Chapter 22
And she told the tale. The fall, her screams, her shoulder, the pain, the scorpion, the knife, in short, for the second time in less than a quarter of an hour she recounted the same story.
De Soto listened without interrupting, looking at her seriously, occasionally casting a glance at Diego.
On second thought, he noticed her Castilian sometimes seemed tinged with something a bit more... slightly... well not exactly foreign, but less Madrilean than he had thought at first. Here and there a word... a pronunciation... vaguely reminded him of something else. But whatever it was, it was still related to his years in Spain, he could swear it.
"In a nutshell," she concluded her account, "all this young man can be blamed for is a poor judgment and the lack of the most fundamental caution. He's only been too rash and too self-confident; too sure of himself, of his abilities and of what he had been taught," she then said, throwing a sideways glance at Diego which did not escape the latter's notice.
Which did not escape de Soto's either, incidentally, who told her:
"Señora Alacen, please be sure that I'm more than willing to believe you, yet I can't help but wonder about... let's say about the clarity of your memories. You have, after all, lost consciousness and even been delirious in your sleep, I'm therefore afraid that the details and information Don Diego has certainly not failed to give you – with the sole concern to reassure you about your situation and your condition, I'm sure of it – might have… overlaid... your real memories of–"
"I'm not easily influenced, Señor," she cut him rather coldly.
"Ignacio..." Don Diego growled under his breath.
De Soto then changed tactics, trying a more frontal approach, although it displeased him to attack the first person in a very long time who had brought him a breeze of this Spain that he missed so dearly:
"Let's grant that's the case, Señora... But then... then I cannot help but notice that the suspect's... uh... father remained alone with you for a while... and without any witness to what can have been said during all that time..."
He left his sentence unfinished, leaving the ellipsis float very heavily in the air, full of innuendos.
He saw señora Alacen's face transform, from worried it became outraged. Speechless, breathless and wide-eyed she took a step back and then, with flared nostrils, a hard look and clenched jaws she shouted indignantly:
"Are you accusing me of bearing false witness?"
"Ignacio," de la Vega cut in, "you really go for any length to–"
But Soto was not listening. He had to admit he wasn't too proud of himself. The case, that just the day before he thought was solid and held water, was now deflating clue after clue, testimony after testimony. He tried to play his last card:
"But if one also takes into account the de la Vega's substantial wealth..."
While Don Diego clenched his fists out of the rage caused by that outrageous accusation, the woman exploded:
"I'm not for sale, sir, and neither is my word!"
Under the effect of effort and emotion, she staggered and swayed slightly, and leaned one hand against the wall for support. De Soto and Don Diego immediately rushed to her, but before they even had time to offer her their assistance she straightened up to her full height, stiff and proud.
"I'm alright," she assured, "I'm alright, I can perfectly..."
She didn't say exactly what she could, but the general idea was clear enough: I can very well keep going by myself, I don't need you anymore, thank you very much.
Anyway, this short interlude changed de Soto's original idea as to the kind of... nightly activities... he had suspected Don Diego had shared with her: she was obviously not fit enough for anything of that sort yet. And then... and then the more he listened to her, the more he believed that woman. In spite of himself.
De Soto thought hard. A miscarriage of justice towards the de la Vega – even only through some flunkey – would not be good for his career. If this was indeed a miscarriage of justice, an insidious little voice whispered inside his head. He sighed:
"Would you be willing to sign a written statement that would repeat exactly and point by point the story you just told me?"
"I'm even ready to write it myself and right now, if this can get this poor young man out of jail as soon as possible. He is innocent of what he is accused of, I swear!"
While saying that, she reached for the quill and the inkwell. At the same time, a very loud rumbling could be heard, and she suspended her gesture, blushing.
"Madre de Dios!" Don Diego exclaimed, "but what was I thinking? You must be starving after all this time!"
She lowered her head a little, grudgingly admitting:
"Well, truth be told, I wouldn't say no to a bowl of soup with a few slices of ham. Or some chicken," she added, regaining some colours at this idea. "Although… a nice rare grilled rib steak, instead..." she then said, salivating in anticipation.
"Ah, I very much doubt Señorita Escalante has put any of this on today's menu, I'm sorry," Ignacio told her.
"Really?" the stranger wondered. "How is it that...? Yet… yet it's indeed an inn she's running!
"It is, Señora, indeed it is," de Soto said, "only... today is Friday..."
"Not at all!" the young woman replied. "Today is Wednesday!"
What? Ignacio wondered. Could it be that de la Vega failed to...
He hadn't finished his thought when Don Diego told his new protégée:
"No, Señorita, the alcalde is right: today is indeed Friday."
"No! she insisted. No, today is Wednesday."
De Soto took it upon himself to explain to her what de la Vega had obviously failed to tell her:
"Señora, you've remained unconscious for almost two whole days..."
"TWO DAYS!" she exclaimed, leaning back against the wall. "No, that's impossible, I'm sure I would be aware of it if..."
"Señorita," Don Diego then told her, "I assure you that today is indeed Friday and that you have remained unconscious for two days, with fits of delirium and high fever. We were very worried about you."
The young woman shook her head in disbelief.
"No," she said, as if to herself. "No, you are mistaken. Or… or for some reason I don't understand, you're trying to pull some nasty prank on me, to make me believe that... that…"
"It certainly wouldn't be a first from Señor de la Vega, that's his usual trick. This wouldn't be unheard from him, would it?" de Soto then said, perfectly remembering the dirty trick Don Diego had played on him a few years ago by making him believe he had been sick for several days, when he had actually slept only a few hours.
De Soto threw a meaningful look toward Don Diego who just shrugged. Meanwhile the young woman, who certainly didn't understand anything about this exchange of innuendos, seemed to be slowly accepting the reality of what they both asserted.
Suddenly she became very agitated:
"But then..." she said, aghast, "then... Oh my God! You mean that this young man has been in jail for two whole days! Oh Dios! But… how awful!"
She became even more agitated as de Soto and Don Diego tried to appease her. Meanwhile, Ignacio noticed that this little something in her language he had previously perceived was more pronounced when she was distressed.
"Two days!" she repeated. "Oh dear, the poor boy! Señor Alcalde, we have to get him out of there as soon as possible, you must..."
She paused. Ignacio saw her raise a hand to her forehead, stagger and then slightly collapse. De Soto and Don Diego both rushed to catch her in time and sat her on a chair. Catalan! Ignacio suddenly realised. Her Castilian was tinged with a very light hint of Catalan...
"Señora..." Ignacio called her, "Señora! Are you feeling alright?"
"She's right, Ignacio," Diego said, "you can't let Felipe–"
"First things first, de la Vega!" de Soto hissed. "Can't you see she's having a relapse?"
"Don't even think I'll forget to remind you–"
"All right, all right, Diego! We'll release your deaf-mute, don't worry! Only, I'll have you know that since people are not condemned as quickly as before, well, believe it or not they cannot be released with just a snap of the fingers either! There will be even more documents to write and forms to fill in for this!"
De Soto, despite his relative defeat, was lapping it up: it was still very enjoyable to turn the tables on Diego, to turn de la Vega's own arguments against him and have them backfire on him!
"For now the most pressing matter is to take care of your... your new friend, Diego. Bring her back to Señorita Escalante's tavern."
Reluctantly, Don Diego nodded and helped the young lady to her feet. But as she wasn't standing strongly enough on her legs anymore, he scooped her up in his arms once again. As he was crossing the threshold, de Soto called out to him:
"Diego! You... you'll let me know how Señora Alacen is doing, will you?"