Hey guys! So, I know this chapter took a much longer time. But with the holidays and everything, I had a very busy last couple of weeks. (Plus I got several new games for my Switch for Christmas. One of which being HD Skyrim, so I've also been a bit distracted. As you can probably imagine if you've ever played an Elder Scrolls game! Lol.) Not to mention I put a lot of time and energy into this chapter. I'm really happy with the way it turned out, and I hope everyone thinks it was worth the wait! :D So without further ado. . .
Héctor's idea of punishment was to make Becca help out everyone in the village with a random assortment of chores and odd jobs. Becca spent all day, every day, scrubbing, washing, fixing, sweeping. It seemed like there was no end to the people and the work they could provide for her.
When Héctor had told her she would wish he were her mother, he didn't know the half of it! Back home, she would've had to have committed a serious atrocity in order to be punished this much. She didn't take it too hard, however, since Héctor didn't actually seem mad at her, per say. She figured this was just his way of keeping her busy so she wouldn't get bored and try to sneak off again.
And bored she was not! She also did her best to not complain, because part of her felt bad for making him worry. Perla had actually pulled her aside that first evening when they got back so she could speak to her privately.
"Hey escuincla! You had better be careful, with him," she'd said.
"With Héctor?" Becca asked, not picking up on her meaning.
"He has already suffered enough pain for two lifetimes. Por favor, do not cause him more," she requested, fixing Becca with a serious gaze.
Becca swallowed hard, feeling the burn of shame in her chest. "Yes ma'am," she managed with a somber nod.
After that super fun guilt trip, Becca had resorted to doing exactly what she was told, which had ended up being a lot of hard work!
Now she was sitting in a chair at the table in front of Chuy and Perla's. Although, sitting wasn't really the right word. She had more or less melted into the seat – her head lolled back, eyes closed, and her arms hanging limply at her sides. She was so tired! She didn't even know she could feel this exhausted without having muscles, but there it was. Meanwhile, Chuy was laughing at her.
"Jeeze Héctor. I think you might've killed her again. Yo! You still with us Lloronita?" he asked.
"It's not funny!" she moaned out, not moving from her position.
"If you're that tired, why don't you go lie down?" he wondered.
"Cuz Héctor doesn't trust me to be alone," she told him flatly.
"Don't you think you're being just a bit hard on her?" Chuy directed at him.
However, Perla answered for him before he had a chance to speak.
"Not being hard enough if you ask me. If they don't have time to be bored, then they don't have time to be bad," she said with a poetic flair. Héctor just shrugged in response.
"Well, I've got something that may lift your spirits," Chuy then brandished several pieces of paper up in the air.
Out of curiosity, Becca made the effort to open her eyes and lift her head. They looked to be tickets of some sort.
"What are those for?" she asked.
"Tickets for la corrida de toros tomorrow night!" he explained excitedly. Becca looked over a Héctor for a translation.
"A bullfight," he told her.
"Really?" she asked, sitting up straighter. "And – you're planning on taking all of us?" she guessed. Becca had never been to anything like that before. A bullfight in the Land of the Dead sounded like it would be quite the show.
"That's right! Pretty cool, huh?" Chuy said with a big grin.
"Well, almost all of us," Héctor commented.
Becca felt a hurtful twinge of understanding that he was referring to her. She looked at him like she'd been struck. Was he really not going to let her go?
"Oh, come on man! Surely she's learned her lesson by now," Chuy argued.
Héctor looked down at the girl. Maybe Chuy was right. Maybe he was being a bit too hard on her. She hadn't made any kind of snarky comments or obscure references in a while. As he was getting to know her better, he started to guess that, that wasn't normal for her. Now he felt a little guilty – her gazing up at him with that dejected look. He had just wanted to keep her busy, not crush her soul! Dang! If she ever found out how well that worked, he'd be in real trouble!
"Okay, okay! You can go. But, no wandering off on me," he warned.
Becca nodded that she understood.
As the next evening rolled around, Becca could feel her anticipation increasing. It had been a while since she'd been excited for something like this. However, what she did not expect was the massive crowd that met them when they arrived at the arena.
