“For that very reason the news of his death has prostrated him. At his age, heavy blows can no longer be endured.”

“He must have lost his mind! That’s the only explanation for how he could have said what he said.”

“All right,” Leonardo proposed. “Let’s leave Don Alfonso in peace since, for the moment, thank God, he is not indispensable. And let’s think about the measures that have to be taken.”

“The most important one has already been taken: our leader is you.”

Leonardo made a quick bow.

“I’ve sent telegrams to Tuxtla, to Mexico. . . .”

“People in Tuxtla won’t waste this opportunity to-do us a bad turn. We’re old rivals.”

“What’s more, I have it on good authority that Fernando Ulloa is there, talking to the governor.”

“Don’t worry, gentlemen. The governor will do only what those above him order him to do.”

“And it’s easier for us to reach those above him than a mere employee like Ulloa.”

“I have a finca in the municipality of Chamula!”

“And I have some cultivated land at the edge of it.”

“Those worthless Indians are going to demolish the stores.”

“I already distributed weapons among the peons.”

“And if they use them against you?”

“How could they desert me now? They’re Ladinos, too.”

“But poor Ladinos.”

“They’re not trustworthy.”

“What else can you do? There’s no other pole to hang yourself from.”

“If the Indian uprising spreads, the first to die will be the peons on the ranches and the Ladinos who live on the outskirts of town.”

“They’ll have to be warned.”

“They already know from experience, hermano. It’s always happened the same way.”

“If only we could get some information about what’s happening in Chamula.”

“Those Indians are so crafty! They’re going to be on top of us when we’re unprepared.”

“The man who delivers wood to my house told me he’s seen flickering lights in the hills for several nights now.”

“They’re already gathering together.”

“There are no such lights. Those are fires. It’s the season for burning off the fields.”

“That’s easier to believe than to verify.”

“I have verified it,” Cifuentes said.

The others looked at him in admiration. To a respectful silence, he continued, “I don’t know if all of you remember a woman named Doña Mercedes Solórzano.”

“How could we forget her! We knew her so well!”

“What times we had then!”

“Now don’t you start bragging. You were always the one with cold feet.”

Cifuentes let them have their fun for a while. In the end, he would be the only one left holding the reins.

“So what did you want to tell us about the old gal?”

“Oh the favors you owe her, compadre!”

“She serves the man who knows how to repay her.”