THE INSURGENCE of
CHAN SANTA CRUZ
BOOK EIGHT:
THE SECOND of the BOOKS of CHANGE
CHAPTER
THIRTY ONE
Alvarado, now fully authorized by
Carranza, still advanced cautiously, seeing in the monte...
frequently wet with early storms... an enemy more dangerous than the
territorial commander who, by his letters, increasingly revealed himself a man
of unstable mind. Even as village after village presented itself as defended by
an abandoned garrison or one whose commander was eager to surrender, Alvarado
moved deliberately. At one point, they arrived at a village which the defenders
had vacated perhaps thirty minutes earlier. The table in the government plaza
was set and the soup still warm, a plate full of tortillas waited. On the
barracks floor, neatly laid out, were empty uniforms... as if the men within
had been gathered up by the spirits of the territory. Some had left their
horses, some their weapons, even personal effects such as a box of paper money and
the photograph of a woman… dark-complexioned, perhaps of African or Cuban
ancestry… holding a scarf above her head. Alvarado lifted this from a crudely
fashioned table, and was contemplating the portrait when a Corporal interrupted
him.
"Demonios!"
the Cabo swore. "This whole Territory is
infested with evil spirits. Let us go back, General, your enemy will be surely
taken by these beings if he has not already made his pact with them."
"There are no
demons," Alvarado responded, "no evil spirits, nothing that cannot be explained
by science. These men removed their uniforms to change into the ragged clothes
of chicleros, hoping to escape to one of the monterias. They will not survive," the General added,
ominously.
"But if you, Cabo,
are so interested in the spirit world I will see your curiosity is
satisfied."
And the Socialist General gave orders
to his Captain to have the man taken out and shot.
Late in the month of May, the village
of Nohpop, defended by a Major and a hundred men,
negotiated a surrender and telegraphed the same back
to Santa Cruz. A weeping Garcilazo knew, now, that
all was lost and gathered all he could safely carry for the railroad journey to
Vigia Chico. He visited his captive, Colonel Plank,
and deliberated whether to make him a hostage, to ensure the safety of his
journey to the sea. But Plank had taken fever and the General decided that it
would be the worse for him should the old man perish on the voyage, and he left
soup and brandy for his defeated enemy in a sudden, but not altogether
unselfish fit of benevolence.
The Decauville
was expected back in Santa Cruz at dawn on the second of June; it would carry
him swiftly through the monte and over the marshes to
Vigia Chico. Certainly there would be a boat - even a
fishing vessel would suffice to carry him out of the grasp of Alvarado. He
would rejoin Carranza in Veracruz. The First Chief would certainly protect him,
he'd already put Obregon in his place for the unruliness of his subordinate
Generals, and Garcilazo would secure Carranza's favor
by offering him a wooden box of money he'd collected from the monterias. But, first, he would go to Jamaica and see that
enough was safely on deposit at the Bank of London for his own family. It was
his right... he was only doing that which all previous Governors of the
territory had done, also.
Garcilazo
fell asleep, contented that he had done as much as could be expected. Alvarado
could not arrive before noon. But his sleep was disturbed by troublesome
dreams, for he was not unaware of the lurking spirits of the territory, shades
hinted at by the indians who
were, of course, ignorant, superstitious savages. So, when he woke, it was
still dark, yet don del Muerte
hovered over him, mounted upon a fantastic assemblage of great gears with grinding,
stone teeth. The dreaming General waved him off.
"Be away with you, evil spirit.
Your touch is unreal, your presence is imaginary. Go back to the superstitions
of the Maya who sent you here and your heathen Cross... I am a Mexican, I am not answerable to indian
ghosts."
"Then answer to this," and Garcilazo felt the cold muzzle of a pistol against his
temple. "On your feet, General!"
RETURN to HOMEPAGE
– “THE INSURGENCE of CHAN SANTA CRUZ”
RETURN to GENERISIS HOMEPAGE