mouth is clamped so tight he cannot eat. He wastes away. He is dying—”
They were silent for a long time, each one thinking about the evil thing that befell their brother.
“But didn’t you go to Tenorio?” my mother asked.
“Papá was against it. He would not believe in this witchcraft thing. But Juan and Pablo and myself went to Tenorio and confronted him, but we could not charge him with anything because we had no proof. He only laughed at us and told us he was within his right to shoot us if we made an accusation against him without proof. And he had his ring of coyotes around him in the saloon. He said he had witnesses if we tried anything, and so we had to leave. He laughed at us.”
“Ay, he is an evil man,” my mother shuddered.
“Evil begets evil,” my uncle said. “His wife was known to make clay dolls and prick them with needles. She made many people of the valley sick, some died from her curses. She paid for her sins, but not before she delivered three brujas to carry on her work in our peaceful valley—”
“I am ready,” Ultima interrupted.
I turned to see her standing, watching us. She carried only her small black satchel. She was dressed in black and her head scarf crossed over her face so that only her bright eyes shone. She bore herself with dignity, and although she was very small she was ready to do battle with all the terrible evil about which I had just heard.
“Grande,” my mother went to her and hugged her, “it is such a difficult task we ask you to do, but you are our last hope.”
Ultima remained motionless. “Evil is not easy to destroy,” she said, “one needs all the help one can get.” She looked at me and her gaze made me step forward. “The boy will have to go with me,” she whispered.
“What?” My mother was startled.
“Antonio must go with me. I have need of him,” Ultima repeated softly.
“I will go,” I said.
“But why?” my mother asked.
My uncle answered the question. “He is a Juan—”
“Ay.”
“And he has strong Luna blood—”
“Ave María Purísima,” my mother muttered.
“It must be so if you want your brother cured,” Ultima decreed.
My mother looked at her brother. My uncle only shrugged. “Whatever you say, Grande,” my mother said. “It will be good for Anthony to see his uncles—”
“He does not go to visit,” Ultima said solemnly.
“I will prepare some clothing—”
“He must go as he is,” Ultima said. She turned to me. “Do you want to help your uncle, Antonio?” she asked.
“Yes,” I replied.
“It will be hard,” she said.
“I do not mind,” I answered, “I want to help.”
“And if people say you walk in the footsteps of a curandera, will you be ashamed?”
“No, I will be proud, Ultima,” I said emphatically.
She smiled. “Come, we waste precious time—” My uncle and I followed her outside and into the truck. Thus began our strange trip.
“Adiós,” my mother called, “¡Cuidado! ¡Saludos a papá, y a todos! ¡Adiós!”
“¡Adiós!” I called. I turned and waved goodbye.
The drive to El Puerto was always a pleasant one, but today it was filled with strange portents. Across the river where lonely farms dotted the hills, whirlwinds and dust devils darkened the horizon. I had never seen anything like it, we seemed to travel a sea of calmness but all around the sky darkened. And when we arrived at the village we saw the horned day-moon fixed exactly between the two dark mesas at the southern end of the valley!
“The moon of the Lunas,” my uncle remarked, breaking the silence of the entire trip.
“It is a good sign,” Ultima nodded. “That is why they call this place El Puerto de la Luna,” she said to me, “because this valley is the door through which the moon of each month passes on its journey from the east to the west—”
So it was fitting that these people, the Lunas, came to settle in this valley. They planted their crops and cared for their animals according to the cycles of the moon. They lived their lives, sang their songs, and died under the changing moon. The moon was their goddess.
But why was the weather so strange today? And why had Ultima brought me? I wanted to help, but how was I to help? Just because my name was Juan? And what was it about my innocent Luna blood that was to help lift the curse from my uncle? I did not