women be taken from the building. Luna looked back at him, worried about what would happen next. He followed them from the building, guided by Mark in the direction of the ship nearby until they had disappeared from sight, Scarlett’s red hair no longer visible through the crowds. He turned with a heavy heart and went back into Antonio’s office, where the man stood with Luna’s chest of the Beltrán belongings.

“You’re not going, are you?” Antonio asked him.

“Not if I can’t find Alejandro. I can’t go without him.”

“We’re all going to die, aren’t we?”

“We’ve been on the losing side of this war for a while. We live in a world of locked minds, so it’s impossible to be safe.” Cayetano sighed. “What are the chances of getting a letter on board that ship?”

“I could try. I have a guy who is working with the loading.”

“Just in case… just in case I never see them again.”

30

Madrid, España ~ noviembre de 2009

Luna should have
paid more attention to the ball going back and forth. Not that it went terribly far. The under-6s pelota teams weren’t exactly the pinnacle of the handball sport, but today, Giacomo and Enzo got to play the game at the trinquet de Pelayo, the main pelota court in Valencia. Normally they played the outdoor version the game, Llargues, but it was their ‘big match’ against another local school, slotted ahead of the adult game later in the afternoon. Most of the time the ball didn’t even make it over the net between the two pint-sized teams of five, but regularly bounced awkwardly amongst the parents that sat on the stairs that ran along one side of the concrete indoor court.

She had wanted to sit with Alejandro all day and talk, but the school bell and subsequent pelota match had called Luna away. There was still more to learn from him. Cayetano Ortega’s body was still buried somewhere in the secrets of time and lies. She had to go back to Escondrijo, and soon, but the most pertinent fact was already known – she was not related Cayetano Beltrán. That n
ot-so minor detail distracted her from her sons playing the proudly traditional local sport in front of her.

It was one thing to go to Madrid and tell a man you haven’t seen in a while that you are in love with him. That you want to be with him, despite all your own hurdles and hang-ups. But if only it was that simple. The main fact was
that Paco Beltrán was the son of Alejandro Beltrán and Sofía Perez, not Luna Beltrán and Cayetano Ortega. She was about to go there and have to tell Cayetano that his father didn’t know who his own parents were. Paco loved his mother so much, and she wasn’t his mother, but his aunt. She had lied to him his whole life. It didn’t matter how old someone grew, the desire to have their parents love them and be proud of them never went away. The life Paco had developed through his family wasn’t real. The man was already mad at Cayetano and Luna for pulling apart the dubious history he tried to hide, and this would only make things worse. So many questions still needed to be asked to Alejandro. Cayetano Ortega was still missing, but he didn’t get Luna Beltrán pregnant, and right now that was all that mattered.

A night of tossing and turning in bed yielded no results. Luna could have called Cayetano, but there were no words for this. She had to see him. By the time dawn had broken, she was up and early to leave Valencia for the capital city, her victorious pelota players in tow. This needed to be a face-to-face meeting.

It was considerably colder in Madrid than Valencia when
they arrived. The kids talked continuously the entire trip and Luna was frazzled. Even the most loving mother can get sick of nonsense spoken by five-year-olds. She didn’t even bother to get their bag out of the car, they just went straight into the grand old building and up to the sixth floor. What if he wasn’t home? What if he didn’t want anything to do with her? Even if he didn’t, Cayetano needed to know that his real grandfather was still alive in the mountains outside Valencia.

There was no time to think of something profound to say, no time to stand in the dimly lit hallway and procrastinate. No time to think of a way out of this if it all went wrong. Enzo pressed the doorbell about ten times and that could be enough to make any man turn away guests.

The door swung open and there stood Cayetano, leaning on his cane. His eyes grew wide at the sight before him. Luna could see his eyes go between the two spirited redheads who jumped up and down and Luna’s stiff and nervous smile.

“¿Te acuerdas de nosotros?”
Giacomo asked.

“Do I remember you? Of course! Hello, welcome back!” The boys were delighted by the broad smile that greeted them.

