belly. Her eyelids flew open in shock and pain and her hands jerked reflexively off the hilt. Eva's hands replaced them and the long ropy muscles of her arms stood out through her flesh like crawling snakes as she sawed upward all the way to her breastbone and then pulled it gleaming out of her.
She began to fall, blood pulsing from the gaping wound and intestines beginning to ooze their way out of her, pale and red. Ryan took her by the shoulders.
" Do the rest of it! " he shouted. "Or dammit I'll give you right back to them. And I'll give you back alive !"
I could see her blinking rapidly, her body shuddering as in a blast of cold and we watched stunned and amazed — all but Elena, I thought, who must have known all along that this was coming — as the girl reached into the bloody cavity Eva had cut for her and dug out her own living heart steaming in the air and held it in her quaking hand. Eva snatched it from her like an eagle on a mouse and severed the arteries with a single quick stroke of the blade and held it to the crowd and shouted Tezcatlipoca! again and again as Ryan let go of her shoulders and thegirl crumbled to her knees and I turned and delivered up my hardtack and coffee into the brush.
"Good a time as any, I'd say," said Hart. "Mother?"
He nodded. "Come on, Bell."
He pulled me up by the collar, my legs rubbery and weak and we skirted the periphery of the compound. I glanced over and saw that Ryan had the dead girl in his arms and was walking toward the fire pit, his pants and naked belly slick with blood. I saw him raise her up over his head as though she weighed no more than a dog and saw old Eva place the bloodslick heart on the altar beside them. Then all I did was run.
ELEVEN
We were headed for the wide-open doors to the hacienda. I didn't know why or whose idea it was, Hart's or Elena's, and perhaps the same thought had come to them both in some unspoken passage. But Elena knew full well that down to the very last guard they'd all be outside to witness the spectacle on the hilltop. The hacienda would be empty.
We climbed the stairs to the porch and ran inside through a short corridor and I barely had time to register the great elegant room we were in, bathed in candlelight as Elena marched us through and then pointed to the staircase.
"Up there."
"Why?" said Hart.
"The sisters' bedrooms. They'll make their deals inside, down in this room. We'll know when they start."
We took the stairs to the second-floor landing and walked a long wide carpeted corridor red as blood and studded with oil lamps in sconces past a door to our left and then stopped at the next one to our right and she opened it and we stepped inside.
The room was as big as Mother's entire cabin. A single lamp burned on a nighttable beside a beautiful mahogany canopied bed covered in lace. On its headboard was a carving of sheep being torn and devoured by a pack of wolves. Wolves adorned the finials on the bed and those atop the great swing mirror on the dressing table. I saw why she'd selected this room and not the one to our left. This one faced the yard. Through the windows you could see what was going on down there.
Should you want to.
"Maria's room," she said.
"I'll stay by the door," said Hart.
Elena pulled a velvet-backed walnut chair up to the window opposite him and sat with Hart's Winchester across her lap, watching.
Mother flopped down on the bed. It groaned beneath his weight.
I couldn't believe it. All I could do was look.
"I'm guessing it'll be a while yet. Am I right, ma'am?"
"Yes." Her voice was flat and cold.
"Have to take your rest where you find it, Bell."
He had a point I supposed. I suddenly felt exhausted, all we'd done and seen today a heavy weight upon me. I sat down at the foot of the bed beside him.
"I'd kill for a glass of whiskey," I said.
"On the sideboard," said Elena. "If you're fool enough."
I remember I did consider it. I truly did. It was tempting.
Instead I pulled a chair over
She began to fall, blood pulsing from the gaping wound and intestines beginning to ooze their way out of her, pale and red. Ryan took her by the shoulders.
" Do the rest of it! " he shouted. "Or dammit I'll give you right back to them. And I'll give you back alive !"
I could see her blinking rapidly, her body shuddering as in a blast of cold and we watched stunned and amazed — all but Elena, I thought, who must have known all along that this was coming — as the girl reached into the bloody cavity Eva had cut for her and dug out her own living heart steaming in the air and held it in her quaking hand. Eva snatched it from her like an eagle on a mouse and severed the arteries with a single quick stroke of the blade and held it to the crowd and shouted Tezcatlipoca! again and again as Ryan let go of her shoulders and thegirl crumbled to her knees and I turned and delivered up my hardtack and coffee into the brush.
"Good a time as any, I'd say," said Hart. "Mother?"
He nodded. "Come on, Bell."
He pulled me up by the collar, my legs rubbery and weak and we skirted the periphery of the compound. I glanced over and saw that Ryan had the dead girl in his arms and was walking toward the fire pit, his pants and naked belly slick with blood. I saw him raise her up over his head as though she weighed no more than a dog and saw old Eva place the bloodslick heart on the altar beside them. Then all I did was run.
ELEVEN
We were headed for the wide-open doors to the hacienda. I didn't know why or whose idea it was, Hart's or Elena's, and perhaps the same thought had come to them both in some unspoken passage. But Elena knew full well that down to the very last guard they'd all be outside to witness the spectacle on the hilltop. The hacienda would be empty.
We climbed the stairs to the porch and ran inside through a short corridor and I barely had time to register the great elegant room we were in, bathed in candlelight as Elena marched us through and then pointed to the staircase.
"Up there."
"Why?" said Hart.
"The sisters' bedrooms. They'll make their deals inside, down in this room. We'll know when they start."
We took the stairs to the second-floor landing and walked a long wide carpeted corridor red as blood and studded with oil lamps in sconces past a door to our left and then stopped at the next one to our right and she opened it and we stepped inside.
The room was as big as Mother's entire cabin. A single lamp burned on a nighttable beside a beautiful mahogany canopied bed covered in lace. On its headboard was a carving of sheep being torn and devoured by a pack of wolves. Wolves adorned the finials on the bed and those atop the great swing mirror on the dressing table. I saw why she'd selected this room and not the one to our left. This one faced the yard. Through the windows you could see what was going on down there.
Should you want to.
"Maria's room," she said.
"I'll stay by the door," said Hart.
Elena pulled a velvet-backed walnut chair up to the window opposite him and sat with Hart's Winchester across her lap, watching.
Mother flopped down on the bed. It groaned beneath his weight.
I couldn't believe it. All I could do was look.
"I'm guessing it'll be a while yet. Am I right, ma'am?"
"Yes." Her voice was flat and cold.
"Have to take your rest where you find it, Bell."
He had a point I supposed. I suddenly felt exhausted, all we'd done and seen today a heavy weight upon me. I sat down at the foot of the bed beside him.
"I'd kill for a glass of whiskey," I said.
"On the sideboard," said Elena. "If you're fool enough."
I remember I did consider it. I truly did. It was tempting.
Instead I pulled a chair over
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