The Ring by Bernard Smith
The Ring by Bernard Smith
net
CHAPTER ONE
The Madman on the Beach
When I saw Rafael for the first time, I was twelve years
old.
My family lived in a big town, far away from the sea. But
my Uncle Miguel and his family lived in a little village on the
coast. He had a cafe and a small farm there, and sometimes my
family visited him.
There in that village I met poor, mad Rafael. I didn't
know then who he was. I didn't know why he was mad. I knew
nothing of his strange and terrible story. Now, fourteen years
later, I know exactly what happened. But Rafael is dead. Why
should I tell people his terrible secret? Only I know what
happened to Rafael. Only I know what happened to the young
and beautiful Anita. And to the soldier. Only I.
The people in the village told me what they knew. Their
stories were all true. Every word. My uncle, his wife, Rodrigo
the shopkeeper - nobody lied to me. Nobody. Not even poor
Clara, Rafael's mother. And she was already dead when I went
back to the village. Their stories were all true. But they didn't
know what really happened.
The first time I saw Rafael, I was walking along the
beach with my younger brother Pablo. Our parents were talking
with my uncle and his family. We boys went along the beach to
look around.
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CHAPTER TWO
Rafael's Father and the Sharks
Told by my uncle
his fishing spear. He stood up in his boat and killed one or two
of them.
When he killed a shark, the other sharks tasted the blood.
They began to bite and eat the shark. So then there was more
blood in the water and more sharks came. Rafael killed more
and more. After an hour he was almost too tired to stand. It was
a really dangerous thing to do in a small boat.
But he was smiling when he told me about it. He was
really happy about the dead sharks, because a shark killed his
father.
So Rafael grew up, tall, strong and good-looking. And, of
course, he fell in love with Anita, the shopkeeper's daughter. So
now (said my uncle), I have to tell you about Anita, too.
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CHAPTER THREE
Anita, the Shopkeeper's Daughter
Told by my uncle
or ten, she often sat near the house under a tree with a book.
There she read or told stories to her little brothers and sisters.
Soon the other children of the village came and sat round her.
Some of the fishermen, old and young, sat on the beach near
the shop, too. They liked to listen to little Anita when she told
her stories.
Of course, Rodrigo had big plans for Anita. He was so
proud of her. He wanted her to marry someone rich and
important. Perhaps a man from the city, who was able to help
Rodrigo's business. Everyone knew one thing for sure. He
didn't want Anita to marry anyone from the village.
Rafael loved her very much. They say Anita loved him,
too. But there was no hope for him. Rodrigo didn't want a poor
fisherman to be Anita's husband.
Poor Rodrigo. He loved Anita and he had great hopes for
her. When she ran away, it was terrible for him. He still doesn't
talk about it. Not a word. Not after all these years. For him, he
says,
Anita is dead. He has no daughter of that name.
***
'But where did she go?' I asked my uncle. 'Someone
knows. And why is Rafael mad? Not because Anita ran away
from home. She didn't run away with him, did she?'
'No, she didn't,' answered my uncle. 'That's for sure.
Nobody knows where she went. But Rafael stayed in the
village. And that was the time when he went mad. I believe that
Anita ran away with the soldier. I think they're married. They're
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CHAPTER FOUR
The Soldier
Told by my uncle
saw Anita, sitting by the corner of the shop. The children were
all round her on the ground and she was telling them a story.
He sat outside the cafe and talked for an hour or more
about this and that. But his eyes never went far from the little
group of children.
At last he asked me: 'Is that girl your schoolteacher?'
I laughed and said: 'No, she's just the shopkeeper's
daughter. She's only sixteen. She's not much older than a child.'
He left the village late in the afternoon before it got dark.
He walked through the water to his boat and climbed in. We
watched him start the engine. The boat moved away round the
rocks at the end of the beach. Everyone in the village stopped
what they were doing. Anita, too, stopped in her story.
Everyone watched the strange thing - a boat that went without a
sail.
Of course, he came back. I told you, no man could ever
forget Anita. A week or two later his boat arrived again and the
good-looking stranger went to Rodrigo's shop. He bought a few
things and talked with Rodrigo. Then he came to the cafe
again. He had a drink and a talk with me. Then he went off
again along the coast.
Soon he came twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays.
He made friends with the people of the village. He was exciting
and amusing. He was different from the people of the village.
