And now, decades later, she still guarded that secret like a watchdog. Don Erasmo and Jacinto circled the vault, checking the boxes, counting the coins with their eyes, making sure everything was still in its place. Then they went up the tunnel, their voices fading until they were gone. Catalina waited in the darkness, trembling, until she was sure they were gone. Then she lit the torch again, looked one last time at the chained corpse, and made another decision—a decision that would change everything.
She wasn’t going to let Don Erasmo get away with it. She wasn’t going to let that gold, stained with blood and injustice, remain buried while her children starved. And she wasn’t going to let the soul of that poor wretch, chained up, remain trapped down there, without rest, without justice, without peace. Catalina took one of the smaller boxes, hoisted it with effort, and climbed up the tunnel. She knew what she was doing was dangerous. She knew Don Eraserasmo would kill her if he found out, but she also knew she had nothing left to lose, and that sometimes when there’s nothing left, the only option is to fight.
Catalina carried the box to the grotto, hiding it among the rocks at the back, under the serape and some loose stones she arranged so it wouldn’t be seen. The children were fast asleep, exhausted from hunger and fatigue, and noticed nothing. Catalina sat beside them, her hands still trembling, and tried to gather her thoughts. She possessed a fortune that wasn’t hers, but neither was it from charity. It was a stolen treasure, stained with blood, guarded by a dead man who had never received justice.
And now she, a poor and desperate widow, had become the sole witness to that old crime that still lingered in the shadows. But Catalina knew she couldn’t simply take the gold and leave. Don Erasmo and Jacinto were watching the place. If they noticed anything was missing, they would search for her, and when they found her, there would be no mercy. They would accuse her of theft, imprison her, and leave her children abandoned. She needed a plan, she needed help, and above all, she needed evidence of what Don Erasmo had done so that the truth would come to light and she wouldn’t be the only one to blame.
