Chapter 8
Raquel Tanquez thought of the way she’d left her children and shrugged. Her marriage to the wealthy landowner Velaz Tanquez had failed. He’d cut up her credit cards and told her to go to work. Well, that wasn’t going to happen. Now, with five suitcases and four bags, she took a limousine from Kingston airport to Portland, where she took a boat to Rahjah Island. The boat owner had protested. “No one is allowed to go to that island,” he’d said.
“I live there. My family is there. I was on holiday,” she replied.
“You don’t look like them.”
“I don’t have to look like them,” she said with disdain.
“I will not take you up the mountain,” he said in an angry tone.
“All you have to do is get me to the island.” She cursed at him in Portuguese.
He demanded payment, tossed her suitcases on the sand and left.
Raquel stood on the beach and looked toward the mountain. It was an unforgivably hot and humid day. She sat on one suitcase and fanned herself with a folding fan. She pushed the hat down on her head, opened a suitcase, took off her heels and exchanged them for a pair of flat shoes. She began walking. Her suitcases were safe. She would have someone come down to collect them.
Gracie and the twins were taking their evening ride. They dismounted and began walking. Ruth stopped and pointed. “Who’s that walking up the mountain?” she said to her brother.
He turned and looked for a long time without answering. Then a hard look changed his entire countenance and he said, “It looks a lot like Raquel.”
The woman had taken off her shoes and was swinging them in her hand.
“Who’s Raquel?” Gracie asked, noting a look on her friends’ faces she’d never seen before. “Is something wrong?”
“Raquel is our mother,” Ruth replied.
“Should we run to meet her?” Gracie was just about to run down the mountain.
Ruth caught her hand. “We never told you the story about why our mother left us.”
Gracie shook her head.
“She’s not a very nice lady,” David said.
“But she’s your mother. All mothers...”
“We know, you’ve said it many times, but believe me, our mother is different,” David said.
Gracie ignored her friends and began leading her mare toward the woman.
Raquel saw the children and, almost out of breath, waved. “My children, Mother is home,” she shouted. Breathing hard, she stopped to rest.
Still the children lagged behind Gracie as she waved and said, “Welcome.”
When they finally reached her, Raquel said, “You’re not glad to see your mother, children? It’s been a very long time. Have I changed that much?”
“No, ma’am,” they both replied with their heads down and their hands at their side.
“Then give your mother a big hug.” She opened her arms but neither of the children moved into her embrace.
She looked over at Gracie. “And who might you be? I’ve never seen you before.”
“I’m Gracie. I live on the next mountain. Where did you go?”
Raquel took a deep breath and looked at Gracie. “Oh, I see, you people have made nice.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Gracie said.
“Well, you run down and get my things. They’re down there.” She pointed behind her. “The boatman was a very nasty person. He refused to bring them up.”
Gracie looked in the direction she pointed. “What kind of things, ma’am?”
“My suitcases. Now go, shoo.”
Gracie got on her horse and rode down the mountain, but when she saw the many suitcases, she shouted back, “I cannot carry all these things, ma’am.”
Raquel ignored her. The children looked at their mother and mounted their horses. “We’ll go and help,” David said.
“No, she can carry them. Those people are stronger than they let on.”
The children ignored their mother and pushed their horses into a gallop down the mountain. There was no way they could have carried the heavy cases. They had no way of hooking them onto the horses. Plus, they were too heavy for them to lift. Gracie took up a make-up case and began walking up the mountain with the case while Ruth and David took up two other bags that weren’t very heavy.
“Maybe she’s changed,” Gracie said to the twins.
They didn’t answer. They didn’t want to tell Gracie that they were more afraid of their mother than anything else.
Hoping for a rousing welcome, Raquel had walked ahead and left the children. When she got to the village, she said in a loud voice, “I’m home.”
“You’ve come back.” Ludy had been her only friend in the village. It was more of a question than a statement of joy.
“Yes. Are you glad to see me, my friend?”
