“It is Tenorio,” I said.
“Bah, do not bother your mind about that wolf,” she laughed.
But I had heard the grown-ups rumor that Tenorio’s second daughter was dying and that she would not last the summer, and I remembered his threat. And then there were the rumors about the evil things happening on the Agua Negra ranch. A curse had been placed on one of the families of the Agua Negra, and because the man knew my father and about Ultima’s powers he came seeking help.
“¿Cómo estás Téllez?” my father greeted the thin, weather-beaten man with an abrazo.
“Aye, Gabriel Márez,” the gray, emaciated face smiled weakly, “it does my heart good to see an old compadre, an old vaquero—”
They came arm in arm into the house where the man called Téllez greeted my mother and Ultima. The formalities did not last long, we all knew the man had come to seek Ultima’s help. My father would gladly give his help to anyone of his old compadres, it only remained to be seen if my mother would allow Ultima to go help. My mother had been very afraid for Ultima since the night Tenorio and his mob came, and she had not allowed Ultima to help anyone since.
“People are ungrateful,” she said, “they seek her help and after la Grande has risked her life to help them then they brand her a witch. Nonsense! We have no use for that kind of people!”
But now we listened intently while the man told of the horror that had enveloped his life.
“I swear before God Almighty,” Téllez’ voice cracked with the tremble of fear in it, “that there are things that have happened to my family that are directed by the devil himself!”
“¡Ave María Purísima!” my mother exclaimed and crossed her forehead.
“The pots and pans, the dishes lift into the air and crash against the walls! We cannot eat! The skillet full of hot grease badly burned one of my children. Just yesterday morning I reached for the coffee pot and it jumped up and spilled the scalding coffee on me.” He rolled up his sleeve and showed us the blistered pink flesh of the burn on his forearm.
“Téllez,” my father said calmly, “the imagination—”
“The imagination!” Téllez laughed sardonically. “This is not imagined!” He pointed again to the arm. “It was not an accident,” he insisted, “and I had not been drinking!”
“Perhaps it is a bad joke, someone who has a grudge against you,” my father the skeptic questioned.
“Gabriel, the people of the Agua Negra are good people. You know that! Who would carry out a joke this far. And who could make stones rain from the skies!”
“Stones from the skies!” my mother gasped.
“¡Sí! Day and night, without reason, the stones fall and pelt the house! Why? And how is this done? I am at my wit’s end! It is the devil’s work—” Téllez moaned.
“Courage,” my father said and reached across and placed his hand on Téllez’ shoulder.
“There was a curse like that at El Puerto when I was a little girl,” my mother nodded, “the dishes would move, the statues of the saints themselves were found in the pigpens and the outhouse, and stones would fall like rain on the house—”
“Sí, sí,” Téllez nodded in agreement. He knew if my mother believed then he could get Ultima’s help.
“The curse was lifted when the priest blessed the house with holy water—” she did not finish.
“Ay, mujer,” Téllez groaned, “do you think my good wife did not think of that! The priest from Vaughn came and blessed the entire house. It did not help. Now he will not come anymore. He says no evil can withstand the blessing by holy water, and so we must be making up stories. Stories—” He nodded his head and laughed bitterly. “Such stories! We cannot eat, we cannot sleep. My children are like walking zombies, the evil presence moves them like ghosts and the priest says we make up stories! It is too much—” He cupped his head in his hands and cried.
So again the power of the priest has failed, I thought. Why can’t the power of God work against the evils that beset the family of Téllez? Why is it allowed to continue?
“What can I do?” my father asked, trying to console the poor man.
“Come with me and see with your very eyes the things I speak about. Someone must believe!” Téllez exclaimed, taking some faith in my father’s offer.
“I will go,” my father nodded.
“¡Ay, gracias a Dios!” Téllez stood and embraced my father.