Chapter Ten, Part One

The next two days followed a pattern of father-daughter horseback rides followed by Amalia taking Sophie under her wing to bake cookies or write letters while Robert talked on the radio with Sam and his other contacts in the United States, or discussed the future of radio and telephone with Miguel. When the third day dawned overcast, however, Robert told his daughter that there would be no horseback riding that day.

"It's not going to rain," she insisted, peering out the window. "And even if it did, I've ridden in the rain before."

"It's different up here in the mountains," Robert told her. "Storms come up suddenly and can be very dangerous."

"Well, I don't know what I'm going to do if I can’t go out.” The girl sighed.

Amalia came to the rescue. "Have you ever painted before?"

Sophie shook her head. "I used to practice drawing with Mom. I have her pencils."

"How about I teach you how to do watercolors?"

With Amalia and Sophie at the school's art studio, Robert was left to his own devices. It was the first time he had been alone in the rambling house, and he took the opportunity to walk the rooms, examining paintings, books and knick-knacks more closely. Most of the items belonged to Miguel or had been acquired by Amalia since her time with the Unitas faction in the civil war. She, like Diana, had seen her life upended by the federal raid that came to be known as the Valle Redondo Massacre. Although Amalia’s home had not been destroyed like Diana’s, it was left uninhabitable. And so she and her ward Will took Diana with them into a nomadic lifestyle that didn’t allow for the accumulation of many personal items. Nevertheless, Robert recognized a weather-beaten Bible and Collected Works of Shakespeare on a shelf. Amalia had considered these items essential gear during the war years and read from them to Diana and Will each night.

Robert wondered if Diana had ever recognized the subtle irony of being raised on such fare when her own life could have so easily been fodder for a Biblical tale or the Bard's imagination. What must it have been like for her, growing up feeling like no place was safe? It was no wonder Kentucky, with its peaceful green hills, had appealed to her. But even there, she hadn't been safe from the betrayals of her own body. A smiting from God, or a cruel Shakespearian twist?

Or was it nothing at all? Robert was disinclined to assign to the supernatural what could be explained by science, but it did seem at times that someone with a sick sense of humor had written her life story, including the many misunderstandings that had kept the two of them apart after they first fell in love.

Robert had sacrificed much to be with Diana, and this thought made him return to his room and once again retrieve the leather folio that contained the letter offering him a position in Santa Fe.