Red City on the Ocean

Chapter 5. The guest from Overseas

Anacaona, who had been dozing off, opened her eyes. The forest surrounding the girl now was not at all like in her homeland. Instead of arches of mangrove trees, under which an entire village could freely pass, this forest consisted of low pines and other trees that grew between. There was no wet springy jungle ground under the girl's feet. These trees and squat bushes grew on sandy scant soil. There was also no fog in this forest, even now, at dawn, as was usual in the jungles of her homeland. Anacaona closed her eyes and sniffed the scent of the forest. New smells, unfamiliar to her, spread out in colored patterns in her imagination. The color and shape of the patterns gave her clues about what particular plants, grasses, or foliage could help heal. Out of the huge variety of new smells, she felt something very strong. This particular smell told her that there was a plant in this forest that could cure the most difficult ailments. Where could she find it?

However, the events of the previous morning began to disturb Anacaona with renewed vigor, and her study of smells had to be postponed. The boats had returned to Tlaluacatli, and now she was completely alone in an unexplored land! What to do? The military men, prowling through the forest with their bright long macuahuitl, did not notice her in the predawn twilight, but it could happen during the day! As if to confirm Anacaona's terrible conclusion, the wind carried the sounds of human speech to her.

Before dawn, Anacaona, exhausted, had sat down on a sandy hummock and immediately dozed off. She didn't notice that she had stopped near the road, and now the metstli tlapalli were passing by her. They walked either in pairs or individually and held spears, coils of rope, and various sticks with three or four unknown metal ends, and some carried huge, but hardly heavy boxes on their backs. A man galloped along the road, overtaking these people, riding a huge four-legged animal that Anacaona had already noticed early in the morning from afar. The people on foot gave way to the man, and some took off their hats and bowed to the rider.

Cautiously glancing at the road, Anacaona began to retreat into the forest thicket. After making sure that she could no longer be noticed from the road, she began to inspect and study the unfamiliar trees and grasses. Anacaona was very thirsty, but she didn't see any traces of water nearby. Sorting through the vegetation, the young woman began to pull out their stems. If they didn't taste bitter, Anacaona would eat their juicy flesh.

* * *

"Luis, do you really think that our old clothes will be useful to his family?" Nuno asked. The horse under him had strained his legs the day before and was now limping on the front right, which was why Nuno fidgeted in the saddle every now and then.

Luis, who was riding next to him, shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows? Everything comes in handy on the farm, especially for poor people. Well, the rich definitely don't become soldiers, that's a well-known thing. It would be better, of course, to give a purse with gold or, at least, silver."

"There's silver, too," Nuno answered. He reached into his bosom, took out a small but heavy bundle, examined it carefully once more, and put it back.

"And to tell the truth, you don't have to give too much," Luis continued, "after all, the son was killed in the service of the king, so let the king help them. Otherwise, they might become proud and quit working. They will think that they themselves have become the masters... Oh, trouble, trouble..."

Suddenly, a scream came from the depths of the forest. Nuno and Luis exchanged glances. The scream was undoubtedly from a woman. Nuno spurred his horse and, bending down to his withers, rushed into the thicket. Luis rode after him. Among the juniper bushes, they saw an unfamiliar, apparently alien, dark-skinned woman. She was dressed in a simple linen dress, with gold bracelets adorning her arms and a necklace of precious stones around her neck. The young woman's right leg was clamped in the jaws of a trap.