"Whoa! Is it normally this crazy?" she asked. Her hair, now pulled back in a high ponytail, whipping around as she took in the scene. She'd also forgone the hoodie, just sporting her bright, pink T-shirt instead. The better for Héctor to see her with.
"Oh yeah. Just as popular here as in the Land of the Living," Héctor chuckled.
"Only here it's even better, cuz the bulls are much more impressive." Chuy rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
"How so?" Becca wondered.
"Nuh uh, you gotta wait and see," Héctor told her mysteriously.
"I've never been to a bullfight before. It's not like I'm going to have anything to compare it to," Becca reasoned.
"Oh, believe me, niña. You'll be able to tell," Perla assured her.
Making their way through the crowd to get to their seats, Becca found that she was having a hard time keeping up. She kept getting jostled around and cut off from their small group. She had to keep rudely squeezing past people in order not to lose them. Finally, when she caught up enough that she could get right next to Héctor, she subconsciously reached up and took a firm grip on his hand. Contrary to the current popular belief, she didn't want to get lost.
Héctor felt something latch onto him, and looked down to see Becca. She had one hand balled up into a fist and held against her chest. The other one was currently clinging onto him. He smiled at the sweet gesture. He gave her hand a reaffirming squeeze. She didn't look up. Her focus was on all the people around them, trying not to get stepped on. Even so, she began walking just a little bit closer in response. It all just seemed so – natural.
Becca didn't let go until they were safely in their seats. She parked herself comfortably between Héctor and Chuy. She watched as more and more people began filing into the arena, taking seats all the way around until the place was full to bursting. Becca had no idea this kind of thing was so popular.
"So, when does it start?" she wondered aloud.
"Anytime now, but they'll probably wait until most everyone is settled," Héctor explained. Becca nodded. "You know," he added. "This arena is almost exactly like the one they have in Mexico City."
"Is that one special?" she wondered.
"Biggest in the world!" he praised.
Becca looked from one end of the massive arena to the other. "Yeah, I can believe it."
A loud trumpet blast suddenly sounded, resonating throughout the stadium. Men on spirit horses, carrying lances then began parading into the center with music playing in the background. They were followed by other men on foot with intricate clothes and brightly colored capes, and some had brandished swords. They did a turn around the stage area, saluting the crowd as they went. The crowd was clapping and cheering with vibrant enthusiasm.
"This is really – elaborate," Becca hollered at Héctor over the crowd's roar.
"So, the men on the horses are picadores, the ones with the magenta and gold capes are the banderilleros, and the men with the red capes are the actual matadors," Héctor explained.
"Great," Becca said with mock enthusiasm, since all that really explained were who the matadors were. There were a total of three men who were carrying the red capes. So everyone else was just for show?
"I was kind of hoping the guys on the horses were jousters," she told him with a cheesy grin.
"'Lancers' is closer, since they're going to be fighting the bull, not each other," he corrected her.
Becca flashed him a sort of disappointed scowl. He noticed.
"Well – this isn't medieval times!" he added. That brought her grin back. She had been hoping he'd at least get that reference. It was even more ancient that he was, after all.
After the procession had finished, most of the men left the stage area. It was just one matador, two of the mounted men, and three of the guys with the pink/gold capes. They all seemed to move to specific locations in the ring, and then waited. Becca wondered what they were waiting for, until there was another loud trumpet blast. Gates at the far end of the arena were pulled open, and in lumbered the bull!
Becca was shocked at it's size. It was at least twice as big as any cow she'd ever seen before! It had so much weight, that it's feet seemed to sink into the earth beneath it every time it took a step. The most intimidating part, however, was the fact that the creature was comprised entirely of bone! Ominous green plumes of smoke were wafting from its mouth, nose, and sides, casting an eerie glow onto the otherwise white sheen. Now Becca had never seen the skeleton of a cow before, but she was pretty sure there were more bones there than necessary, almost like it had armor. The entire stadium fell silent as the men in the ring readied themselves.
"This is the best part!" Chuy whispered with a giddiness that had Becca slightly worried.
