When Victor awoke, the sun was already shining into the small house. Miguel was no where to be seen and Teresa was just sitting down to eat.
"Where's Miguel?" he asked her.
"He was up early and has already eaten. He wanted to finish the hole he worked on yesterday and to make sure it was deep enough to stop whoever fell in. He also needed to add some small logs to the bottom. How did you sleep last night, Victor?"
"Pretty good, thank you. I need to get out and finish my work as well."
"Not until you eat first and let me check your back. I want to make sure I cleaned it thoroughly last night and that there is no new infection starting."
While Victor was waiting for Teresa to fix breakfast, he grabbed the bellows and the ash that Miguel had set aside days earlier and started to pour the ash into it. He then grabbed a bottle of alcohol and poured that in as well. Holding it in the open position but covering the hole with his finger, he shook it fairly hard.
She looked over at him with a puzzled look to her face.
"A home made version of tear gas. Just point and shoot." He said as he mimed a closing action on the bellows handles.
He laid it carefully on its side by the fireplace, ready to fire.
After breakfast and the ritual checking of the wounds, Victor hobbled out to where Miguel was working. He was inside the 7-foot deep pit still working. Victor just stood there astounded that such a young boy was able to do such a monumental task.
Even though he didn't say anything Miguel could see the surprise in his eyes. "You like, Victor?" he asked proudly.
"I don't know what to say Miguel, this is awesome work."
Miguel blushed slightly then climbed up the ladder he had started to use as the pit got deeper.
They threw a few logs into the pit to encourage injury if someone fell feet first. Then Victor said, "I have one more trap I want to set. But I will need your strength. They set off for one final path with the last length of rope and set up a foot trap with a bent young sapling. The trap would be triggered when someone stepped into a hidden noose, and the sapling would spring up grabbing the hapless attacker by the ankle. By mid-day, all the traps that Victor could think of setting had been set. There were still a few paths through the woods that did not have any traps, but they couldn't cover them all. Miguel added a little more water to the muck in the pasture to make sure it remained sticky.
Victor and Miguel headed back to the house for lunch after checking that all the traps were set and ready to go. Victor silently prayed that the traps would do what he wanted, no more no less. He didn't want anyone killed, but he needed to scare this Jorge fellow away for good.
Teresa had lunch ready and they sat down at the table to eat. Victor's knee was still giving him trouble so they usually chose to eat at the table instead of on the mat outside.
After lunch, Teresa forced Victor to lie down and rest. It was a hard earned rest and his body needed it. He still ached all over, but it was pretty much because he wasn't letting his body rest and heal as needed. He lay down on the straw mat next to the fire pit, as there was no fire lit today. He took his shirt off to bask in the sunlight. It felt good to just lie back and relax even though he still felt guilty doing it and not working around the homestead. After a time, Teresa came over and sat next to him on the pretext of checking him over. Although they didn't hurt, his ribs were a rainbow of colors. But the rest of his chest wounds were almost completely healed.
"C'mon, you check my back and butt this morning, we don't need to go through that again." Victor complained as he closed his eyes to the bright sun.
"I wasn't going to ask you to take your pants off Victor." She paused a minute then added, "not unless you want to."
Miguel knew enough to find something to do when he saw his mother sit down next to Victor. He took the burro and said that he was going to head back into town on the premise of looking for more clues about Victor or to see if anyone had heard the whereabouts of Jorge. He would be gone about 4 hours pretty much the rest of the day. His real plans were to go to his private little spot by the waterfall that was halfway to town. He was going to just rest, for he was very tired too from all the hard work. Hopefully, this would give Victor and Teresa more time to develop a relationship.
It took Victor a moment before he realized what she had said. He opened one eye and peeked at her. She smiled demurely and prepared to get up. He placed his hand on hers to stop her. "Don't go."
She sat back down as he got up on one elbow. She asked, "What do you want?"
"I like your company, the chores can wait. They will still be here tomorrow." He said.
She started to blush deeply. It has been a very long time since she was attracted to a man. She loved her husband dearly, but they were married a long time, since she was a teen. The only other man that had been in her life was Jorge and he just took what he wanted. This was totally different, he was a stranger, a handsome one at that, and she did not know how to handle this flirtation. She has not felt this kind of attraction since…since…she could not remember when. She started to fret about her hair, that she needed to comb it, and she then realized she was wearing a work frock, very unflattering, and this caused her to blush even more.
Victor sensing her unease about her appearance reached up and slowly kissed her on the cheek. He then guided her face towards him and kissed her on the mouth.
"You are beautiful just the way you are," he said softly.
She just sat there blushing. She didn't know what to say or do. She did know that she wanted him, but not how to go about it.
Victor laid back down pulling her with him into a soft embrace. He gently kissed her on her neck. She started to relax and kiss him back. As they started to entangle themselves in each other, Victor removed his pants. He suddenly fell back into laughter. Disheveled, Teresa looked at him trying to figure out why he suddenly broke from the passion of the moment into laughter.
"I'm still wrapped up like a mummy below the waist, you did a very good job of covering my wounds."
Teresa sat up, pushing her hair off her face, looking very embarrassed.
"It's alright, I will enjoy the unwrapping more this time" as he started to fumble with the beginning of the wrap. She took over the task from him, freeing his hands. He took advantage of that and started to unbutton her blouse.
Miguel was napping at the falls. The constant dull roar lulled him into sleep. He awoke suddenly when he thought he heard a difference but slightly familiar sound. He couldn't place exactly what it was, but since it was going to get dark in a little over an hour, Miguel decided to head on back. It was always very dangerous to travel in the dark.
Jorge looked to the late afternoon sun. 'Good, he thought to himself, I should be home in about an hour just before dark.'