He was a stranger, but everyone seemed to like him. We
listened to the stories about his travels and his life in other
countries. He always spent an hour or two at my cafe. He sat
and drank with us and told funny stories. Many of the
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fishermen came to the cafe when he was there. I liked him, the
other men did, too.
He often brought little presents for people. He brought me
a little cassette player one day. It was something new for us.
We had no electricity in the village then, and we knew very
little about the outside world. He showed me how it worked.
Then he brought me new batteries for it every two weeks. He
gave me some cassettes for it, too, of music from the cities,
dance music from Latin America, and Mexican love songs.
'A cafe must have music,' he said, 'music for the
customers to enjoy.'
After that I kept the little cassette player on the bar. Every
time the soldier came to the cafe, I played some music for him.
When the cafe was busy, I played music for the people of the
village, too.
He brought a paraffin lamp for Rodrigo to put in his shop.
It was a very bright light. No house in the village had a light
like it. The soldier was becoming very good friends with
Rodrigo.
Then early one Monday morning, we heard a terrible
noise from Rodrigo's house. He was shouting, his wife was
screaming, and the children were all crying. It seems Anita
wasn't in the house. Her bed was cold and empty. There was no
note from her, not a word. Rodrigo wanted to get the police.
'Somebody has stolen my daughter,' he said. 'Somebody
has taken her away in the night, dead or alive.'
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But then they found that her little box was empty. Anita's
best clothes and favourite things weren't there. Even her little
story books were gone. So Rodrigo stopped talking about
bringing the police. For a few days he was terribly angry. He
spoke wildly and fought with everyone. Nobody could speak to
him. Then, suddenly, he seemed to cut her out of his life. He
never spoke her name again. He still doesn't talk about her.
Only a brave man speaks Anita's name in front of him.
We never saw the soldier again. He was here on the
Sunday afternoon and evening. He usually was. He spent most
of the evening in the cafe, listening to the music. Then he left at
about ten o'clock. I watched him go out to his boat. It was dark.
There was no moon. But I heard him start his engine and go off
to the west. And the next morning Anita was gone. And we
never saw her or the soldier again.
So I - and most people in the village - believe that she ran
away with the soldier. Nobody knows how they did it. We
never saw him talk to her for a minute in the village. I think he
waited for her in his boat along the coast. And she went to him
in the middle of the night. Most of us believe they are living
together somewhere. Maybe with their own children now.
***
'But why did Rafael go mad?' I asked my uncle.
'Who knows?' he replied. 'Perhaps he went mad because
he loved Anita. Then she ran away with the soldier. Who can
say? He did love the girl very much. I knew it, and his mother
did, too. But marriage was impossible because Rafael was a
poor, fatherless fisherman.'
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CHAPTER FIVE
The Gold Ring
Told by my uncle
The old goldsmith made the ring for him. I'm sure Rafael
paid much less than its real cost. But it took six months of hard
work to pay for it.
Soon after Rafael came back to the village, he went with
his mother to see Rodrigo. This time Rafael spoke for himself.
'Senor Rodrigo,' he said quietly. 'My father is dead and
my mother is poor. But I'm hard-working and honest and I'll be
a good husband to Anita. One day I'll be a rich man, like your
friend in the city. But I'll be a better husband to Anita than the
businessman, because I love her with all my heart.'
Then he gave the gold ring to Rodrigo as a present for
Anita.
Of course, Rodrigo didn't agree to a marriage between
Anita and Rafael. He gave the ring back to Rafael.
'I'm sorry,' he said. 'But Anita will marry the businessman
in a year or two. That is decided and I am not going to change
my plans.'
***
'So Anita never got the ring,' I said to my uncle. 'After all
that work and time, he couldn't give it to her.'
'He still has it on a piece of fishing line round his neck,'
my uncle said.
'And when did the soldier come to the village for the first
time?'
'A few months after Rafael came back from the port,
perhaps. I can't remember exactly.'
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CHAPTER SIX
The Night When Rafael Danced
Told by my uncle
Rodrigo sent all his family and friends out to look for her.
They looked along every road, big and small. They looked in
the fields and along the beach, in the rocks. Everywhere.
Later, Rafael came out of his house with his mother. I told
them about Anita, and they were very surprised. We all were.
Rafael went to his boat immediately. He planned to sail along
the coast and look for her.
He sailed away to the west. I watched him until I couldn't
see him. He sailed round the rocks at the end of the village. He
was looking at the land as he went. The next time I saw him, he
was mad.