“I guess...I guess so,” Ludy said. “We didn’t know you were coming. You should have sent word. Where are your things?”
“They’re on the beach. I told someone named Gracie to bring them.”
“Gracie is a child, Raquel. She cannot carry your heavy suitcases and, if I know you, and I do, you have a lot.”
Raquel waved her hand impatiently. “Well, send someone to fetch them then. Where is my husband?”
“Who?” Ludy cocked her ear as if she didn’t know of whom Raquel spoke.
“My husband Saul.” The pleasantness disappeared from her voice.
“Oh. He’s away until next week.”
Raquel was disappointed. “Well, it will give me a chance to make amends with his people.” She looked around and saw that everyone was busy doing something. She looked towards Saul’s parents’ cottage just as they came out. She waved to them.
Nanuk and Daniel looked at each other and walked to Raquel. “You shouldn’t be here,” Nanuk said.
“Why not? My children are here, and so is my husband.”
“You don’t understand the ways of the Rahjahs, do you? We tried to teach you our ways, my dear,” Nanuk said softly.
“No, it is you who do not know my way. Send someone for my things. They are on the beach.” With that, she turned and walked toward Saul’s home.
Daniel shook his head and sighed. “Just when things had become whole again. Just when we are one people again, the very cause walks in. Is the devil that strong?” He turned to his wife.
“Not this time, Dan. Not this time.” She shook her head. “Saul will be furious when he sees her.”
“What can we do?” Daniel asked.
“We have to contact the Elders from both mountains. We have to do this thing together.” She saw the children walking up with three small bags and smiled. “Oh, my children.” She took the bags and handed them to Ludy. “We’ll send someone for the rest after supper.”
Ludy nodded and took the bags to Raquel.
Raquel turned when she saw Ludy come into the cottage. “Little has changed,” she said, looking around. Her portrait was not on the wall. In its place were paintings of horses and mountains. She scowled at Ludy. “Put them in my room.”
“You can say please,” Ludy said.
She was sad to see that reminders of her had been removed from Saul’s home as if she no longer existed. Then she smiled and turned to Ludy. “I know he still hates me. Heck, everyone hates me.”
“You did a lot of damage when you were here,” Ludy said.
“Will you help me get him back on my side? He loves you. You’re his cousin.”
“We’re all cousins and brothers and sisters and aunts...”
“I get it,” Raquel said impatiently. “But you’ll help me?”
“I don’t know what I can do, Raquel. You have to show him that you’ve changed. I can’t tell him to love you, and you can’t tell him to love you.”
“Is there someone else?” she asked point-blank, looking directly at Ludy, knowing that she didn’t lie.
Ludy shook her head. “Not that I know of.”
“He still travels a lot?”
Ludy nodded.
Raquel heaved a sigh. “Not if I can help it. He needs to be here so that I can show him that I’ve changed.”
Ludy shook her head and left the cottage. Her friend had not changed at all. But just maybe, if she kept telling herself that she’d changed, she would.
Gracie saw the sadness on her friends’ faces. She’d never seen them like that before. “Do you want to stay with me until your dada comes home?”
They both looked at her and nodded. “We’ll ask our grandparents.”
Of course Nanuk and Daniel said it was all right. Saul had left them in charge of their grandchildren.
The children went inside and packed quickly, but not quick enough. Raquel came into their room. “What are you doing?”
“We’re sleeping over at Gracie’s,” David said.
“No, I just got here. You cannot go anywhere unless I say so.”
“But Grampa and Grangran said it was all right,” Ruth protested.
“I’m here now. They cannot tell you what to do, that’s my job.”
“But...” David said.
“No buts. Go get washed up for supper.”
“Can we at least tell Gracie we can’t go with her?” Tears came to Ruth’s eyes and her brother hugged her.
“I’ll tell her.” Raquel marched out of the room and stood on the verandah. “You.” She pointed to Gracie. “You can go home; Ruth and David are not coming with you.” She turned and walked back inside the cottage.