"Those guys are actually gonna fight that – monster?" she asked.
"Yeah!" he exclaimed. "There would be no challenge if they just fought a regular old bull. I mean, it's not like it can kill them," he reasoned.
"Okay, but, where does something like that come from?" she wondered.
"It's a Xibalba Bull. Where it comes from is apparently a 'trade secret'," Héctor told her, making air quotes. Great, so they're like demon bulls! Becca decided that this would be – interesting, if nothing else.
The guys with the pink and gold capes then began taunting the demon bull with their flashy cloaks. It uttered an angry bellow before charging at one of the men, who to Becca's surprise, was able to expertly dodge the attack. It was amazing that he could get out of the way in time! The massive creature then began to seem a bit confused, it's attention being pulled in multiple directions. It started to charge at each of the men in turn, shifting directions and acquiring a new target every time it's attack was avoided.
Finally the matador raised his hand, signaling for the others to stop. He had been watching the bull intently during the whole display. Now he stepped forward, readying his own cape as the others retreated.
"Toro! Toro!" he cried, getting the bull's attention.
The bull, now only having one primary target, began to unleash all of its ferocity on the matador. He made several close call passes, the matador twirling his cape in a different way each time. The crowd would let out a mighty cheer every time he successfully evaded.
The bull began to grow extremely angry at the noise, and the fact that he couldn't seem to hit anything. Eventually, he gave up on the charging. He squared himself, directing facing the matador. He dug in, reared back his head, and roared. As he did, a column of putrid, green flames shot out of his mouth. Becca felt her breath catch when she saw it. That sure wasn't something a normal bull could do!
The matador reacted quickly, dashing away from the threatening inferno. However, the bull just continued his onslaught, his aim following dangerously close to the matador's heels. He tucked and rolled, taking cover behind one of the few barriers in the ring. The flames erupted on the barrier, growing and spreading out around it. Until finally, the bull had to stop to take a breath. It had left some wicked scorch marks on the face of the barrier, but other than that it remained intact. It must have been made of some kind of metal, or flame retardant material, even though it looked like ordinary wood.
"Whoa!" Becca breathed, sounding impressed. She leaned forward in anticipation.
"See! Way better than a normal bullfight!" Chuy praised.
Down the in ring, the bull was pawing at the ground. He charged at the barrier, smashing it into pieces. Becca's eyes began wildly flying around the ring. What had happened to the matador? There was a sudden, excited shout from the crowd, and Becca watched as the matador stepped out from behind the second barrier.
"What?!" Becca asked in surprise. Héctor chuckled at her exclamation.
"He snuck away while you were distracted by the bull. They do it all the time," he explained. Becca nodded that she understood, even thought she still felt a bit skeptical.
It was at this point that the men on horseback came riding back out. Instead of just stabbing at the bull like Becca had expected, they began throwing the lances towards the bull, trying to get them to go through the few holes in its bony armor. Once a lance was set, it would stay inside due to the blocks at the end of each lance. They would then hang down through the bull and drag on the ground. Slowing it down and hindering its movement. Meanwhile, the bull was doing its best to charge and ram at the horses, trying to injure them or dismount their riders.
It managed to nail them in the flank a few times, but mostly it was just glancing blows. The horses were able to recover quickly, bucking and pawing at the bull in response. After they felt the bull was adequately slowed, they began to back off and the other guys came back. This time with their pink and gold capes worn on their backs.
They were carrying several sticks wrapped in brightly colored cloth. However, as they began to chase the bull around, Becca realized they were more like stakes. The men were trying their best to ram the stakes into the massive, bony shoulders of the bull. To which the bull was trying to ram them into paste! It made Becca start to wonder how much of this was being done because that bull was made of bone, and how much of it would actually happen to a normal bull?
"Is that normal? For them to be trying to stab the bull like that?" she finally wondered aloud.
"Si, it's all part of the show," Héctor told her.
"So this is something they do in a regular bull fight? Like with normal bulls?" she continued.
"Yeah, the point is to show off, but also to help weaken the bull."
"But, how is the bull supposed to fight in other shows if they hurt it that much?" she wondered.
