And then she heard Lupita’s scream, a sharp cry of terror that tore at her soul. Catalina jumped to her feet and ran inside, but Jacinto was already coming out with the gold box in his hands. He had found it, and behind him came the other two cowboys, dragging Tomás by the arm. The boy’s face was covered in tears, and his shirt was torn. Lupita and Carlitos were crying at the back of the grotto, hidden in the shadows.
Don Erasmo looked at the box, then at Catalina, and then he laughed. A dry, humorless laugh, full of contempt, told her she was a thief, that she had stolen what wasn’t hers, and that now she was going to pay for it. He told her he would turn her over to the authorities, that she would be put in jail, and that her children would end up in an orphanage or starving to death in the streets. Catalina felt the world crumbling around her, but then, from the depths of her despair, she found one last spark of courage.
She looked Don Erasmo in the eye and said in a clear, strong voice that she knew the truth, that she knew about the chained corpse in the tunnel, that she knew the gold was stolen, that she knew Don Erasmo was a murderer and that Father Anselmo knew it too, that she had already sent a message to the city authorities, that the truth would come out sooner or later. Don Erasmo’s face changed; his smile vanished.
Her expression replaced by one of cold fury, she told Jacinto to shut her up. Jacinto took a step toward Catalina, raising his rifle and pointing it at her chest. Catalina closed her eyes, waiting for the shot, thinking of her children, praying that someone would take care of them when she was gone. But the shot never came. Instead, she heard another voice, a voice coming from the road, a loud, authoritarian voice, shouting for them to lower their weapons. Catalina opened her eyes and saw something she never thought she would see.
