Wind of Destiny

by Christopher Nicole

  ‘Oh indeed, Your Excellency, I entirely understand.’

  ‘By the same token, therefore, there will be no executions, no beatings, no tortures and above all, no rapes. No single woman must bear the marks of ill-treatment on her body. I wish that clearly understood.’

  ‘Yes, Your Excellency,’ Lumbrera said, with some disappointment.

  ‘Very good. You will start collecting these people the moment the camp is completed. Now, what of this girl you have been holding here? I am told she is of a good family.’

  ‘Well, her father was a wealthy planter,’ Lumbrera said. ‘But he led his own people into the hills to fight with the rebels, and got himself killed. Her brother is still up there, however, and I am certain she knows something of his plans and movements. But she is very stubborn.’

  Weyler frowned. ‘You have not ill-treated her?’

  ‘Oh, no, no, Your Excellency. You will not find a mark on her body.’ He grinned. ‘Well, not visible, at any rate.’

  Weyler gazed at him for several seconds. ‘You are a thug, Lumbrera,’ he remarked. ‘It is sad that the exigencies of our situation require me to employ men like you. Now, what is to be done with her?’

  Lumbrera shrugged. ‘She can go into the camp with the others.’

  ‘Will she not lay charges of rape against you?’

  ‘Well, that is inevitable whenever a woman is arrested. But she … I doubt she will wish to go into the matter too deeply.’

  ‘Explain.’

  ‘Because I ascertained, within twenty-four hours of arresting her, that this girl, this scion of one of Cuba’s most noble families,’ Lumbrera said, with a fine display of outraged prurience, ‘was not a virgin before she fell into my hands.’

  ‘How strange,’ Weyler commented. ‘I despair of the morals of our modem youth, indeed I do. And you are absolutely certain there are no visible marks on her body?’ ‘Not one, Your Excellency, that she would be prepared to reveal to anyone. There is a slight scorch mark situated next to her vagina.’

  ‘Hm,’ Weyler said. ‘I have heard it said that she is a remarkably good looking creature.’

  ‘Oh, she is, Your Excellency,’ Lumbrera agreed. ‘A thing of great beauty.’

  Weyler stroked his chin. ‘And she is in no state of mental collapse for having been here for three months?’

  ‘Indeed not, Your Excellency. Her mental strength is at once surprising, and irritating. As I have said, she suffers everything I do to her in silence and with some composure, and will give nothing in return. She is far stronger than one would think. However, working on her is interesting.’

  ‘I am sure. I think perhaps it would be a good idea for me to interview her myself. She is here on the post?’

  ‘Oh, right here, Your Excellency. I keep her in a cell when I am not … using her.’

  ‘Yes. Well, have her bathed and perfumed, and find her some attractive garment to wear. One garment will do. And then have her sent to me here. I am afraid I will have to requisition your quarters for the duration of my stay in Daiquiri.’

  ‘That will be an honour, Your Excellency,’ Lumbrera said. ‘Oh, indeed. And I will have the girl brought to you. Yes, sir.’ He went to the door, then did one of his characteristic checks. ‘The people from Obrigar … they are to be sent to this camp?’

  ‘Of course. Obrigar is one of the main centres of disaffection, is it not? All the women and children will go to the camp. The men remaining there we will employ on the roads, or something useful.’

  ‘Ah … there is an American lady on Obrigar, Your Excellency. She is the wife of this Rafael Diaz de Obrigar, who is well known as one of the leaders of the revolutionaries. A terrible bandit.’

  Weyler frowned. ‘And she has not been arrested?’

  ‘Well, Your Excellency, it was felt by General Linares that to arrest her might be to upset the Americans even more than they are already. You see, we have no proof that she is involved … ’

  ‘Her husband is a revolutionary, and she is not involved?’

  ‘General Linares felt that we should obtain positive proof before we acted against her. She is well connected. Indeed, the American officer who came ashore and poked his nose into our affairs is her brother.’

  ‘It seems to me that far too much attention is being paid to these Americans,’ Weyler observed. ‘As the wife of a Cuban, this woman is subject to Cuban law, at least while she remains in this country.’

