It's Just Lola (4 page)

“How beautiful
,
”
Inez
said
.  Everything else faded from Lola’s mind as she saw her father in all his wedding finery sitting tall in the saddle of his magnificent stallion.  Next to him, on a glistening black horse that Lola had never seen in the stables, rode his bride.  She was sitting
sidesaddle
with her wedding gown spread over the hindquarters of the horse.  Her own shining black hair reached the back of the horse.  It looked as though horse and rider were parts of a single statue, carved from black onyx and ivory.  Lola thought she heard the word
diabla
whispered behind her.

The bride and groom rode slowly past the houses
,
the groom tossing small coins and the bride tossing candies while the children scrambled about trying to collect them. 

“Congratulations
.
”

“Many years of happiness
.
”

“May you have good luck
.
”

Lola did not hear anyone wish God’s blessings upon the union. 

Everyone
at the window gasped as a small child raced toward an unclaimed treat—heedless of the sharp hooves around it.

“
Ay
,
Dios
m
io!
  Oh
,
m
y God!”
Carmen
screamed
as she raced for the door.  Lola was transfixed, unable to move or even breathe.  Time crawl
ed
as the black horse
pranced
nearer the child.  Lola heard a woman scream
,
and then she saw Juan moving like a blur toward the horse.  He jumped and slammed his own powerful shoulder into the shoulder of the horse, causing the startled
animal
to stumble slightly and move sideways.  As Juan landed
,
he extended his body and his arm reached out and dealt the child a blow that knocked him well beyond the path of the horse.  The bewildered toddler was hidden from Lola’s view by a clot of people who immediately surrounded him. 

Inez scream
ed
.  The black horse
was on its hind legs pawing the air
, and Juan was on the street under the flashing hooves
.
  Lola glimpse
d
w
hite around the frightened horse’s eyes and saw Jacoba sitting securely
in the saddle
,
hands now buried in her mount’s mane.  The
smil
e on Jacoba’s face made Lola
shudder
.  She tore her eyes away from her new stepmother and watched in horror as Juan struggled to escape the descending hooves.  Dear God, no. 

Inez collapsed to the floor
, but
Lola
couldn
’
t
look away
from
the horse and the man.  She watched Juan roll and the hooves land, still unsure if Juan had escaped.  After an eternity of
a few
seconds,
Juan sat up, and Lola felt the air whoosh into her lungs once more.  He was alive
.
 
Men rushed to
help Juan to his feet.  Blood running down his face, he turned
,
bowed deeply to Jacoba and El Patrón
,
and watched them ride on before he allowed his wife to help him
into
the
house.

“Get some water
,
”
said
Enriqueta as she tugged on Lola’s skirt.  Enriqueta was sitting on her heels, cradling Inez’s head in her lap.  She was reassuring the girl that her father was well and he was coming.  Lola rushed to get the water,
glad
to be doing something—anything to try to rid her mind of the picture of Jacoba’s face as her horse reared over the prone man.

Lola wished she could become invisible as men poured into the small house to see how badly Juan was hurt.  It looked as though every man in the village crowded into the room.  She could tell the presence of the girls made some of the visitors uncomfortable, and others looked at them with pity in their eyes.  She heard mutters and snatches of remark
s showing that
Pilar was not the only one who thought Jacoba had cast a spell over her father.  After what she had just
seen,
she was ready to believe it herself.

Inez, who had recovered once she saw her father walk in the door, was sent for a basin of water and a clean cloth that she tore into strips at her mother’s direction.  Juan’s wife cleaned the wound and wrapped the strips of cloth tightly around his head.  Juan sent one of his sons outside to look for his hat, which he put gently on top of the bandages.  Satisfied, he stood and thanked his visitors. 
A
fter a few minutes
Carmen
pulled him back to a chair.  He looked pale beneath the
sun-darkened
skin.

“Enough!”
Juan
said in a loud voice.  “
G
o and enjoy the party.  El Patrón will be angry if I disrupt the wedding, and I
’
ll be sad if I keep you from the good meal they sent to us.  I heard there
’
s an entire barrel of aguadiente and more where that came from.  The distillery serves
us
today
.
”  There was a smattering of low laughter.
 
“Don
’
t worry; we Cholos have hard heads.  This is merely a scratch.  Go and start the music
.
”  Reluctantly people began to leave.  “I want to hear the music
.
”

Enriqueta moved toward Juan’s wife, thanking her for her hospitality and saying that they really had to leave. 
Juan and Carmen exchanged a glance.

“This
isn’t
a good night for you to be wandering around the village without a chaperone,” said Juan gently.  “Wait here until the villagers get distracted with food and drink.”  The boys were happy to stay.  Juan’s
children
had shared their treats; the boys had become good friends as soon as the sweets had come out of their pockets to be shared.  They were sent to the other room to play, with
instructions to
keep the noise to a minimum since Juan had a big headache.

