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