  ‘Oh, indeed, Your Excellency. In fact, General Linares feels that probably the best course would be to deport her, forcibly if necessary, as she has refused to leave of her own accord.’

  Weyler frowned. ‘You mean, send her to the safety of the United States? How will that compel this bandit Diaz to surrender? Rather would it make it easier for him to continue to fight. It is the leaders of these people we need to smoke out first. No, no, Lumbrera, there will be no deportation. You will place her in the camp with all the other women. If the Americans want her out of there, let them tell this Rafael Diaz to surrender.’

  ‘Oh, yes, Your Excellency,’ Lumbrera agreed, happily.

  ‘But … ’ Weyler pointed. ‘I repeat. She above all must not be ill-treated in any way.’

  ‘Yes, Your Excellency,’ Lumbrera agreed, less exuberantly.

  ‘I also think that it would be very bad policy to allow her to die, or even get sick,’ Weyler said. ‘I think you should pay particular attention to this Senora Diaz, Lumbrera. She is in your charge.’

  ‘Ah,’ Lumbrera said, brightening. ‘You may rely on me, sir.’

  Chapter 9

  Santiago — 1895-96

  It was three months later.

  ‘Colonel Lumbrera is coming, senora,’ Salvador said, early one morning.

  Toni hurried on to the verandah, gazed at the policemen. A large force of policemen, at least forty, she estimated, separating as they reached the front of the drive, where Lumbrera was exchanging words with Torres, half of them making for the village, the rest following the colonel up the hill. She felt breathless. He was coming for her at last, to take her to see Christina? After three months! She could not imagine what she was going to find, but she knew it would be better than the sleepless nights she had endured, insomnia induced at least as much by the deadening knowledge that not even Joe had been able to do anything about the situation as by fear for her sister-in-law.

  But she was determined to remain defiant. ‘Well, Colonel,’ she said, as he reached the steps. ‘I had begun to fear you had forgotten us on Obrigar.’

  To her surprise, he did not dismount, as he had always done before. ‘Ha ha,’ he remarked. ‘I could never forget you, senora. Now, you have fifteen minutes to assemble your domestics and prepare to leave this place.’

  ‘My domestics?’ Toni was mystified. ‘I am quite ready to leave now.’

  ‘To leave it, and not return,’ Lumbrera told her. ‘You, and Dona Carlotta, and all your women.’

  ‘Dona Carlotta? My women?’ Toni looked at Salvador in consternation.

  ‘You!’ Lumbrera pointed at the butler. ‘Assemble your men. You are going to Daiquiri.’

  ‘I am too old for military service,’ Salvador protested.

  ‘You are going to repair the roads. You and all these other scum.’

  Toni looked at the village. The police, assisted by the soldiers, were turning out the houses down there as well, amidst screams and wails. ‘We are being sent from the plantation?’ she asked.

  ‘Exactly, senora.’

  ‘But … to where?’

  ‘We have special quarters prepared for all you ladies who have husbands in the hills,’ Lumbrera grinned. ‘You will enjoy it there. You will be very cosy.’

  Still Toni stared at him, unable to understand.

  ‘Fifteen minutes,’ Lumbrera repeated.

  ‘But … Senora Diaz cannot be moved.’

  ‘Get her up,’ Lumbrera recommended. ‘She is just lazy.’

  ‘She will die,’ Toni snapped. ‘She
is very ill. If … if she has to be moved, you will have to let us use the carriage.’

  ‘Bah,’ Lumbrera said. ‘She will walk, like everyone else.’

  ‘Walk?’ Now she really couldn’t believe her ears. ‘Walk where?’

  ‘To Daiquiri.’

  ‘You wish Dona Carlotta, and myself, to walk from Obrigar to Daiquiri? That is twelve miles.’

  ‘Are you pretending that you do not have legs under that skirt, senora? I am sure you do.’

  Toni gazed at Captain Torres, who had just ridden up. Never had she seen the captain so distressed. ‘I am sorry, senora,’ he said.

  She looked past him at the men who had followed him, and carrying obvious torches, just waiting to be ignited.