Inez
ran
to bring her father a large glass of aguadiente
,
and then sent back with her oldest brother to bring food for the family.  As soon as she was gone
,
Juan took off his hat
.
 
The
bandages were already soaked with blood.

Carmen removed the bloody bandages.  There was a gleam of white bone as she dabbed away the blood.  Lola
looked around anxiously for Enriqueta
. 
She remembered the day Dolores had cut herself while chopping vegetables, and Enriqueta had been the one who fainted.  Enriqueta was sitting
at
the
far side
of the room
, looking pale and shaken.
  They should
leave as soon as possible.

“Drink half of this,” Carmen
said
as she handed Juan the large glass of aguadiente. 
Juan took a large swallow and gasped for breath.  He blinked rapidly.

“Half?  That’s enough to put a horse down,” he said.

“
Exactly
,” his wife said with a smile.

Juan
did as he was told
,
and
Carmen
made him sit at the table and lay his head down on a clean cloth.  She looked at the two girls and
asked
Enriqueta
help Inez
keep the boys
quiet
.  Enriqueta
escaped to the boys’ room.

“I need to clean and stitch the wound,” said Carmen.
“Lola, dear, can you keep the blood away so I can see
what I’m doing
?”  Carmen put a basin of water on the table and wet a clean cloth
and
handed
it
to Lola. 

“I’ll try,” said Lola in a small voice.  She was amazed that Carmen had chosen her to help.  She was determined to do a good job, if only to prove to herself that she could do it.  She took a deep breath and dabbed at the wound.  Carmen began by pouring aguadiente into the gaping wound.  Lola heard Juan grunt and saw his knuckles turn white where he grasped the bench.
 
“Why
’
re you doing that?” Lola asked.  “It hurt
s
him
and y
ou already cleaned it.”

“
H
orses’ hooves are dirty.  It must be cleaner than water can make it.  If it goes septic he will get very sick, perhaps even die.”

Lola became engrossed in watching Carmen stitch the wound and tie off each stitch.  Each time Carmen drew her hands
back
Lola mopped away blood
,
and
she
changed the water often.  After she saw how it was done, she threaded a second needle for Carmen.  She handed her the new needle and washed and rethreaded the old one, dipping it in what was left of the aguadiente.  She had the needle ready by the time Carmen was ready for it. 

Once they established a rhythm, Carmen began to talk to Lola.  “I learned about the kind of knots to make, and how to care for a lot of injuries by helping your father.  Our village is very lucky that
el patrón
has medical knowledge.  He saved a lot of lives over the years.”  Clean.  Stitch.  Knot.  Clean.  “We were blessed by your mother coming to live among us.  She was always here to comfort the unfortunate and lend support where it was needed.  No one ever went hungry, even when blight or drought
brought hardship.”  Clean.  Stitch.  Knot.  Clean.  “It would be best if we keep quiet about how serious this wound is.
”
 
Lola nodded.  If Juan said it was just a scratch, then that was her story, too.

At last the job was done
.
  Carmen did a final wash with the aguadiente and wrapped Juan’s head with clean cloths. 

“There
’
s almost no blood now,” said Lola proudly.

Carmen hugged Lola, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. 
“Thank you
for
help
ing
.  With God’s help
,
it will heal with no infection.” 

Juan slowly raised his head.  Moving gingerly, he turned to Lola.  “I think you should all go home now.”

“But we promised the boys we’d watch the dancing.”

Juan frowned.  “There
’
ll be no dancing—at least not until the men are too drunk to be angry.  I suggest you go before
someone
notice
s
there
’
s no chaperone with you.”  Lola knew Juan
was right
. 

The four youngsters
broke into a run a
s soon as they were out of sight of the village.
 
As
they
neared
the main house
t
hey slowed down, intending to melt into the small crowd of wedding guests.  Amelia caught sight of them first.

“Where have you been?  We
’
ve been looking for you
.
”

“
You said we could take the boys to the village
,” said Enriqueta innocently.  She had a firm hold of a boy’s hand in each of her own. 

“
B
oth Dolores and Rosa were here.  Did you go off by yourselves?” 
Mateo
burst into tears. 

“Victoria
’
s right.  You girls are growing up too wild here without proper discipline.”  Lola and Enriqueta were speechless.  Without discipline?  They were constantly being disciplined. 
T
he accusation was so unjust
.
Lola and Enriqueta
were
hustled toward the house as Amelia talked.
 
“
We
already decided that Victoria and I will
each take one of you girls to live with us for a few weeks to let Papa’s new wife adjust.  That way we can be assured you
’
ll be brought up as young ladies should
.
  Heaven knows
,
no one in this house knows anything about raising ladies.”  Amelia pull
ed
her own maid
along
to help them pack.  They were leaving within the hour.