فصل سوم

3

Just a Mouse

Yes, Mercedes had a brother. Pedro was one of the men hiding in the forest, a Maqui, as they called themselves, a resistance fighter, hiding from the very soldiers Mercedes cooked and cleaned for.

Capitán Vidal and his officers were planning the hunt for those men when Mercedes walked in with the bread, cheese, and wine he had ordered. At one time the table on which they’d spread their map used to serve meals to the miller and his family. Now all it served was death. Death and fear.

The flames dancing in the fireplace painted shadows of knifes and rifles onto the whitewashed walls and the faces bending over the map. Mercedes put her tray down and cast an unsuspicious glance at the marked army positions.

“The guerrillas stick to the forest because it’s hard to track them there.” Vidal’s voice was as expressionless as his face. “The scum knows the terrain much better than we do. We’ll therefore block all access to the woods. Here. And here.” He brought his black-gloved finger down on the map like a missile.

Pay attention, Mercedes. And tell your brother what they are planning, or he’ll be dead in a week.

“Food, medicine, we’ll store it all. Right here.” Vidal pointed at the spot that marked the mill. “We need to force them down from the hills. That way they’ll come to us.” Here, Mercedes. They’ll store it all here!

She took her time laying the food out on the table, glad that she was completely invisible to them, just a maid, just part of the room like the chairs and the firewood.

“We’ll set up three new command posts. Here, here, and here.” Vidal placed bronze markers on the map. Mercedes didn’t take her eyes off his gloved fingers. That’s what she was: the eyes and ears of the rabbits they hunted, as silent and invisible as a mouse.

“Mercedes!”

She forgot to breathe when the black glove grabbed her shoulder.

Vidal’s eyes were narrow with suspicion. He is always suspicious, Mercedes, she thought, calming her racing heart. He liked to watch his gaze spread fear on a face, but she’d played this game often enough to not give herself away. Just a mouse. Invisible. She’d be done for if he ever came to believe that she was a cat or a vixen.

“Ask Dr. Ferreira to come down.”

“Yes, señor.”

She bent her head to make herself small. Most men didn’t want a woman to be tall. Vidal was no exception.

Three command posts. And food and medicine stored at the mill.

Now that would come in handy.