"Oh, niña – don't you know? The matador always kills the bull at the end of every bullfight," Perla explained gently. Becca gave her a horrified look.
"That's terrible! I can't believe people in the living world like to watch this sort of thing," she said.
Chuy shrugged. "It's part of our culture."
"I guess. . . at least this bull is already dead." That was some small consolation, if nothing else. She wasn't sure if she'd be comfortable watching them kill a living animal.
Once they had attached several stakes to each side of the bull's shoulders, all the extra cape guys left the ring and only the lone matador re-entered.
"Toro, toro!" he called to the bull, who then began charging at the matador with a little less ferocity than before. Although, it was still roaring and breathing fire at every opportunity.
At the same time, the matador seemed to be taking riskier moves, getting especially close to it as it made its passes. He made a particularly impressive dodge move, which seemed to really excite the crowd.
"Ole!" Everyone shouted around her. Becca glanced around in surprise. So that's where that came from. . .
Finally, the matador then drew a sword that looked to come from inside the cape, and Becca realized that the cape was actually wrapped around and attached to a scabbard. This time, the matador himself charged at the bull with a shout that sounded like a war cry. He jumped and dove at the bull's head, driving the sword as hard as he could through the very center of its forehead!
Becca gasped and covered her mouth. She hadn't been expecting that!
The bull, now looking very confused and disoriented, began to stumble around until it eventually collapsed on the ground. Wasting no time, the matador sprang back at it. Pulling a thick, golden rope from off of his belt, he then gathered up the bull's feet as quickly as he could. He wrapped the rope several times around all four of the bull's ankles, tying it off with an impressive knot. Once that was finished, he rose, throwing his arms up in the air in a victory salute.
The crowd went nuts! They exploded into loud cheers, whistles, and a multitude of hoots and hollers. The people began tossing a variety of flowers into the arena, mostly roses, until they littered the ground around the matador.
"That was great! I think that time was a new personal best for him!" Chuy yelled over the roar of the crowd.
"Oh?" It was all Becca could think to say. She hadn't been aware that the matadors were being timed.
"Since they can't kill the bull, the time stops as soon as it's feet are tied," Héctor explained.
While the matador was busy drinking in the cheers of the crowd, a team of the spirit horses came out along with a few new guys. They hooked the comatose bull up to a special harnesses that the horses were wearing, and then dragged it out of the arena. There was a bit of fanfare with trumpets, and the matador picked up a large bouquet on his way out of the ring.
Once the ring was clear of the bull, people who reminded Becca of stage hands then entered and began cleaning up all the debris left over from the previous fight. They re-set it up with new barriers, and this time adding a very large roll of hay near the middle of the arena. Becca wondered what they were doing at first, until she remembered that there had actually been three matadors parading around during the opening ceremonies. She realized that must mean three bullfights. That giant mound of hay must have been added to make things more interesting.
Things basically progressed in a very similar fashion to the last fight. The only difference being that this bull seemed even bigger than the last one, and even more ferocious! Also this matador fought in a slightly different fashion, where he was much more focused on teasing and leading on the bull versus trying to finish him as quickly as possible. Much to the enjoyment of the crowd, they seemed to find his antics very amusing.
After the second fight was over, the show seemed to take an intermission period. Where the crowd began moving, mingling, and chatting quite loudly.
"It's not over, is it?" Becca asked just to be sure. After all, there had only been two fights.
"Naw. It's just break time, and snack time! You want something from the concesiones?" Chuy asked her.
Becca brightened at the idea. She hadn't had a chance to eat anything since she'd got here! And the thought of getting tasty show food made her mouth water, or as close to watering as a mouth could get without salivary glands.
"Sure!" she quipped with a grin.
"Here," he said, passing her a handful of coins. "Bring back some pipas and corn, and you can get something for yourself, too."
"Cool!" Becca pocketed the coins and quickly rose to make her way to the stairs, but didn't get far before she felt a hand wrap around her arm.
"Espera un momentito," Héctor told her. She turned to face him. "Be careful so you don't get lost, and hurry right back, entiendes?" he told her.
