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“Please don’t tell me it was about marriage again!” Cristóbal gave a helpless shrug. “What was I supposed to say? He’s not a bad man. He has half a dozen mules and a shed full of chickens. You’d never go hungry.”
The way it used to be
“When two creatures pair up—be it people or animals—there has to come a time of parting. Perhaps it began when God separated the earth from the water. Dry land and sea. And the rain that falls on the mountain spends a lifetime finding its way back to the place it belongs.”
“Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know. That kind of fear kills you without you realizing. Like bleeding inside.”
It had been yet another shocking revelation in the harrowing litany of war crimes: that Hitler had destroyed thousands of Gypsies in the same monstrous way he had wiped out Jews.
“‘All shall be well, all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.’”
a tostada. A long bread roll cut in half lengthways, it was spread with tomato puree and slices of melted manchego cheese. It was delicious—but difficult to eat without showering her clothes with crumbs and smearing the sides
Lifting the edges of the yellow blanket that covered the baby, she tucked the garlic beneath the mattress so that Rafaelito was encircled by it. “Why are you doing that?” Rose’s curiosity got the better of her. This time her voice was a little steadier. Juanita glanced at the sky. “The heat of the sun will bring out the smell,” she said. “It drives away any snakes that might come near.”
“They send them to families the government approves of so they’ll grow up as payos, not Gypsies. To save the race. That’s what General Franco says.” It was horribly familiar. Like Hitler all over again. Rose was only too aware of Franco’s Nazi sympathies. But she had never imagined that the evil doctrine of racial purity would outlive Hitler; that in a time of supposed peace, babies would be snatched from their mothers because of their kawlo rat. Their dark blood.
Apparently, this part of the Alhambra had been built during a period of tolerance and an exchange of cultural ideas between Christians and Muslims. Rose blew out a breath. That was six hundred years ago. Why couldn’t people be more tolerant now? Had human beings learned nothing in more than half a millennium?
Nope. Sadly, no.
Migas was a dish she’d never heard of before coming to Spain. Breadcrumbs fried in pork fat and garlic, served with whatever else you might have in the larder.
“. . . y soltero que lo bebe con intención de casarse no falla! Pues al instante novia tiene.” . . . and a single man who drinks it with the intention of getting married—you cannot fail! You will instantly find a sweetheart.
The longer she looked, the more convinced she became of a resemblance. But as a scientist, Rose knew that it was all too easy to get the answer that you wanted from a few unsubstantiated facts. She was letting her heart rule her head.
Confirmation Bias
And while it wasn’t the answer she would have wished for, there was a kind of peace in knowing it. Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know. That kind of fear kills you without you realizing. Like bleeding inside.
She thought about the story Zoltan had told her, about the traveler caught in a blizzard on top of the mountain, who had prayed for help and seen a vision of the Virgin Mary. What was it Zoltan had said? He begged to be saved, if he was worthy.
IF…
Faith was not about facts or certainties; otherwise it wouldn’t be faith. Believing was what counted. Even when the odds seemed impossible. Did she believe?
Was she the sort of person who could believe in a benevolent creator only when things were going well?
not to forgive someone is like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die.”
