THEY FOUND THE HIGHWAY AGAIN AND TACKED EAST, THREADING out of the mountains and slaloming between acres of rolling scrubland and pasture. Hills on the horizon. What had taken two days on horseback with Felipo took a couple of hours by SUV. Luz didn’t speak, and neither did Cecilia while she drove. Oziel made phone calls and drummed his fingers on his knees.
Cecilia took the turnoff toward Las Monarcas, and the town appeared—a collection of shimmering structures among sun-soaked foothills. The sicaria pulled the Suburban over to the side of the road and parked. Luz could see the dome of the church. A silver radio tower. The place had been her home, and it would be again. Somewhere in there grew the monarch tree, but in her memory this was the only detail in a picture that had been all but scrubbed blank. Las Monarcas was there, right there, but it didn’t move her. She had spent years assimilating to another place, after all, which meant effacing her home’s context—her former life.
“I hope you don’t mind if we let you walk from here,” Oziel said.
“That’s fine.”
“You seem less than happy.”
“I’m all right.”
“Luz. Permit me to say something before you go on your way.”
“Okay.”
He took out his cigarettes and lit one. He smoked and tapped the yellowed filter and smiled. “You are a special woman, Luz. Like she is.” He pointed to his niece. Cecilia didn’t turn to look. Oziel went on. “I can feel your potential. Welling up, searching for an outlet, like a spring in a mountainside.” He exhaled smoke and let his arm hang out of the open window. “What I am saying is, though I do not know your history, I can see that going back to this home of yours is not the best thing for you. Particularly if you have not been back in a long time.”
He waited for a response, but she didn’t say anything.
He continued, “I predict that you will be unsatisfied unless you can find some venture that actively challenges you and your being, therein offering the opportunities you will require for constant vindication. You are like us.” He pointed to himself and to his niece. “It will be as I said to you when we met. There is no going back. There is no such thing as being along for the ride.”
Luz let his words wash over her. “Thank you for helping me with Felipo. I just want to go home.”
“Very well.” He sighed. “Do me this favor—” He produced a blank business card and wrote a phone number on it. “Call in the event you need something more.”
Luz put the card in her pocket but didn’t say anything. Cecilia turned her head and briefly nodded good-bye. Luz opened the door and got out.
“Ah!” Oziel said. “Do not forget this!” He was holding out the large silver knife in the leather sheath.
Luz looked at it for a moment, then numbly reached and took it. She rolled it up in the army sweatshirt and put it under her arm. She shut the door and started off. The vehicle turned and pealed away behind her, clawing through gears. It was gone soon enough.