"Okay, I'll be careful," she assured him.
Becca made her way down the stairs and into the fray of the crowd. She began ducking and weaving in between people, looking for a line that would indicate a food stand. Eventually her nose was able to lead her to the desired destination. How could she smell without a nose? She had no idea.
She hummed patiently to herself while she slowly made her way up the line. Until her turn finally came. She peered at all the tasty looking treats, trying to decide what she wanted for herself. She eventually settled on cotton candy and was about to place her order, when another kid suddenly shoved her aside, pushing his was past so he was standing right in front of the cashier.
"Hey!" Becca protested loudly. "In case you hadn't noticed. It was my turn!"
The kid turned to face her with a sneer, and instant recognition hit Becca. It was that Toni kid from the arcade! It took him a second, but eventually he recognized her too.
"You!" he shouted accusingly at her.
Becca thumbed her nose at him.
"You're gonna pay!" he yelled and lunged at her.
Becca was able to back away quickly enough that he missed, but that didn't stop him from trying again. She was able to dodge once more before turning and dashing away. However, Toni wasn't going to give up that easily. He chased her through the dense crowd, slowly gaining through his blatant disregard for other people's personal space. Becca realized she'd need to change tactics before veering off and climbing over boxes and through barrels that were arranged along the back side of the stands. He perused.
Eventually, Becca made her way though enough to where she spotted an open door. She ducked inside. It seemed to be some kind of holding room, possibly where they might keep the bulls? Unfortunately, she didn't get the chance to explore before Toni came bursting into the room behind her.
As time passed, and there was still no sign of Becca. Héctor began to grow nervous. She was taking too long.
"You're just being paranoid. I'm sure she fine. Probably just a long line at the food stand," Chuy reasoned, after he'd voiced his concern.
"You don't know that. Something could have happened! I should have gone with her," he lamented.
"She's probably just having trouble finding her way back through the crowd," Perla offered. "Why don't you go try and find her," she suggested.
"Good idea," Héctor agreed, quickly rising and acrobating his way down the stairs.
Chuy just shook his head after him. "He's gone loco over that kid."
"Well – can you blame him?" Perla argued. Chuy just shrugged in response.
Héctor didn't get very far, however. He was making his way down the isle when he bumped into someone quite unexpected. None other than Raúl Domínguez himself! They both froze when they saw each other, before recognition flashed with anger in Raúl's eyes.
"Domínguez," Héctor stated flatly, not showing to be the least bit intimidated.
"Rivera," Raúl said just as coldly. "Played any games lately?" he asked in a jabbing tone.
"Not me. Don't have the time or the dinero for playing games," he answered coolly.
"Don't get smart with me. I know you're harboring that little urchin that assaulted my Antonio!" he accused.
"I'm not sure what you're referring to," Héctor said, continuing to play dumb. He didn't actually have any proof, only the word of his horrid kid, and a sketchy account from his "body guards", who were surprising absent at the moment. Besides, there was no way he was letting him get his hands on Becca!
"You just better keep a leash on that brat, or else next time, she's not gonna be so lucky," Raúl threatened.
"I'll keep that in mind – the next time I come across any 'brats'," Héctor told him, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly. "In fact, that's probably good advice for you too, and that delincuente you call a kid."
Raúl visibly bristled and made a move as though he was going to try and attack Héctor, but then he reined himself back when he remembered how public of a place they were in.
"I'd pummel you until there was nothing left but dust! But that wouldn't be very good for my image," he hissed at Héctor before adjusting his fancy jacket. "So I'd watch my back, if I were you," he threatened.
Héctor felt a bit like a hypocrite, basically doing exactly what he'd told Becca not to do, but he couldn't help it. He didn't like the way this guy was threatening her, and he'd much rather have something happen to him than to Becca. . .
"I have you now!" Toni called menacingly to her, and started slowly advancing.
Becca kept her distance from him, matching his pace as she moved backwards.
"Really? And just what are you gonna do? Knock my head off too? Apparently they reattach, and there's no one here to laugh at me," she reasoned.