Everybody in the village was out looking for Anita that
morning. But nobody found her. Then Santiago couldn't find
his old donkey. He came to Rodrigo's shop. He was shouting
that Anita took it. Rodrigo was very angry. He wanted to hit
Santiago and knock him down. I thought he wanted to kill the
old man. Some friends of Santiago took him away quickly.
After that, he said nothing more about the donkey.
Then, early in the afternoon, some of the fishermen found
Rafael. He was about a kilometre west of the village, in a quiet
place near the high rocks. His boat wasn't far from the shore
and Rafael was lying in the bottom of it. He was wet and dirty.
He was looking up at the sky and laughing. And he was
completely mad.
They brought him and the boat back to the village. His
mother and I washed him and gave him some water. We put
him to bed. But he lay and made noises all night. He screamed
and fought. He was like a mad animal.
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The next day he went out of the house and sat by his boat.
He looked at the sea all day and said nothing. We waited, day
after day. We gave him food and drink. We washed him when
we could. But he was like a small child. We waited for him to
get better. But he never did.
***
'And you never found out what made him mad?' I asked
my uncle.
'He never speaks. Only about the ring. You know
everything that I know now,' he said. 'When we were washing
the poor boy, we found the gold ring on a fishing line round his
neck. When we tried to take it off, he screamed. So we left it
there. All these years later, he still wears it round his neck. He
gave six months of his life to buy that ring. His present for
Anita which she never had.'
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CHAPTER SEVEN
Two Visits
The next morning, I went with my uncle to see Rodrigo,
the shopkeeper. He had a fine supermarket now, built of stone.
He still lived in a house behind the shop. But now the house
was two floors high and had a garden with a wall round it. He
also had his own lorry with his name on it, and there was a new
car next to the shop. It was clear that Rodrigo had plenty of
money now.
Inside the supermarket there were all kinds of tins and
packets. There were boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables outside
the door. It was the biggest shop in the village and it seemed to
sell everything.
Rodrigo was a big, heavy man. He was about fifty years
old and he wore a fine white suit and a white hat. When we
arrived, he was unloading boxes of tins from the lorry. He was
picking them up, three at a time, and taking them into the shop.
He was big and fat. But he was still a very strong man.
He was polite and friendly to my uncle and me. He knew
I was a doctor. He invited us into his house. We sat and had
coffee and talked about the changes in the village since my first
visit as a boy.
At last I told him my ideas for helping Rafael. Then he
wasn't so friendly.
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CHAPTER EIGHT
The Young Princess
Told by Marta
She often sang to herself in the house. But she sang only when
there were people outside to hear her.
I'm sorry. This isn't important, really. But she did other
things. Worse things.
We slept in a small room at the back of the old house. I
was only eight or nine years old then. Anita had most of the
room for her things, and I slept in the corner.
One night, I remember, it was very late. Our parents were
in their room asleep, and something woke me up. I saw Anita
going quietly out of the room. She was wearing a dress and
shoes. The moon was very bright that night, and I couldn't
sleep again. I lay awake, waiting. About half an hour later,
Anita came quietly back into the room and got into her bed.
'Where have you been?' I asked her.
She was very angry, because I was awake.
'Go to sleep, stupid girl,' she said. 'I had stomach-ache. I
only went out for a few minutes. Don't say anything to anyone.'
I said nothing, but after that I watched her. I saw her go
out on other nights. At last, I asked her where she went.
She laughed quietly. 'I go to meet my prince,' she said.
That was all that she said. Her head was full of the stories that
she read in her books. She loved stories about princes and
princesses. Stories about magic carpets which could fly, and
magic lamps and rings. These were the stories that she told us
most often. She didn't have to read them. She knew them all.
She imagined that she was a beautiful princess in a story. She
never believed that she was only a shopkeeper's child. Perhaps
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a king gave her to her parents in secret when she was a baby.
She had many strange and silly ideas in her head.
***
'But who did she go to see? Who was this prince?' I asked
Marta.
'It was Rafael, of course,' she replied. 'They were in love.
Even when they were little children. She went out at night to
the big rocks at the end of the beach. Rafael came and met her
there. They sat there in the rocks in the moonlight. They talked
about their love and the happy married life that they planned.
'Our parents had no idea that she was doing this, of
course. Anita told me to keep quiet about it. "If you tell
anyone," she said "I'll say terrible things about you to our
parents. They'll believe me. They won't believe you." And it
was true. I knew it was true. They always believed Anita.
'She could always do what she wanted. I was always in
trouble. So I said nothing.
