Tropical Heroes

17. Sale

The night went smoothly and before sunrise, the army was ready to go down the mountain, and did so under the first rays of light. After the easy descent, a trail of five hundred meters, came the "mouth." It was very wide and deep with a narrow ledge bordering the cliff. The path was tight even for a beast of burden. Manuel decided to redistribute the weight of the loads between the animals and the Indian would only on a mule. Each of the troupe members would walk, pulling the reins of his animal. The mules accustomed to the rough terrain would be the end of platoon. In single file, the group began the crossing. The stretch of one kilometer was won with a very low speed, but the last mule She stalled in the middle of the trail. Manuel and Francisco began to call the animal by name, White, but of no use. Francisco impatiently, it was to the animal encounter with a prey to the waist rope. When he reached White, tried to attach the other end of the rope the animal's neck, but he receded with every advance of the Portuguese. Francisco cursed the animal of all words that recalled. Manuel ordered Shada, who was not yet crossed, to initiate the path to surround the stubborn animal. The piece, cleverly put the horse in front, in order to protect any kicking mule. The animal, when cornered, began the advance, while Francisco receded. The horse pushed the mule and, step by step, White progressed slowly until returned to balk. They had not advanced much, but it was progress. Shada insisted on using horse to walk mule, but she began to escoiceá him and he was startled and reared up, forcing Shada to retreat a few meters. that same time, Francisco returned to where it was Manuel. The mule, without the pressure, turned the floor and through the entire gulf. Shada and the horse made crossing after the animal to the other side.

Down every single help and so was the descent. At sea there was no sign of ships and a lot of smoke still left the village. On the side of the mountain that gave to the village, there were very few trees and large areas of grass along the huge rocks. The descent was smooth and managed to come up with excellent speed. Close to noon, they reached the road linking the village to the mill. They walked less than half an hour to carry out the contact visual. A slave knelt by the roadside weeping beside the lifeless body of a similar. When they reached the village, the view was devastating! There were few standing walls and wherever you looked, there were fires, bodies, the smell of gunpowder, blood and rot. The smoke was suffocating and the hustle and bustle, constant, no one seemed to notice the arrival of visitors. Women and children were crying, men shouting of despair and pain. Death, accompanied by sickle, had been in that field and the harvest was not small. Manuel made quick

recognition of the place and rejoined the group.

- There are only slaves, let the engine.

They returned to the road and followed with the fastest speed they could. There was a large influx of people into the interior, different from when They arrived. On the machine, there was no living soul. A part of the building had been hit hard and the cane fields that surrounded her was on fire. Manuel then approached Francis and whispered:

- What is the name of that will take us to the Indian?

- Joaquim de Queiroz.

The commander stood in the cell and shouted toward the building:

- Mr. Joaquim de Queiroz, were sent by Captain Pedro Afonso!

Only the crackle of the fire said the Portuguese, who has to repeat the cry:

- Mr. Joaquim de Queiroz, we are friends! We were sent by Captain Pedro Afonso!

Manuel approached the fellow and asked:

- Does fled to the forest? Is there any place other than the big house where they would hide?

- Not that I know.