Part 68 (1/2)
”This is Bustamente the Notary,” the shepherd said.
Bustamente fingered his gla.s.ses. ”Yes,” he said, alive to the importance of the moment. ”I am the Notary.” He squinted down his nose at the two men.
”Major Diego Segador, of the Republic. And this is my colleague, Major Angel Blanco, of the Cuban Army.”
”They fell from the sky,” the shepherd said. ”Like fifth columnists.”
”Is that true, Your Eminences?” Bustamente the Notary was taking no chances.
”It is true.”
”And you have papers?”
”We have papers. Mine are in here. And yours, Major Blanco?”
The Notary adjusted his gla.s.ses, turned to the papers while the shepherd's wife held a candle over them. ”Ay,” he said. ”They look real.
Yes, I must admit they look real. On the other hand, I must also admit that I have never seen real Cuban papers.” This was indeed a problem for the Notary. He scratched his chin, importantly, cleared his throat with a rumbling hawk. ”What do you think, Juan Antonio?”
”I am without letters,” the shepherd said.
”I must admit,” the Notary said, not without sadness, ”I must admit that I have never seen real papers of our own army.”
”Please,” Segador said, ”it is important that we get to San Hermano. Is there anyone in this village who is not for the landowners or the mine owners or the Germans who has seen real papers? I ask this in the name of Don Anibal Tabio, in whose name we undertook our mission.”
”Justice will be done,” said Bustamente the Notary. ”This is the era of justice, my good friends.” He tried to punctuate his p.r.o.nouncement with Tabio's famous gesture. To do this he had to release his waistband, and his trousers started to fall to his knees. From the pallet came a choking snicker.
”Silence!” Juan Antonio hissed to the kids on the dark pallet. ”Show respect for Bustamente the Notary.” His wife, at the same time, restored the Notary's dignity by handing him a length of cord to use as a belt.
He fixed his trousers and then made the moment truly solemn by putting on his jacket.
”I am sure the Notary will dispense the justice of the Republic,” the shepherd said.
”_Hombre!_ This is very serious,” Bustamente the Notary whispered. It was a loud stage whisper. ”We must consider our decision with careful seriousness, Juan Antonio.” He stepped outside of the hut.
Hall could hear his discussion with the shepherd. ”The one who claims to be of us,” the Notary said, ”he does not talk like an enemy of Don Anibal, Mayhissoulrestinpeace. How does the other talk?”
”I do not know. He tried to speak in Euzkadi. It is not his tongue.”
”It is, in a sense, suspicious then. But we must not be hasty. Justice begins in the village.” The phrase was Tabio's.
”What are we to do, Senor Notary?”
”The laws of the Const.i.tution of the Republic guarantee justice to all suspects, Juan Antonio. Please tell me all you know about the two officers.”
He listened to the simple recital of the facts. ”Ay, it is as I have observed, _amigo_. There is much to be said on both sides. If they were Germans or fifth columnists, perhaps they would have shot you first. On the other hand, since neither of us has ever seen a Cuban uniform, how can we tell? And if they are ours, why did they drop from the sky into the middle of a flock of sheep?”
”It is very deep, Senor Notary.”
”Let us talk softer, Juan Antonio. Perhaps they can hear us inside.”
They moved farther from the doorway, conversed in whispers for a few minutes, and then they started to walk down the dirt street of the village. Hall and Segador sat patiently, without exchanging a word.