  ‘What are you going to do?’ she asked, her heart giving a sudden great lurch.

  Torres glanced at Lumbrera. ‘I am under orders to set fire to your house,’ he said. ‘The moment you have evacuated it.’

  ‘Set fire … ’ She stared down the hills, watched the women from the village, who with their children had been assembled in a vast mass at the foot of the drive, each carrying a pitifully small bundle. Behind them, smoke was already issuing from their houses, and as she watched, the factory also burst into flames. ‘You are destroying the plantation!’ she screamed.

  ‘That is what we are going to do, yes,’ Lumbrera agreed. ‘Now, senora … ’

  ‘You … ’ she stared at him in impotent fury. If she had had a gun she would have shot him there and then. But she didn’t have a gun, and she was quite helpless. They were going to bum her house. ‘My things,’ she gasped.

  ‘You have a few minutes to gather what you wish.’

  ‘But … the dogs!’ she cried.

  ‘They will be shot.’

  ‘Shot? Oh, my God!’ Her knees gave away and she sank on to a chair.

  ‘If you do not hurry up, you will have time to take nothing,’ Lumbrera pointed out.

  Toni raised her head. For a moment she had actually contemplated begging. She stood up. ‘I must have a litter, at the least,’ she said. ‘For Dona Carlotta. Otherwise she will die.’

  ‘Bah,’ Lumbrera said again.

  ‘I will provide a litter,’ Torres said, and rode back down the hill.

  ‘I would hurry, if I were you, senora,’ Lumbrera suggested. ‘I am not going to wait forever. ’

  Toni still hesitated. Her mind was spinning. As with everything else, this was so sudden, so unexpected, so catastrophic. She half turned, and then checked. ‘Where is Senorita Diaz? You said you would take me to see her, to make sure she is all right. That was three months ago.’

  Lumbrera grinned. ‘Why, you are going to be reunited, you and she, senora. Will that not make you happy?’

  *

  More barbed wire. But these fences were punctuated by control towers, filled with armed men. And beyond Toni could see huts, rather than houses, and beaten, grassless earth. This was a prison, oddly situated, because only half a mile beyond she could see the rooftops of Santiago, and the waters of the harbour, while the camp was well within the outer fortifications, situated on San Juan Hill and at El Caney. El Caney was where the train had stopped, for them to resume their journey on foot.

  At least the air was fresh, as the women disembarked from the carriages into which they had been herded like cattle. It had been the most unpleasant journey of Toni’s life, as they had been crowded twelve to a compartment intended for six, the wives of peons, their children, and house servants, Dona Carlotta, Manuela and herself, all heaped together, sitting on each other, for all the ten hours it had taken the train to crawl westward from Daiquiri Station.

  At first, even the train had been a relief, after the heart-rending departure from the plantation house, looking back at the flames issuing from the upper storey, from the windows of her bedroom, seeing in that the total ending of all her dreams — she had been able to do nothing more than snatch up a change of gown and underclothing, and some of her more precious pieces of jewellery. Even worse had been the yelping of the dogs, and the dull explosions as Torres’ men had shot them.

  Then had come a twelve mile walk to Daiquiri. For all of that way she had carried one end of a pole of the litter on which Dona Carlotta lay. The other three positions had been changed constantly, as the women grew exhausted, but she had refused to be rested. While the policemen had ridden to either side, allowing the dust from their horses’ hooves to flick into the women’s faces, causing them to cough and choke.

  There had been no water until they reached the station. By then Toni thought it was a miracle no one had yet died. Then had come the blessed relief of being in the shade, and sometimes able to sit down, even if it was on the floor. But that had not lasted. Although the weather was very hot, the windows had been nailed shut, and again, once the train had started moving, there was no water. Dona Carlotta, initially still half drugged and totally bewildered, had started to complain on the walk. In the train she became an angry, weeping virago, upbraiding Toni for so ill-treating her, snarling at the other women when they tried to help her, finally collapsing into a wailing misery. That train had turned into a moving hell. But would conditions be any better in this stationary hell?

