Creatures of the Earth

CANELO

Rolling up his uniform sleeves, Canelo made a show of flexing his beefy arms before spitting in his palms and rubbing fiercely. This accomplished, he placed his hands underneath the stuck trailer and lifted. Slowly, the wheel came up and up until it was free. Canelo then raised the mass over his head in a display of supernatural strength, and gently rested it on the cobblestone road.

His antics drew a chorus of cheers from the crowd that had gathered along the narrow street; children peeked from windows in colonial homes; las madres coming from the plantations murmured things, their baskets cleverly balanced over their heads; las lindas universitarias blushed, full of sweat and youth, and whispered to one another about the handsome lawman and—oh!—how nice it would be to go dancing with him.

"Gracias, Sheriff," said to the old lady who owned the trailer.

"No need to thank me," said Canelo and sent the old woman on her way.

"Que macho!" said one of the cute college girls to Canelo. Flaunting her short skirt, she played with her long, black hair and grew bold enough to go to him.

The other girls followed their friend and teased, for they joked in town that Paloma hexed any woman who messed with her man. Unconcerned with the teasing, the college beauty gave Canelo a hug. This bull of a man quickly reciprocated. The hug turned into a bear hug, which made her giggle. Now bolder, the beauty planted a kiss on his dark cheek and one near his lips and neck. Canelo pulled her away quickly. Paloma would not approve of this. A little flirting was harmless, but kissing...

Before it went further, Quique, one of Canelo's deputies, rushed to the group. He was light brown and obese, unused to running.

"Jefe! Jefe!" said Quique while sucking in air.

This alerted Canelo. "What is it, man?"

He imagined the deputy would tell him there was a drunkard in the cantina or that the riversfolk had again painted their silly message on the Amargo Dam. Culantro's new dam allowed for much more efficient production of electricity, but the Rio Amargo had shrunk, hurting the riversfolk, who fished and hunted in the area.

"The airship station! Matanza!" said Quique.

"How many murdered?" said Canelo as they trotted away from the street. Horses and another deputy waited for them.

"Four so far," said the deputy.

"De verdad, vos?" said Canelo, unable to believe what the deputy said.

***

The Yuca Estación de Aerostato was literally cut out of a yuca plantation. There was just enough space for a single nave(an airship about the size of a bus) to land and take off. The terminal building was no larger than the average grocery store, which to Canelo seemed excessive given the number of flights the estación handled.

Before the horses reached the airship station, Canelo knew this was more than he had imagined: The deflated remains of a tourist airship lay smoking on the airfield. Canelo steered for the burning nave, but Quique called to him.

"Over there!" said the deputy and pointed at the estación building.

When close enough, Canelo and his two deputies jumped off the horses. They pulled out their revolvers and burst through the doors. A tragic scene greeted them: Passengers cowered on the ground, screaming; a bloody woman gripped a soldier by the throat and lifted him two inches off the ground; there were lifeless bodies near her.

"Disparen!" said Canelo.

They popped off several rounds at their opponent. Two or three bullets hit her, but caused the smallest damage. Growling, she threw the soldier at them and then sprinted out of one of the exits.

"Help them!" said Canelo and raced after her.

Into the yuca plantation they went. The neat rows allowed Canelo to aim carefully and fire. This time, he hit her leg, which brought her down. He fired once more and was sure he hit her head. Again running towards her, he was dismayed that she quickly crawled out of sight using her good limbs, moving like an alligator. He followed until he was out of the yuca plantation and near a fence that blocked off access to the Nuboso Forest.

Next to the fence, he saw her body. With the revolver ready, he trotted to her and stopped. He confirmed that he had indeed hit her on the right side of her head. Wiping away sweat, he holstered his weapon and went closer. Both of her hands clung to the fence; before dying, she had torn open a hole about a foot in diameter. In front of this hole, there was a disturbance in the soil, like when a gopher burrows in it.

Turning her over, he gasped and took a step back.

Her chest and stomach were an empty cavity, from which some thing had ripped through. What it was, he could not say, nor did he want to venture a guess.