Chapter 6 Life
I was wrong; finding twenty pairs of dogs is hard work. Everyone stares yet none offers to help. I know the General will be embarrassed since San Juan is here, but every time I approach a dog they run away. Soon the sun will set and I have yet to catch a dog. I need help, and only the General could help me. I walk to his barrack and knock on the door. "Come in" is the usual reply. The General is completely shocked when he sees what a state I am in.
"What happened to you?! Why are covered in bite marks?"
"I'll explain what happened to me later, but what's more important is that Jace released all the dogs so now they are running around the camp."
The General calls San Juan and asks him to help me corral all the dogs.
"When you are done collecting the dogs with San Juan, report back to me. You are dismissed."
I race outside to meet San Juan. I wonder what his plan is going to be.
"Ah, little Jew you are finally here. We are going to let my indentured servants use rope to catch los perros por ti."
The servants come riding horses; some are even women. In less than thirty minutes, all the dogs are roped, and the servants help me put them back into the dog place. I look for the girl that I had met the first time they were here, but I she is not amongst the other servants.
"San Juan, how do I say thank you to your indentured servants?"
"Gracias por ayudarme."
I say 'Gracias por ayudarme' to every Peruvian that I meet. They chuckle when I say it probably because of my accent. I remember then that the General wants to see me.
San Juan and I walk in silence as we approach the General's barrack. He walks in, but I wait to be recognized. "Come in" is the usual reply. For once, everything is neat and orderly and there sits that wicked boy soldier, Jace. The General reminds me of Jesus on Judgment day.
"I'm here."
"Obviously, I want you to tell me exactly what happened to you and to the dogs."
"Well, I was on my way to my house outside the camp when I remembered that Nachum was still inside the dog place. I entered the dog place to get Nachum, but Jace had him by the collar. I asked him why he would do such a thing and his reply was that I didn't pour him some more tea. Afterwards he released the other dogs and they bit me and clawed me while I was trying to save Nachum."
"Jace, what is your side of the story?"
"The girl is lying because I was on my way to my post when she said these accusations were occurring."
The General sighs then mumbles something to San Juan. San Juan stops eating his fish meal and looks long and hard at me then Jace.
"I had a hunch that something like this would happen therefore I sent two vaqueros to watch the both of you."
A boy and the girl I met in the stables enter the barrack. San Juan and the children talk in Spanish about what happened and how I am telling the truth. The General finally looks up when they finish conversing.
"What did they say?"
"Los niños say the girl is telling the truth, and the boy is a liar who needs to be flogged."
"What? Father, how can they say that I need to be flogged! That's impossible! Would you really do that to your own flesh and blood."
"Son, I don't know what to do with you, but I do know that I'm sentencing you to go back home for two weeks."
YOU ARE READING
A Country Not Your Own
Historical FictionIn 1939, as World War 2 began, a Jew named Analiese Baldwin is rescued from an explosion by a German soldier. She has only his dog tag to remember him by. Now, four years later, she is rounded up like all the other Jews to be placed in a cruel conce...
