The Priest (12 page)

He didn’t say anything to her, just pulled
on the work pants and found his way into a clean shirt.

“They pulled one on you last night,” Guen
commented while walking him to the back door. “The President
remembers us only once a year. At least we are done with it now,”
she added with a tone that implied that the Presidential visits
were a nuisance for her, too.

Mauricio wasn’t going to say anything; he
was barely awake and too tired from fighting his closing eyelids to
muster anything smart and inoffensive to say about the President,
but he was intrigued, nonetheless, by Guen’s remark. He followed
the woman, wondering how he was going to get through the day
without collapsing when he sensed the guard stiffening
suddenly.

“Mistress, what an honor. What brings you to
this wing of the building, and alone?” Guen’s voice was barely
under control. Mauricio turned around to see what was enraging Guen
so much.

He heard the word ‘mistress,’ but he
couldn’t believe she was there, although he had fantasized about it
the whole night; it was hard to accept that his dream had come
true. He couldn’t lower his eyes to the ground, as expected from a
slave in the presence of a woman of Rosie’s rank and status.

“I couldn’t sleep and I wanted to go visit
the gardens before the rest of the family woke up. I was told you
added new flowers and that they are quite a sight,” Rosie said
while looking at him.

A mix of fear and happiness got hold of
Mauricio’s mind, and his senses grew sharper. He saw the light in
Rosie’s eyes become brighter and a touch of pink tinged her cheeks.
He also felt Guen staring at the two of them.

“I am afraid it’s not going to be possible,
Mistress. It isn’t wise to go outside by yourself, and the gardens
are closed so early in the morning.” Guen took a step forward and
gave Mauricio a sharp look when he didn’t move.

“But, I don’t want to go back to my room.
What am I going to do in the meantime?” Rosie positioned herself
before the other woman.

“The chief guard is going to have a fit if
she discovers the President’s daughter is wandering through the
farm without an escort,” Guen murmured to herself, but loud enough
to be heard.

“Nothing is going to happen to me in Tarin.
Isn’t it the safest farm in Ginecea? Or what they say about this
place is not true?” Rosie smiled at Guen.

“Please, Mistress, go back to your room and
wait until your personal escort comes to pick you up. It’s the
protocol.” Guen sounded tired and resigned.

“I have a better idea. Since I’m already
awake, and you are walking this slave outside, why don’t I come
with you? That way, I am properly escorted and nothing can happen
to me. I see that you are very concerned about my safety, and I am
sure you will protect me with your own life, if necessary.” Rosie,
who had started nicely and demurely enough, was back to her spoiled
brat mode.

Mauricio’s lips turned up slightly. Guen
couldn’t possibly deny the Mistress’ request without being rude to
the President’s daughter. He felt as awake as Rosie proclaimed to
be.

“Please, follow me,” Guen capitulated, and
after a last warning glance at Mauricio, she led the peculiar party
outside.

Arias was on the other side of the back
door, waiting for Mauricio. If he was surprised to see the
President’s daughter, he didn’t show it. He lowered his head in a
low bow when Guen indicated the honored guest with a nod and kept
his mouth shut, as it was advisable for a man to do. Mauricio
realized, belatedly, that he hadn’t bowed, or showed any sign of
respect, with the exception of not talking in front of Rosie. He
knew Guen had noticed and he was also sure the guard must have
noticed the lack of offense on the President’s daughter’s part.

“I think that it would be an educational
experience for me, if I could follow the slaves throughout their
schedule,” Rosie said in her bratty voice, being very careful to
sweeten her tone.

“Mistress, it is highly irregular. I know
the President isn’t—” Guen started to say.

“I can be my mother’s eyes in all the
matters she doesn’t have time to supervise,” Rosie said in a
matter-of-fact voice, showing she meant business.

Mauricio wasn’t sure how long Rosie could
pull off her stunt, as soon as it was clear that she wasn’t in her
room anymore, a small army of worried security guards would storm
over the entire facility to find her.
It’s nice to have you
here, even if for just a moment.
He felt physically better just
having her close. He hadn’t thought that was going to happen again,
and he wasn’t going to waste a free and unexpected respite from
reality. He was dying of curiosity, though. How did she happen to
be in Tarin with the rest of her family, given the web of lies she
had woven to be in the Temple? It was difficult to have her here
and not be able to talk to her.