“We haven’t seen you in ages,” Enzo moaned.

“I know, and I’m sorry. Would you like to come inside and play? It’s cold out there.”

Giacomo and Enzo darted in, and Luna cautiously moved in the doorway as well, next to the man she just wanted to grab onto and never let go. But with the kids there, and neither of them were quite sure what to say.

“We drove four hours to see you. We saw the wind farm,” Enzo said.

“There was no wind,” his brother shot at him.

“It was still there!”

“I have your blocks here,” Cayetano said. “If you would like to play, the box is still in the living room.”

The boys dashed off, more than happy to make themselves at home again. Cayetano and Luna stood eye to eye for a moment; the ice needed to be broken.

“Sorry,” she said.

“What for?”

“For turning up unannounced. For drunk dialling you a few weeks ago. For… saying no…”

“Like you say, shit happens, who cares.”

“Your leg isn’t better?”

Cayetano dropped his cane; the wooden stick banged
against the grey marble tiles. “I’m fine… no, I’m miserable. I don’t know what to say.”

Luna cheeks had puffed out while she held her breath. “We’re not related after all,” she blurted out.

“What?”

“I know, it’s crazy but true.”

“Good enough for me!”

It was a relief more than anything when she could finally kiss him again. He held her so tight that her ribs hurt, but she didn’t care. You can’t just stop loving someone. It doesn’t just go away. All the thoughts of rushing to him in the hopes of a passionate, sensual reunion were nothing more than a fantasy. When she kissed him, it was significantly more than t
hat. She loved him. It seemed impossible to love someone she hardly knew, but she did. The relief of being back with him was laced with an element of surprise of how much she felt for the man. The hot-blooded attraction that pulled them together was there, along with sensitive and compassionate craving to be part of each other’s lives, proven in a tender kiss.

Cayetano held her tight against him, not sure of what to say. In her high heels, she was tall enough to rest her cheek against his, and she could feel the dampness of his tear run between their faces. “You leave me so undone, woman, I hope you know that,” he whispered.

“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.”

“It’s good. You turn the world on its head.”

Luna leant away to look him in the eye, to see them wet with tears. “I hope you like that, because that’s what I have come to do.”

“You found Cayetano Ortega?”

“Kind of. Have I upset you?”

“No.” His face broke into a smile. “I just… I thought you weren’t coming back. I... I have something I need to tell you.”

“Okay.”

“Maybe when the kids aren’t listening…”

“I have a lot to tell you. Big stuff.”

“It doesn’t matter what it is. I love you.”

“Then why do you look terrified?”

“When I admit my feelings to a woman, shouldn’t
it be far grander than standing in the entranceway to my apartment?”

“I don’t know,” Luna tightened her embrace around him. “It’s cold outside, but we are safe and warm in here, and I can hear my children playing and laughing together. Sounds like a good place to be.”

“If you ever leave here, you will break my heart.”

“I think enough hearts have already been broken. I have always thought romantic love to be dangerous.”

“Who cares if it is?”

“It’s already nearly cost you your leg.”

“It’s a small price to pay to leave behind the life I had before I met you on the path that day.”

“Cayetano!” Giacomo called out. “Why don’t you have a Christmas tree yet?”

“We put up our Christmas tree earlier than Spanish people, sweetheart,” Luna called back to them.

“Would you like to go shopping with me to get one? I’ll need help decorating it,”
Cayetano replied.

They both smiled at the sound of the kids getting excited. “You’ll be staying in Madrid tonight, I take it?”

“If you’ll have us.”

“It’s all I want. You take my life from black and white into colour.”

“You’re too much.”

“I thought you liked that.”

“I do.”

The pair sat on the couch, close to one another, a physical connection needed at every moment while the children played and talked. For a woman who rushed herself to Madrid on that cold Saturday morning, Luna was more than happy to take her time to tell him what she had learned on Rebalsadors mountain.

“Can we talk about what you have learned in front of the children?” Cayetano asked as he watched them play on the floor.

“I guess so. It’s not like they
pay much attention anyway.”

