Padre Mandujano wanted to punish the ilol but some men restrained him from behind. Catalina broke the whip against her knee and it was like a signal. Some with sticks, others with machetes, the rest brandishing stones, all of them hurled themselves onto Padre Manuel. When they went away, there was nothing left but a sickening mass of bones and blood. The sacristan Xaw Ramírez Paciencia, who was with him, escaped only by a miracle.

XXVI

CHAPTER XXVI

XAW RAMÍREZ PACIENCIA was afraid. Ever since he had returned to San Juan, alone (because Padre Manuel still had matters to take care of in Ciudad Real), he saw nothing around him but inexpressive faces, forced bows. And Xaw needed his people’s respect, their sympathy. He was not used to being feared, much less hated. Every since Padre Manuel’s ill-fated arrival in Chamula, something very similar to fear and hatred had been pushing Xaw farther and farther away from his tribe.

The sacristan had taken to drinking to chase away his sorrows. He drank with the saints’ mayordomos during the sacred ceremonies which began again in the priest’s absence. But he no longer found, even in alcohol, the words to make the others understand him.

And the mayordomos neglected their tasks. The strings of tecolúmate flowers withered on the altars and the pine needles had taken on the yellow color, the dry and brittle texture they have when they are about to die.

Xaw understood that something was happening. He did not want to ask what, since no one would have answered him. All he needed was to see the direction the pilgrimages were setting off in: the village of Tzajal-hemel.

Xaw continued drinking, now without companions. He rang the bells of the parish church at any random moment of the day when his anguish became intolerable and he needed to make a loud noise to break the brooding silence.

When Padre Manuel returned to San Juan, Xaw did not know whether to rejoice or to flee. He wanted to convince the priest to dismount from his horse and rest for a while in the sacristy. But Padre Manuel was in a hurry. He answered the sacristan’s hesitant suggestions with a friendly tap of his whip. What did he have to fear? He was accompanied by several armed men, among them Rubén Martínez, who had been sent with him by Leonardo Cifuentes (without Don Alfonso Canaveral’s knowledge) in order to protect him.

Xaw would rather have stayed in San Juan, but the party needed a guide and he had to lead the way to Tzajal-hemel.