“Very well, Mistress. Do you have any idea
where you want to start your tour?” Guen’s voice was controlled,
but the undertone was loud and disrespectful. Rosie didn’t seem to
mind.

“I am not sure—” Rosie feigned some deep
thinking and then genially smiled at Guen. “Where are these slaves
going?” She pointed her small finger at Arias, as if she had just
realized that the two men were there.

“Where are you headed today?” Guen asked
Arias, and then added, “Slave?”

“Today, I am supervising the cleaning crew,”
Arias answered.

“Cleaning doesn’t sound… interesting,” Rosie
said.

“There’s a harvesting crew leaving in ten
minutes for the mimosa fields. And, he—” Arias slowly turned toward
Mauricio. “—is working at the trench up to the river border.” He
lowered his head while maintaining his voice deliberately without
inflection.

“Mimosa flowers have the most pleasant
scent. I’ll ask the slaves to braid a garland for you,” Guen tried
to intercede.

“I am allergic to mimosa flowers. The
powdery pollen makes me sneeze for hours,” Rosie said in a worried
tone.

“Do you want to see the river, then,
Mistress?” Guen was at the end of her patience.

“I’d love to see the river.” Rosie was
satisfied and her lips turned slightly upward. She caught herself
immediately and her face relaxed in a neutral expression.

Meanwhile, several men had come outside to
start their day of work and were observing the scene from a safe
distance. Leander was one of them. He kept looking at Mauricio, but
he couldn’t say anything directly to him while the high breed was
there.

“Mistress, did you have anything to eat
today?” Guen asked. “Maybe you’d like to go back to have some
breakfast? We can go to see the river later.”

“I’m not hungry, but thanks for asking.”
Rosie’s face was a stony mask.

“We’ll take a van by ourselves, then. You go
ahead with your schedule,” Guen said to Arias, who immediately
dismissed himself and Mauricio. She called someone on her cell
phone, and almost immediately, a van appeared at the end of the
trail.

Mauricio couldn’t stay without causing a
problem for everybody. He followed Arias who was headed toward
Leander but gave a sideways glance at Rosie before lowering his
head; he saw her disappointment. He felt pleased that they could
share that sentiment. At least they had that.

“So, what was that about?” Leander
asked.

“The President’s daughter has hijacked the
guard for a private tour.” Mauricio summarized the last half hour
successfully without letting personal emotions slip.

“Pure breeds,” Leander said. “The higher
they are, the snottier they are.”

“You can say that again,” Arias said
back.

Leander scoffed at the guard escorting the
President’s daughter, jumping to grant all of her wishes. Arias
added a scornful remark aimed at the pure breeds and their utter
evilness. Mauricio looked at the same women with a different
feeling altogether and forgot to scoff in sympathy.

“Let’s go eat something.” Leander took
Mauricio by his elbow and sauntered toward the cafeteria, where he
took his time choosing what he wanted to eat.

Mauricio maintained a peaceful façade
outside, but inside, he was screaming to Leander to hurry up and
finish the damn toast and gulp whatever was left of the coffee. He
ate everything he had put on his tray in less than five minutes and
drank a steaming-hot beverage that was as bitter as coffee and left
burns inside his esophagus. Leander was looking left and right and
kept waving at people. He probably wanted to talk about the
sleepless night with anybody who wanted to listen, but Mauricio had
other plans for both of them.

“Let’s go out working. I am feeling sleepy
here. It’s too warm,” Mauricio said the first thing that came to
his mind.

“Are you okay?” Leander was now looking at
Mauricio.

“I’m fine. I ate too much and I need some
fresh air.” Words he had thought the previous night.

“And working is going to make you feel
better?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Let me finish my coffee and we’re out
of here.” Leander took a long sip from his cup and then, as
promised, stood up to put away the tray with the empty plate.

“Thanks.”

“Sure, no problem. If it makes you happy…”
Leander said.