Toni seemed to focus on something behind her, which caused Becca to glace over her shoulder momentarily as well. They seemed to be approaching a drop off into some kind of pit below. Becca was forced to stop when she hit the edge. Toni got an evil little look on his face.
"No, I think I have a better idea!"
Toni ran up and pushed her, shoving her back so hard that Becca could feel herself losing her balance. She instinctively grasped out to try and catch herself, but just ended up grabbing Toni, pulling him down with her. They both tumbled over the edge and landed hard on the compacted dirt below.
"Ow," Becca moaned, rubbing at her tailbone where she had hit.
However, she did really have long to think about it, because she suddenly heard an irritated snort. She could feel waves of hot air blowing into her face. Becca opened her eyes and froze when she saw the massive, towering fortress of bones glaring straight down at her. The final bull!
She quickly realized with horror that they must have landed in it's holding pen, and she was sitting right in front of it! The monstrous creature was glaring down at her, and Becca was trying her best to be as still as possible.
She heard another moan near her, and looked over to see Toni push himself up off the ground. "Uh, what happened?" he said aloud.
The bull's attention quickly shifted. The additional noise and movement riling it further. It snorted again and let out a quick bellow before angerly pawing at the ground. Becca knew they needed to do something fast, or else they were going to end up as splinters, but her mind was blank with panic. All she could think to do was smile dumbly up at the thing.
"Uh – ha ha – nice moo moo," she tried weakly coaxing. Needless to say, it didn't work.
The bull reared up with a loud roar, and proceeded to try and charge. Now that it was do or die – again – reflex seemed to take over and Becca scrambled up and dive-rolled to the side, pulling Toni along with her out of the path of the rampaging bull. There was just enough room for them to squeeze against the wall as the giant stampeded his way through the gate and into the arena.
Becca heard a shrill cry of surprise and the pounding of hooves as the monster bull raced around the ring. She got to her feet once again and peered around, trying to find a way out. There wasn't one. The only way to go was through the now broken gate.
"What have you done?!" Toni yelled at her.
"Me?! You were the one who pushed me, you giant jerk-wad!" Becca snapped back. He didn't seem real concerned about her name calling though.
"We've got to get out of here," he realized.
"Oh really? And how do you propose we do that?" Becca asked sarcastically. Toni didn't respond, and just made a bee-line for the gate. Becca followed closely at his heels.
The arena seemed much bigger now that she was down inside it. A quick survey of the area told her that the bull was down on the other side, nervously pacing in circles, looking for something to destroy. This was their chance, if they could find a way out. She wondered if there were any kind of emergency exits or ladders that could get them back up over the wall. Toni had taken the liberty of dashing over towards the gate that the performers came through, trying desperately to open it. He showed no remorse or hesitation of leaving her behind. Typical!
Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be a way to open it from this side. Becca didn't know if it was for safety reasons or if there was just nobody there because the intermission technically wasn't over yet, but no one seemed to be responding to Toni's yells or his hammering on the door. Someone in the crowd did spot them though, and another horrified scream emanated from the audience.
Meanwhile, Héctor had still been arguing with Raúl when they'd been interrupted by a sudden loud crash and a scream. People were hollering and pointing frantically into the arena. So, being the curious and concerned person that he was, Héctor hurried over to see what the fuss was about. He almost lost his eyeballs at what he saw.
The bull had broken out of its holding pen, and was now charging around the ring. But that wasn't what everyone was so upset about. Two kids had also managed to get stuck down in the pit with the monster, and one of them was sporting a very familiar pink T-shirt.
"Becca!" Héctor shouted out in horror as the bull suddenly noticed the kids, and began to charge in their direction.
Becca heard Héctor call her name, just as the monster bull noticed them again. Now with a clear target, it didn't hesitate to begin pounding towards them with devastating intent. Instead of trying to get out of the way, Toni froze with terror. Becca began to picture in her mind the inevitable and tragic outcome of this situation if she didn't do something to help.
So once again, she dove at Toni, pushing him out of the way just before the bull made crashing contact with the wall. This time, instead of just smashing on though, the wall seemed to bend instead of break, bowing out before throwing the bull back.