'Then Rafael went away to work in the port. For six
months, Anita lost her prince. In the daytime, she was the same
as before. But at night she cried in her bed, because her Rafael
was far away.
'But when he came back, she was happy again. She went
to meet him at the big rocks.
'After a few days she came back from one of these
meetings with a ring on her finger. She showed it to me in the
moonlight in our room. It was the gold ring in the shape of a
fish. She was very proud of it. She wore it on her finger when
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she went to meet Rafael. At other times she kept it under the
carpet in our room.'
Marta stopped and drank from a glass of water. I didn't
know what to say. This wasn't the same Anita that my uncle
described to me.
'Do you know what happened to Anita?' I asked. 'Do you
know where she went that night? The night she went away?'
Marta thought for a few long seconds.
'I can remember what I saw. And I can remember what I
heard, she said. 'I remember all that exactly. I shall never forget
it. But I'm still not sure what happened.'
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CHAPTER NINE
The True Prince
Told by Marta
what she was doing. 'I'm going to meet my true love, my true
prince,' she said. 'I'm going away with him.' She laughed and
sang quietly, 'The girl with the magic ring will always know
her true love.'
She told me to say nothing. Then she went very quietly to
the back door and went out into the dark night. Her hand
quietly pulled the door closed behind her. On her middle finger
she wore the gold ring shaped like a fish.
I went to the window and looked out. I was terribly
afraid, I knew Anita was a silly child, but this was very, very
wrong. 'If Father finds out, he'll kill her,' I thought. 'He gets
angry very quickly, and he's very strong.' But I was afraid of
Anita, too. So I stood there looking out of the window. I cried
quietly.
There was no moon and it was very dark. I heard music
playing in the cafe along the beach. It was a nice song, a slow
song. I listened to the music and the soft sound of the waves on
the beach. Soon I felt a little better. After a long time, I started
to feel cold. So I went back to my bed and fell asleep.
I woke up again much later. The house was dark and
quiet. My parents were asleep. Nobody was talking anywhere
in the house. Anita's bed was still empty. I went to the window
again. The moon was up and I could see the houses along the
beach. There was still a light in the cafe and music playing.
I went back to bed. I cried until I fell asleep. I hoped that
it was all a bad dream.
When I woke again, the first grey light of the new day
was in the room. Anita's bed was still empty. I lay in bed with
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'I know,' she said. 'I think she spoke to Rafael that night. I
think she told him her plans. Then she gave him his ring and
went off to meet the soldier somewhere along the coast.'
'Is that what you really think?' I asked.
'Yes,' said Marta. 'She said goodbye to Rafael and gave
him his ring. Then she went to meet the soldier. That's what
made Rafael mad. He went to look for her the next day, but all
the time he had the ring round his neck. He wanted her to come
back. Or he wanted her father to find her and bring her back.
But she never came. And when she didn't come, Rafael went
mad. When you talk to Rafael, what does he say?'
'He holds the ring, and says, "She gave me the ring," or
"She gave me the golden fish",' I answered
'Exactly,' said Marta. 'First she took his ring and said, "I
love you." Then she gave it back to him and went away with
the soldier. That's what made the poor man crazy.'
'What was so special about the ring?' I asked. 'What did
Anita say? Something about a magic ring?'
'The girl with the magic ring will always know her true
love. It was in her story,' said Marta. 'Her own story. She wrote
it herself. It wasn't a story that she read in a book. It was her
favourite story. She told it to us hundreds of times.'
'And it was about a magic ring?'
'Yes. In fact, I have the story here. Anita wrote it in a
notebook and I kept it. It's the only thing of Anita's that I have.
I can't read it, of course, but it's that story.'
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CHAPTER TEN
'The Ring of the Golden Fish'
This is the story that I read to Marta and her husband. The
story that was written by Anita all those years ago.
'Did Rafael really come to the cafe when the soldier was
still there? Are you sure about that?'
'Oh yes. I'm sure. I remember how they looked. Rafael
was clean and fine in his best clothes. The soldier was sitting at
the table with his friends round him. But he was looking at
Rafael all the time. They were like two dogs, looking for a
fight.'
'And Rafael stayed in the cafe and danced until late at
night. And you were with him all that time.'
'I was with the poor boy all the time until nearly
midnight. Then I closed the cafe and sent him home.'
'Then how did Anita give him the ring?' I asked myself.
'She didn't leave the house until the music was playing in the
cafe. And at that time she had the ring on her hand. And Rafael
was already in the cafe with the soldier. And he stayed there
until midnight, about two hours after the soldier left in his
boat.'
