The Dagger - Sequel To John Steinbeck's The Pearl

III

News spread throughout the town like a poison throughout the body. But that poison was hope. But, the news stopped at the walls of city, unlike anything before. It was carried with the wind, but the wind stopped at the gates.

This was a dangerous idea, a flammable gas, that could be set off at the wrong word. And the two worlds mingled, intertwined, but separated. The villagers guarded their tongues, for their hope could be snuffed out in an instant.

And Kino was sheltered by his brother, Juan Thomas. He sat in the center of the small hut, toying with his knife. Kino twirled the point in the ground as he stared at the rifle. He vaguely noted the pitter-patter of rain outside.

With every flash of lightning, Kino saw the flash of the rifle in the night. With every crack of thunder, he saw himself in the moonlight, and the bang of the rifle as he killed the two men. He saw the red rage in his wide eyes, the bared teethed and his wicked smile.

And in every moment of silence, he heard Juana's cry of anguish. It became the song of his life, the bang of a rifle and the cry of anguish. Every time Kino closed his eyes, he saw the shallow ditch and his family, his life, lying dead in it.

Kino had no wish for freedom. He had no wish to see the damned Spaniards leave. All he wanted, was to see the pearl buyers and doctor lying in a shallow ditch. He wanted to see the pearl buyers and the doctor toppled off their throne, built on the backs of the innocent, like Juana. Like Coyotito.

Kino wanted to see their lives and their fortune vanquished before them. He wanted to their castles of lies crumble, and their walls of deceit torn down.

The pearl was supposed to bring a better life, a hope, that they could break the shackles of society. But it didn't. They were still trapped in the dark dungeon of ignorance and blindness.

But the pearl did bring truth. No longer were they blind, they could see, if only to see the bonds that held them.

And Kino now knew, that those who grasped at the pearl were doomed to destruction. They were foreordained to have their soul twisted and distorted, so that all they cared for, was the pearl. The pearl sent their souls straight into Hell's maw.

And Kino smiled. It was a smiled devoid of humor and good spirits. It was a corrupted smile. It was the smile of a man who had nothing left, no vestige of life. He was invincible.

Kino was roused from his reverie as Juan Thomas entered the hut. Kino quickly wiped the smile from his face, and the evil thoughts dissipated with it.

Juan Thomas poked at the fire and uncovered some embers of flame. He prodded them until the meager vestiges of flame burned into a mighty fire.

"This is a bold move," Juan Thomas stated as he gazed into the dazzling light of the fire.

"So it is."

"Bold and rash. Do not think that I do not know what your motives are. You mask your true intentions with fanciful talk of freedom. But I am aware of your ulterior motives. Do not do anything that you will come to regret."

Kino's grip on the knife tightened and his knuckles grew white with the strain. "Do not think," Kino began quietly and ominously, "that you know my pain."

"I did not say that. But you act on impulse, you think with your fists, not your mind. You act out of anger, not of reason."

"Reason's got nothing to do with it."

Juan Thomas sighed heavily. "You think that because you've lost everything, you're infallible? This haughty talk of yours is dangerous. This is a wild fire, uncontrollable. When you have your revenge, what will happen? What will you become?"