Gracie looked weepily at Nanuk.
“It’s all right, Gracie, you can come back tomorrow, or they will come to see you. We promise.”
“Really, you promise?” She looked into Nanuk’s eyes and wiped the tears from her cheek.
“Yes.”
Gracie mounted her mare and rode sadly home.
Pamela immediately noticed something was wrong when Gracie got home and went directly to her room. She slowly pushed the door open and sat on the bed. Gracie was crying. “Gracie,” Pamela said, knowing her daughter didn’t cry unless there was a very good reason. “What’s the matter, my little darling?”
Gracie got up and hugged her mother. “Their mother came back, Mama. She wasn’t very nice to me. Ruth and David wanted to come and stay with us but she said no.”
Pamela hugged her daughter. “Their mother is back?” she said, feeling a dull ache crawl up her shoulders.
Gracie nodded.
Pamela searched for words to comfort her daughter. “Maybe she wants to spend time with them, sweetie. She hasn’t seen them in a very long time.”
Gracie nodded.
“You know how much I’d miss you if I went away for a long time?”
“But you won’t ever go away for a long time, will you?”
Pamela shook her head. “No, my little one, I won’t.”
Gracie looked into her mother’s eyes. “You like Uncle Saul, don’t you, Mama?”
Wondering why Gracie had asked the question, Pamela met her daughter’s gaze. “Of course I do, dear.”
“Then you can send her away.”
“Oh, my little one, I can’t do that. She came to see her children. She’ll leave soon.”
“Are you sure, Mama?”
Pamela couldn’t say yes. “I believe so.”
Gracie nodded. “Can I rest for a little while before supper?”
“Of course, dear.” Pamela felt Gracie’s little forehead, kissed her cheek and smoothed her hair. “You’re not feeling ill, are you, dear?”
“No, Mama, just a little tired.” She crawled up to her pillow and lay down.
“Okay then, I’ll come get you in a few minutes.” She left the room.
She couldn’t believe that Saul’s woman was back. She walked in a daze to Myah’s cottage and knocked on the door. Myah opened the door and frowned at Pamela’s face. “What’s the matter? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost. Come in.”
Pamela walked into the living room. “No, I didn’t see a ghost, but you may think one has come back.” She sat on a cushion. “Raquel is back.” She looked up just as Myah seemed to fall onto the cushion next to her.
“Are you sure? Who told you? When did she come back?”
“Seems as if she arrived not too long ago. Gracie came home very upset. The twins wanted to sleep over but Raquel wouldn’t let them.”
Myah sat staring at Pamela. “Oh, Jah. Not again. We’re one. We just mended fences.”
“Is she that bad?”
“You have no idea.”
“Will Saul take her back?” The question came out before Pamela had a chance to think. She hoped Myah wouldn’t read anything into it.
Myah shook her head. “Absolutely not. She made him extremely unhappy in every way. It took a long time for him to heal after she’d left.”
“But wasn’t he the one who sent her away?”
“Yes. Although he told her that she could come back and visit the children whenever she wanted to, he hoped she would never come back.”
“Maybe she doesn’t have an ulterior motive. Maybe she just came to see the children.”
Myah nodded, but she didn’t really believe it. She thought of the things that Raquel had done and said to cause the rift between her people and shook her head. “Oh, Jah,” she said again.
“Saul will be back next week,” Pamela said. “Maybe she’ll be gone by then.”
“We can only hope.”
Word of Raquel’s arrival spread quickly, and at supper that was all the Rahjahs spoke about. For the first time in a long while, Pamela was quiet. For someone who almost always had a ravenous appetite, she didn’t seem to be very hungry this evening. Mary patted her hand. “Everything will be all right, Pammy. You know the saying, what a fi you cannot be unfi you,” she said in Patoi.
Pamela placed a finger to her lips. “I told you not to say anything.”
“And I haven’t, but still one has to wonder if she came back to beg him to take her back.”
“Then so be it. There really isn’t anything between us. We saw each other a few times and talked...”