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CHAPTER ELEVEN
Rosa's Promise
That night I slept badly. Poor Rafael with his mad eyes
came into my dreams many times. He was holding the gold
ring. He was showing it to me and asking me to help him.
The next morning I sat outside my uncle's house. I looked
out at the calm blue sea. I was very tired and unhappy. Soon
my uncle came out and sat with me. His wife Rosa brought out
coffee and eggs for us.
'What will you do now?' asked my uncle.
'I don't know. I still don't know why Rafael went mad. I
still don't know when exactly. I can't believe that a man can go
crazy for love of a girl. You say Anita was very beautiful. But a
strong young man doesn't go mad for love. Rodrigo is right. I
can't explain it. But I'm sure it was something more strange,
more terrible. There is a reason, but I haven't found it. I think
nobody here in the village knows it.'
'So, what will you do?' asked my uncle again.
'I'll take Rafael to the hospital in the capital. If you help
me, I'll give him some medicine. Then he'll go to sleep. When
he's in hospital, I can begin to help him. I believe something
terrible happened to him. I don't mean when Anita ran away
with the soldier. I mean something really terrible, something
strange and frightening. Rafael is afraid to remember it. That's
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Rosa dried her eyes. She sat on the steps in front of the
house. She didn't look at us. She looked out at the sea all the
time as she told her story.
'I sat with his mother, my sister, when she was very ill
five years ago. Before she died, I promised to be a mother to
her poor, mad son.'
'We know that,' said my uncle. 'You and I agreed to look
after him. And we have. But what did she tell you about why
Rafael went mad?'
Rosa put her face in her hands.
'Please don't tell anyone,' she cried. 'I promised to keep
her secret forever.'
'We promise,' I said. 'What secret?'
'The secret of Rafael's madness,' said Rosa. 'His mother
knew it. But she kept his secret from everyone. He was mad
because he did a terrible thing. He did it for love, from hate, the
poor, poor boy.'
'What did he do?'
'He killed a man. He took another man's life. The worst
crime of all. He murdered the soldier, because of his love for
Anita.'
'He did what? But that's impossible!' shouted my uncle.
'That's what Clara told me,' said Rosa. 'She told me
everything only hours before she died. She couldn't meet God
with that secret in her heart.'
'But how? When?' I asked her quietly. 'Did she say?'
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'I'll tell you what Clara told me,' said Rosa. 'Her words are
written in fire on my heart. I'll never forget them.'
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CHAPTER TWELVE
A Terrible Secret
Told to Rosa by Clara
face. His wet shirt and trousers were covered in it. There was
fresh blood on his hands, red in the light of the lamp.
'God save us!' I said. 'What's happened?'
'I'm all right, mother,' he answered. 'Don't be afraid. But
I've killed the stranger who came here to steal my true love.'
Then I saw that all the water m the bottom of the boat was
dark with blood.
I put out the lamp immediately. There was no moon and
the night was dark. I looked round at the empty beach.
'Take off those clothes,' I said quietly. 'Wash yourself in
the sea until you're clean. Then go to the house and put on
clean clothes. Go quickly to the cafe, so people can see you. I'll
wash your clothes and the boat. Nobody will know what you've
done. If the soldier stops coming here, people won't be very
surprised. The man was a stranger. He had no family or close
friends.'
Rafael did what 1 told him. He went to the cafe and
stayed there all that evening. While he was there, I washed the
boat. Then I washed his shirt and trousers many times, until
you couldn't see the blood.
***
'Oh, Rosa, my dear wife,' said my uncle quietly. 'Have
you kept this dark secret in your heart all these years since
Clara died?'
'I promised her. She asked me before she died,' cried
Rosa.
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CHAPTER THIRTEEN
In the Hospital
All that morning my head went round and round. It was
all impossible. I took a notebook and wrote some questions in
it. I still have that notebook with me. Sometimes, when I start
feeling very proud of myself, I read it.
***
I am a doctor, not a policeman or a detective. I believed I
was a clever man, more intelligent than the people of the
village. I was too proud of myself. I told my uncle and all the
people of the village about my plans to help poor Rafael. I, the
great doctor from the university in the city, could make him
well again.
I was too proud. I spent a week in the village and I talked
to a lot of people. But I still knew nothing about Rafael's
madness. I still had no idea what happened to the soldier or
Anita. I couldn't be sure that Rodrigo killed them. It was a
stupid idea. I didn't really believe it.
