Pinoy historical romance: Intramuros

Pinoy historical romance: Intramuros Part 3

"Foo-Foo is an intelligent dog."

This was from Graciela, one of Donia Victoriana's female servants. In fact, she was the one who ran up the stairs to get the sketch from the upstairs bedroom. Corporal Manuel has been talking to her for almost two hours and this was probably the one of the very few clear things she said during the whole discussion. She was always looking down when she answered his questions, and she also talked so softly. Corporal Manuel had a hard time making sense of what she said, let alone get a clearer picture of Foo-Foo in his mind.

"Why do you think so, Graciela?" he asked then she launched in another unintelligible answer. But she said something understandable.

"Fetch?" the corporal asked. "The dog can fetch? You throw something far away then the dog brings it back to you?"

"Yes, senior."

"And do you do this a lot? I mean, do you make Foo-Foo do this fetching game very often?" he clarified.

"Yes, senior," she answered and then added something that corporal did not understand at first but eventually realized that Marcelina, Donia Victoriana's other female servant, was the one who actually had the assignment of taking care of Foo-Foo.

Corporal Manuel finally thanked Graciela for helping him with this case and asked her to tell Marcelina to come to the headquarters tomorrow as it was near evening already. As Graciela walked away, Corporal Manuel rubbed his neck and smiled wearily. At least, now I know that the Francia who made the sketch of Foo-Foo was indeed his beloved Francisita. He already thought of her as a beloved although they were yet to meet. And they will, he promised himself.

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"Foo-Foo is an intelligent dog."

Marcela reiterated this conclusion to Corporal Manuel. Since this feature was already clear to the corporal, he couldn't help but feel a slight irritation. This feeling was probably compounded by the corporal's sense that the servant seemed a bit smug and self-assured. This wasn't a normal thing among the natives or indios, as they were called by pure-bloods, some mestizos and even fellow indios. The name was too close to the word idiot and he has known too many natives who were too dignified and noble for that kind of name. Many of these kind of natives, however, were wary of dealing with the Spaniards and mestizos.

"According to Graciela," the corporal continued. "You were the one who took care of Foo-Foo."

"Yes, senior."

"Were you with the dog when it went missing?" he asked.

"Yes, senior," Marcelina agreed and added, "I just fed the dog a while before then we went for some exercise inside the garden. We were running around and sometimes, we play fetch. I toss a stick or a ball or whatever I found around me, toss it a little farther away and the dog brings it back. Sometimes, she takes some time to look for whatever I threw, but she comes back. Then I tossed something, I think it was a ball and Foo-Foo ran after it. I didn't see her for a while but I wasn't worried because she might be looking for the ball. But then I never saw Foo-Foo again."

"What did you do then," asked the corporal.

"I looked for the dog, of course," Marcelina replied. "I think I searched every part of the garden since the dog might be hiding in some bush. But I cannot find her. So I told seniora."

"I take it Donia Victoriana wasn't happy."

"No, she wasn't," Marcelina answered. "She was angry, senior. But I think she was more angry that she was roused from her afternoon siesta than having her dog missing. She called on all the house's gardeners and servants to look for the dog."