Mauricio noticed his inflection on the last
part of the sentence, but his mind was elsewhere, too preoccupied
to be bothered with subtle changes of tone. He walked down the
trail, thinking only about the fact that Rosie had walked on this
trail, too, just a few minutes earlier. He had just missed her.
Only two days at Tarin, but he had thought of her constantly,
imagined telling her about his new life.
Do you know my new cell
has a tall ceiling and four circular windows? And, it’s so cold… My
guard’s name is Guen; she told me that! Here, at Tarin, men have a
cafeteria and they can eat as much as they want. Can you believe
that? Oh… the fields… you must see the colors!
And now, she was
here.

“I practically didn’t sleep at all last
night,” Leander said to the fourth or fifth man who happened to
cross his space.

Enough, already, everybody in this room
knows about it.

“And
,
how much do you want to bet
that the bitch hasn’t even noticed.” Leander had managed to stop a
small crowd.

Really?
Mauricio tried to move
forward toward the door, but the discussion was still going.
I
didn’t sleep myself, but I’m not complaining. Am I?

“No need to bet. I’m sure she didn’t see
anything,” a man said.

Nobody asked for your opinion.

“What can you see from up there, anyway?”
Another man pointed at the ceiling, meaning the sky.

“Imagine trying to see something on the
ground from a plane!” Someone else felt the need to add to the
conversation.

How could you know? Have you ever been on a
plane?

“Exactly my point! The bitch could’ve
blinked the same moment the plane was flying over Tarin’s entry,”
Leander exclaimed.

Okay, you could be right on this one, but
I don’t care. Just keep moving. Like this, one step after the
other.
Meanwhile, Mauricio had dragged Leander outside, one
comment at a time, without the man noticing the progress they were
making. The journey from the cafeteria to the end of the trail
where the van would pick them up was interrupted several times by
men eager to keep talking to Leander.
Let’s breathe before I
punch him.
Mauricio tried to occupy his mind on
something—anything that would calm his rising temper. He recognized
every rock on the ground and every bush sculpted by the gardeners’
hands. He counted blades of grass and every other man wearing dark
pants, but his anxiety of getting out of there grew stronger.
Could I run to the trench? How long is going to take? Can I do
it?

“The van’s just left. Good, we’ve at least
ten minutes to relax,” Leander said, a big smile on his face.

That’s it. I’m going to punch you.
But he didn’t.
Stay calm, Mauricio. If you want to see her, you
must stay calm.

“What did you just say?” Leander asked.

“Nothing. I didn’t say a thing. Look the van
is coming back,” Mauricio answered, his eyes focusing on the far
away line that was the trench.
Just a moment. Be patient.
He
hadn’t realized how strong his feelings were until he saw her
again. It was like they’d been simmering inside his heart, hidden
from his consciousness. But now they were outside, and he couldn’t
get to the trench fast enough.

It took forever for the van to reach the
river. Mauricio catapulted himself ahead of everybody else in the
vehicle, a mélange of colorful insults accompanied his progress
toward the exit, but he was the first one to get out.

Where are you?
Mauricio scanned the
place, his heart exploding in his chest.
Thank the Heavens,
he almost cried out loud when spotted Rosie’s rich, chestnut hair.
Guen was towering over her with outstretched arms explaining
something, and Rosie was politely nodding. Mauricio was pleased to
see in her brown eyes the same impatience he was feeling.

“And that, over there, is Bryn, the farm
where the cotton for your clothes is produced,” Mauricio overheard
Guen saying in a bored tone. The guard wasn’t making any attempt to
hide what she thought of having to be there, instead of doing what
her schedule called for.

“Mauricio! Come here, we need an extra hand
hauling this rock,” Grey called him from inside the trench.

Rosie’s head turned around when she heard
Mauricio’s name. Mauricio saw Rosie’s eyes illuminate when she saw
him, and he automatically took two steps toward her. Grey’s voice
brought him back to reality, three times before Mauricio reacted to
the call and fully faced the other way. The man waved at Mauricio
to get to work. Mauricio couldn’t do otherwise. Swearing under his
breath, he went to help Grey.