I promised Rosa and Marta to tell nobody what they told
me. It was our secret. I went back to my hospital to do my
work. I wasn't so proud. I decided not to think about what
happened in the village. It wasn't a good idea to try to change
things.
***
I heard nothing from my uncle or anyone in the village
for almost a year. I often dreamt of Rafael and his gold ring
when I was very tired. But I never went back to the village. I
didn't want to meet those good people. I was sure they didn't
have a good opinion of me now.
Then, one day, a fisherman brought a note to the hospital.
It was written by Rodrigo, the shopkeeper. It said:
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And after a few hours his heart stopped and he was dead. After
his long years of pain and madness, I was happy that his death
was quiet and easy at the end. He did a terrible thing, a terrible
crime. But he paid for it with long years of madness.
I have written his story down here. One day, perhaps,
people will read it. But not until all the people in it are dead.
Until that day, it must stay a secret.
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CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The Murder
This is what Rafael told me:
Rafael always loved Anita. He couldn't remember a time
when he didn't. It was a small village and the children always
played on the beach. Anita and the other girls watched the
fishermen. The men cleaned their boats and mended their nets.
Rafael fell in love with Anita when they were still children. He
loved her, and she loved him. Or she always said so.
But her father wanted her to marry a rich man. A fat old
man, perhaps, old and ugly. But he must be rich and important.
Rafael could do nothing to change Rodrigo's plans.
There was a place in the rocks at the end of the beach to
the west. The children often played in it. It was like a little
house in the rocks. In the evenings, Rafael sometimes met
Anita there. She came out of her house very quietly and ran to
their secret place in the rocks. There she and Rafael talked for a
few golden minutes. Then she ran home again, afraid of her
father. Anita was only fifteen years old at that time. But her
head was full of the stories in her books. She was sure she was
in love with the handsome young fisherman.
Rafael brought her the gold ring. It was like the magic
ring in her story. Her father didn't accept it from Rafael. But
Rafael gave it to Anita in secret, when they met later in their
secret place in the rocks. The ring was the promise of their
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love. She wore it when she was with him. At other times she
kept it in her room, in the secret place under the carpet.
But then the soldier came to the village. He was an older
man. With his bright eyes, his long hair, his boat with an
engine, he was much more exciting than Rafael. When he
talked with Rodrigo about his life and his travels, Anita heard
his stories through the wall of her room. These stories were
more exciting than magic lamps and talking fish.
Anita soon thought Rafael was very boring. She stopped
meeting him. She stopped speaking to him. Now she was sure
she was falling in love with the soldier. But she still kept
Rafael's ring, of course.
Rafael was very sad. He wanted the soldier to leave the
village and go away for ever. He wanted Anita to come back to
him.
But then, one night, Rafael was coming back late from a
fishing trip. He saw Anita running along the beach in the
moonlight. He watched quietly from the sea. He saw Anita
meet the soldier in the little house in the rocks. How did the
soldier speak to her? How did Anita give him the time and
place to meet? Rafael didn't know. Perhaps the soldier gave her
a secret note. Perhaps Anita gave him one. They could both
read and write.
Rafael left his boat and swam to the shore. He moved
very quietly through the rocks. The soldier's boat was in a
small piece of open water on the other side of the rocks. It was
only about ten minutes from the village along the coast.
english-e-reader.net
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The Truth, at Last
A little later (Rafael told me), he and his mother heard the
shouting and screaming from Rodrigo's house. They soon
learned that Anita was nowhere in the house or the village.
Rafael smiled to himself. Perhaps Anita was still waiting
somewhere for her soldier. 'She can wait forever. She'll never
see him again,' he thought.
'I'll sail along the coast and look for her,' he told his
mother. In fact, he wanted to go to a quiet place to wash his
boat again. There was still some dark blood in the bottom.
He went back to the place in the rocks.
It was calm and quiet there. The soldier's boat was at the
bottom of the sea. Rafael took some water from the sea to wash
his boat. A small shark swam slowly under it. Almost without
thinking, Rafael picked up his fishing spear. He hit the shark
hard through the back of the head. Its blood came out into the
clear water. A few other sharks, bigger ones, smelt the blood
and came fast through the water. They began to bite at the
dying fish with their great, sharp teeth. They fought, biting
great pieces off the dead shark.
Rafael decided to catch one or two and cut them up in his
boat. He wanted their blood to be in the boat with the donkey's.
english-e-reader.net
- THE END -
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