Even so, she didn't have time to ponder why the gate didn't work the same way as the wall. They were too busy rolling along the ground. Becca managed to get her legs under her during her final roll so that she recovered in a kneeling position with one knee and one fist on the ground, and the other up against her chest, feeling very much like a video game hero.
"Ahh! Stop doing that! I don't need your help!" Toni hollered at her, after he'd finished rolling in a much less graceful way.
"Fine! Next time that bull attacks, you're on your own!" Becca yelled back. She supposed she should have realized that him wanting to work together to get out of this was a long shot. Oh well.
Becca noticed some movement to her right, and was shocked to find that Héctor had jumped into the ring with them and was now sprinting towards her!
"Becca! What are you doing in here!" he demanded when he slid down next to her.
"Trying to avoid getting turned into bone meal," she told him like this should be obvious.
"I mean, why are you here!" he rephrased frantically.
"Well, it's not like I came in here on purpose! This ain't exactly a petting zoo!" she reasoned.
"We've got to get you two out of here!" he said.
Becca gave him a irritated scowl. "Why does everyone keep saying that like I don't already know!" she snapped.
But then, a strange thing happened. There was suddenly a lot of noise from the audience, and Becca realized that they were laughing. She glanced around to see that they were all watching what was happening in the ring. Could they – hear her? Wow, this place must have great acoustics if they could hear what she was saying.
The bull rounded and aimed another attack at the group.
"Scatter!" Héctor ordered as it came closer, and they all dove in different directions, confusing the bull.
A cheer rose up from the crowd. Becca chanced a glance around to see all the people in their seats. Did they think this was part of the act? She regrouped with Héctor behind one of the barricades.
"How are we supposed to get out? The gates are locked from the other side, and no one came to open them when Toni was banging on it before," Becca wondered.
"They won't open the gates with the bull loose. They won't risk it escaping," Héctor explained.
"So what now? Isn't there some kind of – safety measures – for this sort of situation? I mean, this can't be the first time one of these monsters has gone nuts," she reasoned.
"Normally they'd throw in a calming goat to lead it back into the pen, but it's not going to calm down as long as there are still – blancos," he told her in a worrisome tone.
"Huh?" Becca wondered.
"Targets," he clarified.
"You mean – us?" Becca asked. "Are you telling me that they're just going to leave us in here until that thing annihilates us?!" she demanded.
"That isn't going to happen. We just need to get to a wall, and then I'll be able to lift you and Toni out. If you stand on my shoulders, you should be tall enough to reach the edge," he said with a solemn resolve that Becca didn't like the sound of.
"But, what about you?" she asked.
"Don't worry about me. It's mucho más importante to get you kids to safety."
Becca stared at him in shock. If he was suggesting what she thought he was suggesting. . .
"I'm not going to just leave you here!" she exclaimed.
"You don't get a choice. It's better than the bull getting all of us!" he reasoned.
"I'm not abandoning you, Héctor! You can't make me leave!" Becca said firmly with a hard look.
"Terca. . ." he muttered in frustration, shaking his head.
They heard Toni wail behind them as he was being chased by the bull. The crowd sounded like they were enjoying his flailing. Becca thought hard about their situation. How were they going to get out of this? She could only think of one solution.
"So I figure – the only way they'll open the gates is if the bull gets subdued, right?" she thought aloud.
"What? Chiquita, no! You're loco if you think you can. . ."
"Hey, we're already dead. So what do we have to lose?" she pointed out.
"What – did you have in mind?" he asked carefully.
Becca glanced around at the stands. "Well, we've already got the crowd's attention. So – to quote a very famous dead guy – 'It's Showtime!'" she proclaimed with a wide, cheesy grin.
So, another reason why this chapter took so long, was because I had to do a LOT of research about bullfighting to write it. I tried to be as accurate as possible with just a few changes to reflect the fact that it was taking place in the land of the dead. I was planning on including the entire bullfight arc in this chapter, but then it just started getting so long that I decided that I'd have to break it up into two parts. So sorry to have to end things on a - more or less - cliffhanger, but that just means I get to post this part now instead of later. Please let me know what you think. :)