“So? What happened? Is Cayetano not your grandfather after all?”

“He is. What Scarlett told my father about his heritage was all true. Cayetano Ortega was murdered, after the end of the civil war.”

“You know for sure?”

“Yes. Most likely shot in a concentration camp set up outside Valencia. I wasn’t able to coax out any details about his death, but I will try again. Now I know where he was, the possibility of finding records on him is higher. I know what happened to Cayetano, and Luna, and Scarlett, everyone after they disappeared from Cuenca.”

“D
on’t hold me in suspense!”

“Sofía, Alejandro’s wife, died giving birth to their baby. So the whole group fled Cuenca for Valencia, to get on a ship and leave the country for good. Only Alejandro, deva
stated by the loss of his wife, left the group, and Cayetano went after him. Scarlett and Luna went to board the ship, but for some reason, Luna never got on board. The ship docked out, and Scarlett was gone forever, Luna somehow made it to Madrid and married Ignacio, and Cayetano and Alejandro were rounded up by Nationalist troops and thrown in a concentration camp.”

“I wonder if Cayetano knew that Luna was pregnant when they were separated.”

“She wasn’t pregnant.”

“How do you know?”

“Alejandro Beltrán told me.”

“What?” Cayetano cried. The boys on the rug in front of them stopped their game in a heartbeat, shocked at the raised voice towards their mother.

“It’s okay, boys,” she said to them.

“Sorry, your Mamá is telling me a grand story,” Cayetano added, and they turned back to their game. “How did this happen?”

“Do you remember that time I told you that I wanted to move into the mountains outside Valencia?” she asked, and he nodded. “I went up there to see a property, and I came across an old man that turned out to be Alejandro. It was all by accident. He recognised me because he knew Scarlett. He’s 95.”

“And he told you all this?”

“Yes, but with considerable reluctance. There are still holes in the story, but I intend to get the rest. But once I knew that we weren’t related, I wanted to come and tell you, even though he begged me not to say anything. I couldn’t see how I could not tell you the truth.”

“But how are we not related?”

Luna took a deep breath. “Paco is not Luna and Cayetano’s son. He is Alejandro and Sofía’s only baby. When Sofía died in childbirth, Scarlett was supposed to take the child and go to New Zealand. But somehow, when Luna left for Madrid, she took the baby with her. The baby didn’t perish, as Paco thought. Paco is the baby.”

“But that means that Luna Beltrán is not his mother, not my grandmother. My Papá idolises her. She meant the world to him, as shown by how angry he was when we went through her things.”

“Cayetano Ortega did love Luna and did propose to her. When she found Scarlett was pregnant to Cayetano, then she changed her mind. Alejandro said that while her pride was hurt by the mistake, she still loved him. But they were torn apart by the war.”

“It’s all terribly sad, but I still can’t grasp the fact that we know Paco is not who he thinks he is.”

“Luna had a great love, and she lost him. She was left with her brother’s child, and raised him as the product of the great love she couldn’t have.”

“The pain involved in that is horrendous. There would have been no peace for her, only misery.”

“Luna and Cayetano are an extraordinarily sad love story. And Scarlett, she had fallen in love with some German man who was also killed, and lived her life alone with Cayetano’s baby.”

“But if she hadn’t had the baby, then I couldn’t have you now. You’re my great love. I told you, it’s fate we met.”

“Fate has been cruel.”

“I can’t be sure that t
elling Paco would be wise. He could easily go the rest of his life thinking Luna and Cayetano are his parents.”

“Paco
seems ashamed of the fact he is Cayetano’s Ortega’s son. He thinks he’s the bastard child of an affair, and that his father was the same thing. He is, in fact, the product of a young couple who married in a revolutionary wedding, and had their lives destroyed.”

“But would that information give Paco any peace? It means his mother lied until the day she died.”

“It means that his natural father is still alive. He could have the chance to meet him. Alejandro is ashamed of all he has done and that he never came to find Paco, instead he let him be the son of his sister. He has followed Paco’s career, and yours.”