  There were policemen waiting to chivvy them along, as they once again picked up the litter, hands now blistered and bleeding, and filed from the makeshift halt down the hillside, along a beaten earth path towards the prison. The gates stood open, and the women and children filed through into the inner compound. ‘Halt there,’ someone shouted, and they instinctively obeyed. They knew they were going to go on obeying for the foreseeable future. This was their lot.

  They were made to turn around, and blink at the man with the camera. The policeman pushed them closer together so all could get into the picture, pushed Toni to the front of the group, where she was in any event easily distinguishable, she knew, because of her height, placed Dona Carlotta on her litter on the ground in front. The photographer busied himself beneath his hood. When one of the women sank to the ground in exhaustion, a policeman kicked her back up again. A little puff of smoke rose about the camera, but they were not yet allowed to move. The photographer wanted to expose another plate.

  When he was finally satisfied, they staggered towards the huts, being sent in various directions by the waiting policemen. They were women, who from now on would be ruled by men. That was perhaps the most horrible thought of all. But Toni only wanted to reach the shade of her barracks — although it was now late afternoon the sun remained hot — and put down the litter, and allow her aching muscles to rest, and smooth the sweat wet hair from Dona Carlotta’s brow, and then look up, and gaze at Christina.

  ‘Is Mother all right?’ Christina asked.

  ‘If I could get her some water. But you … ’ Toni squeezed her hand. ‘Oh, Christina … ’

  Christina wore the same riding outfit in which she had left Obrigar three months before — amazingly, it did not look either threadbare or terribly dirty. Although the girl herself certainly had not had a bath too recently. But this was no girl, Toni realised. Not anymore. If her face was unmarked, it had yet grown harder than she would have imagined possible.

  ‘Christina? What did they do to you?’ she whispered.

  Christina tossed hair from her eyes, and Toni shuddered. The black eyes, so large and luminous and beautiful, seemed to have no end, but to stretch back into her skull forever, through her brain, into the depths of her soul.

  ‘Do you know,’ she asked, ‘what men do to women, when the women have no defence?’

  Toni bit her lip. ‘But … you … ’

  ‘I am alive,’ Christina said. ‘That is what matters, because one day they will all be dead.’

  Toni stared at her. Never had she heard such venom drip from a human being’s lips. But then Christina smiled. ‘I am so glad to see you again, Toni. And dearest Mama. I was so worried about you both. Now we are together, we will find it easier.’

  Toni wanted to scratch
her head. Because, just as remarkably as the first time, their roles had again reversed. She could feel a strength here she had never known before. A strength she knew she was going to have to find, herself, if they were going to survive. If she was going to survive. Because at that moment the doors of the hut were thrown open and two policemen came in. ‘You,’ one of them said, pointing at her. ‘The commandant wishes to see you. Come along.’

  Toni stood up, suddenly breathless. ‘You’re the one he really wants,’ Christina said. ‘He told me this, over and over again. There’s no use in fighting. Or he has his people hold you down. Just close your eyes, and think of him hanging. That’s what I did.’

  Toni gave her a startled glance, then stumbled from the room between the two policemen. Her brain was tumbling over itself. Was she going to be tortured, as Christina obviously had? Raped, as Christina obviously had? She, Antoinette McGann? She wanted to scream at the top of her voice, ‘You cannot do this to me. I’m an American citizen. I’m Antoinette McGann!’

  She was taken from the inner to the outer compound, and into a more substantial building than the rest. There were policemen everywhere, staring at her. They will hold you down, Christina had said. Oh, Holy Mother, Toni prayed silently.

  She was taken through doorways and along corridors, and was then pushed into a room. She gazed around her in a mixture of consternation and terror. The room was about twelve feet square, and had a single barred window. There was a cot, a table with a single chair, and most remarkable of all, a washstand, with basin, ewer and slop bucket. And there was Lumbrera, smiling at her.

  ‘If you touch me,’ she whispered, even as she heard the door behind her being closed.

  ‘Touch you, my dear senora? Oh, I would very much like to touch you. But I am a gentleman, and you are a lady, eh? I wait to be invited. I but wished to show you your quarters.’