Catalina shook her head, but told him what she had overheard when Don Erasmo and Jacinto were there. She said that Don Erasmo had mentioned something about the wretched Medina family and that he had said that gold had cost many lives. The lieutenant took notes and told her that this information would be crucial to the investigation. They went back to the surface, and the lieutenant ordered the entire area cordoned off. Two soldiers remained guarding the entrance to the cellar, and two others were sent into town to gather more information about the Medina family and the old rumors of missing treasure.
Don Erasmo and Jacinto were taken to the town, handcuffed and mounted on their own horses, escorted by soldiers. The townspeople came out into the streets to watch them pass. And the murmurs grew like a swarm of bees. Some couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Others, those who had suffered under Don Erasmo’s yoke for years, felt something inside them loosen, as if a rope that had strangled them for decades had finally snapped. That night, Catalina and her children slept at Father Anselmo’s house.
The priest prepared a simple supper of chicken broth and warm tortillas for them, and gave them a small but clean room with a real bed and sheets that smelled of soap. The children fell asleep almost immediately, exhausted from everything they had experienced. Catalina stayed awake a while longer, sitting by the window, gazing at the stars and trying to process everything that had happened. Father Anselmo sat beside her and offered her a cup of hot tea.