“And he brought you presents.”
“He brought me books, Mary. He brought me books from his library.”
“Because he knew you loved to read.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean anything. I bet he doesn’t even remember me.”
“Phooey. You should have seen the way he looked at you when you two were dancing.”
“Stop reading signs that aren’t there.” Frustration seemed to take hold of her. She didn’t know exactly what the relationship was between her and Saul, and now she may never find out.
Myah came to sit with them and Mary stopped talking. “Devon came to my cottage right after you left,” she said to Pamela. “He had to go down and haul up five suitcases. She is in no hurry to leave. She began ordering the men around once more. And here’s the worst part: She ordered supper to be brought to her cottage and didn’t allow the children to eat with the others, either.”
Mary nodded and Pamela shook her head.
“Oh, Jah,” Pamela said. “Maybe she was just tired after her long trip and wanted to talk with the children. You know how we mothers are.” She smiled.
“I know that you’re not naïve, Pammy,” Myah said.
“And I’m no fool. We have to give her the benefit of the doubt.”
Myah nodded. “Okay, I’ll try to see things your way. I’ll think positive. But, frankly, I’m positive she’s come to start some kind of trouble again.”
“I like the first part of your sentence,” Pamela said, smiling. “We could invite her up for tea tomorrow. What do you think?” Pamela looked at Myah.
“Okay.” She didn’t feel very optimistic. “We’ll invite a few of the other women, too.”
They all agreed.
Gracie didn’t eat much supper and afterwards crawled into her mother’s bed.
“Read to me, Mama,” she said.
“Should we take turns?” Pamela asked her.
She shook her head. “No, I just want you to read to me tonight. I’ll read to you tomorrow.”
They heard a light knocking at the door. Pamela got up and opened the door to see two children standing there in their nightgowns. She smiled and hugged Ruth and David. “How did you get here?”
“Grampa brought us,” David whispered.
“But I thought your mother said you couldn’t come.
“Grampa is more powerful than our mother,” Ruth replied, laughing.
“Let’s surprise Gracie,” Pamela said. “Why don’t you go into her room and I’ll get her.”
They nodded, giggled and did as they were told.
Pamela looked out and saw Daniel on his horse. She walked out to speak with him. He got down off his horse as she approached.
“Thank you, Daniel.”
“The children were very sad, so their grandmother and I thought it best that they come to be with Gracie.”
She nodded and looked away for a moment. “If you don’t mind, will you extend an invitation to Raquel for me?”
He smiled and nodded.
“Will you tell her I would like it if she would have tea with us tomorrow after the children’s discussion.”
“Yes, I will.” He gave a short bow. “Have a good night.”
“I will, and thanks again.”
He nodded, got back on his horse and rode off.
When she got back into the house, Ruth had become a bit restless. She stood at the door and tried to stifle a giggle.
Gracie heard her friend’s laughter and jumped out of bed. “You came.”
Ruth and David rushed to her. She hugged them both. “I’ll sleep in my room now, Mama.”
“I thought you might.” Pamela lit the lamp and gave it to Gracie. “Don’t stay up too late. Remember, you have school tomorrow.”
“We can go to school with Gracie tomorrow,” Ruth said, showing Pamela her knapsack.
“Very good.” She kissed all three children as they laughed and went to Gracie’s room. Gracie was back to her old self again. There was another knock on the door and Shaela appeared with her pillow. Pamela laughed and pushed her head out to see Mary standing at her door. She waved and closed the door. She took a deep breath and went back to her room. Her daughter was happy, and so was she. She picked up a history book Saul had given her and slipped her feet under the covers.
For some reason she couldn’t concentrate. Why did Raquel have to come back? Did she come to visit her children, whom she had not seen in years? Pamela sat upright. Why had she not seen her children in over four years when the invitation had been extended for her to return whenever she wished? The entire village had resented her, but that was her own fault.
She took a deep breath, flopped backward and picked up a different book. It didn’t take very long for her to fall asleep.