CHAPTER 24 - THE POLICE
Try as he might, the little sorcerer was unable to determine what had gone wrong with his ceremony to make his sister barren. The ritual had gone off well enough, but, in time, something had become undone. The magic by which Ramon sought to bind Maria simply unraveled. He would have cast more power against her, but the days somehow passed without his actually setting to this task. When the days became years, he realized he still had not moved against her.
One of the disadvantages of being a magic user, he soon discovered, was that there were always other, very powerful people who might choose to move against you. As Ramon pondered on who these unseen enemies might be, one thought in particular often crossed his mind.
Had he, himself, somehow become magically bound?
And sometimes, when Ramon was at the hotel, Rosalinda would stop by to see her father. It was amazing how much the child resembled her grandmother. Even though they’d never met, Rosalinda had Julia’s mannerisms. The way she tilted her head. The way she laughed, or moved her hands when she was telling a story.
Julia’s power, Ramon was certain, passed down through its women, going from mother to daughter, from daughter to granddaughter. He grew fearful that someday, even if Maria’s powers remained dormant, Rosalinda’s abilities might rise against him. His fear increased each time he caught sight of his sister or his niece.
And this fear grew inside Ramon like a cancer.
Worse yet, he seemed to have mislaid his sorcerer's stone. When he couldn't find it in his hotel room, he thought perhaps he'd left it at the hut. When he couldn't find it at the hut, he convinced himself it must be back at the hotel. But it was not to be seen again as Joseph had angrily pocketed the prize and thrown it into the river.
His master’s chronic distress did little to improve Joseph’s lot. Beatings increased in frequency and intensity, and Ramon’s growing distaste of his accomplice’s cursed appearance further estranged the pair. Forgetting that Joseph had been sent by the Baka to protect him, Ramon invented excuses to banish his hulking henchman to the hotel. And, after a time, Ramon no longer felt the need for excuses.
As Ramon grew more unstable, Joseph withdrew, without hope of reprieve, a gray-haired, twisted, limping, shell of a man who set his jaw grimly and did as he was told. And a need for revenge burned in his heart.
Meanwhile, Maria and Jose had their own worries. More and more of Maria’s tiny relatives were disappearing. At least one child a year.
"How can we keep Luis safe?" they asked Rosalinda the Elder. The old woman had a plan. "Send him to your cousins in Neuvo York," she said. "Let him go to school there. When he graduates, bring him home again." At first Maria was against sending Luis to New York City. In the end, she decided being apart from him was better than having him end up like the missing children, even though no one was sure what their fate had been.
Maria’s New York cousins were delighted to have Luis as a long-term guest. Since Maria and Jose had no phone of their own, Jacob arranged for them to speak to Luis on the hotel phone each Saturday.
By the time the date for the annual sacrifice drew near, Ramon had become bold enough to consider Luis’ name on his list of prospects, only to discover the boy had escaped his grasp. After frantic scrambling to locate another acceptable victim, news arrived that Carolina’s daughter, Niña, had just given birth to a bouncing, baby boy. Ramon took out his frustration of this last-minute change on Joseph, then instructed him to snatch Niña's child.
The kidnapping went smoothly and once the annual, sacrificial requirement was satisfied, Ramon had plans for new pursuits. Extortion would be his latest business venture. He planned to terrify his countrymen into paying for protection.
"Protection from what?" they asked. Ramon showed them his eyes. And they paid. Even though they had no money, each managed to scrape a coin or two together to pay Ramon.
"This is only a small amount," complained Joseph when he was asked to count the day’s gleanings. "Hardly worth the effort," he said, comparing the day’s take to their zombie-traffic profits.
"But there are many people who each pay this same small amount. In time, it grows. These coins pay for my weekly supplies or if I take lunch at a road stand. Besides," he grinned, "I like to have people fear me. So it is no trouble at all."
But some peasants were bolder than others and refused to pay. They soon learned that the little man with the scary eyes had a special way of dealing with them. He scared them nearly to death. And then they paid.
Without Joseph’s wisdom to temper Ramon’s impatience, Ramon grew bolder. He was so open in his activities that his name was soon on everyone’s lips. They spoke of him in fear. in whispers. Finally, word reached the police.
"He is a criminal!"
"He is a shape changer!"
"He frightens our women!"
"A very scary man!"
"He takes all our money!"
"He leaves our children to starve!"
The police considered these complaints and made a decision: "We must take him before he has time to prepare."
So it was agreed, and so they came after him. Of course, they had no idea of with whom they were dealing. In the end, the police were left with empty hands and open mouths, staring foolishly at one another. None of them wanted to admit that when Ramon was trapped, while they were looking right at him, he had gotten clean away. And not one of them knew how he had managed it.
By that evening, the village of Cristo and the surrounding countryside was abuzz with the news.
Meanwhile, Luis had grown into a handsome, young man, who’d just arrived home. As soon as Luis heard of his uncle’s adventures with the police, he hastened to tell his parents the news. "Have you heard about Uncle Ramon?" Luis asked. "He’s been cutting the throats of goats for blood!"
His father frowned. "He’s been doing that for years now. It is part of his ceremonies."
"Si, si, I know, but . . ."
"I forbid you to say it!" his mother snapped.
"But the babies!" protested Luis. "They say he is sacrificing babies! And people suspect he is responsible for those missing women."
Rosalinda looked horrified. "Shhhhh," hissed his father, indicating Rosalinda with a nod of his head. "We have no proof."
"What he is doing is very dangerous! If he makes a mistake, the magic will kill him," whispered his mother.
A memory stirred inside Luis. "I remember once, when I was a little boy, I had a dream about Uncle Ramon. I woke up crying that I could see him and another man in a hut. There was a woman wearing sunglasses at night. And a fire. And a goat."
"And you had bad dreams for weeks after. Stay away from Uncle Ramon," Maria cautioned. "He isn’t the same brother I knew as a child. I am glad now I did not take that book. Once you have it, it changes you."
"Yes," his father added, "now you know why your mother did not claim that book. Now you know why we no longer visit Uncle Ramon."
"But," Luis persisted, "did you hear that there was man who argued with Uncle Ramon. A few nights later, a huge, black dog showed up at the man’s house and chased him around. The man said he was lucky to have escaped with his life."
"Ramon!" his father and mother said together. "It was Ramon! Ramon was that dog!"
"How can that be possible?" asked Rosalinda.
"I cannot explain it," said Maria. "The book tells him how to do these things."
Luis continued, "I heard a family disagreed with Uncle and they were threatened by a large, black horse. It came to their home at night. It has showed up more than once. They are terrified."
"Si!" his mother agreed, "Ramon must have been that horse!"
"Then people began going to the police," Luis said. "Only a few hours ago, the police decided to arrest Uncle. They went to every place they thought he might be. Then they had him cornered. He could not get away. Suddenly, he just disappeared."
"You mean he ran away?" his father asked.
"No! He just disappeared," insisted Luis.
"It is the book!" his mother cried. "Whoever has the book has its great power, but also makes many enemies. There are others with great power. They will be testing Ramon to see who is more powerful. Every time there is a test, someone gets hurt. I am glad I chose not to dig up that book. I am glad your father convinced me not to have that kind of a life. When Ramon dug up the book, he thought he owned it. Now the book owns him!"
"Let us not speak of this any more tonight!" ordered Jose.
His family nodded in agreement and then sat down to dinner and happier thoughts.
Spellbound: a Tale of Magic, Mystery & Murder Page 27
