“Well, I mean, if you did believe in spirits living in water. The still waters are often murky and can bring sickness to a place, but running water is fresh, so it’s healthier. That’s what I mean.”
“Do you believe in good and bad spirits in water?” Carmen asked her.
“Well, I’m not sure where they live as such, but I definitely believe in good and evil,” Vanessa replied stoutly.
CHAPTER 18
Many witnesses report a very bad smell when the Chupacabra is around. It is a strong sulfuric odor that is traditionally associated with el diablo, the devil.
On the way home Vanessa avoided all discussion of Pablo and the Martinez family. Instead she told funny stories about her brothers and even got off her bike to mimic Luke’s lanky walk and his deep voice. Nikki was an only child and was always telling Vanessa how lucky she was.
“Oh, brothers can be such pains, Nikki, I promise you. You’re not missing anything, really—is she, Carmen?”
Nikki laughed and gave Vanessa a playful shove. Later, nobody could recall what actually happened next. Just that Xolo was suddenly there beside them, snarling and growling ferociously, his teeth bared. It took Vanessa a couple of seconds to realize that he was crouched, ready to pounce.
Had Xolo thought Nikki was going to hurt Vanessa? Was he really trying to protect her, as Izel had said? Or was there someone else nearby?
Vanessa tried to follow the direction of the dog’s gaze. He was not really looking at Nikki—it was more toward the trees. She saw nobody, but she thought she heard a sound. Footsteps, perhaps? Could it be Pablo? Had he seen them looking at his house?
Vanessa put her hand quickly on the back of the dog’s head to calm him. Then she made a low, rumbling noise in the back of her throat, and Xolo relaxed. The moment had passed.
“That’s amazing,” said Carmen. “The way you can control the dog like that. I thought he was going to savage Nikki!”
“Let’s go,” said Nikki. “I don’t like it here. It’s creepy. And there is a horrible smell all of a sudden.”
Vanessa patted Xolo, and the dog loped away.
“Race you home!” Vanessa cried, leaping onto her bike again.
“We should have that dog locked away during the day, Joseph,” Frida said when she heard the story that evening at dinner. “I have noticed that he is starting to behave erratically.”
There was no doubt that Xolo had attached himself to her, Vanessa thought, but that wasn’t odd or erratic. He probably never got much affection or attention before, that was all.
“And he needs a wash,” Carmen added. “I think he smelled very bad this afternoon.”
“The smell wasn’t him,” Vanessa said flatly to no one in particular. She kept her head down.
There was a slight pause in the conversation, and everyone heard the phone ringing in the hall. It was a surprising sound in the house. It didn’t often ring.
Izel arrived, breathless, her face flushed.
“The phone is for you, Vanessa!” she exclaimed as if Vanessa had won the lotto. “Come, come.”
The sound of Lee’s cool, familiar voice was wonderful. Vanessa hadn’t realized that she was homesick, but now it washed over her without warning. She had to clear her throat a couple of times before she could speak.
“No, no, honestly, Lee, I’m fine. I promise. It’s just so lovely to hear your voice, that’s all.”
Vanessa looked behind her to see if Izel was still with her, but she was alone in the hallway and the door to the dining room was closed.
Lee explained that she had only just seen Vanessa’s email, as she had been traveling by train with no access to the Internet. She was in Helsinki now and had rung her straight away, alarmed by the sound of her email.
Vanessa told Lee what she had found out on the Internet about the naguals and the Nahua and briefly went on to explain about Xolo, the dog.
“I’m at my computer right now,” said Lee. “I’m just reading here about the Nahua people and their links to the Aztecs. It says they believe that each one of us has a corresponding animal in this world—some good, some evil.”
She paused and Vanessa could hear her even breathing on the end of the phone, as if she was standing beside her. It would be so great to have her here. Vanessa was just about to say as much when Lee started reading again.
“Wow, bloodsucking or bloodletting is not uncommon amongst—” She paused. “Just like the Chupacabra, huh? I’m surprised your mum didn’t have a file on Mexico, Vanessa.”
“She did, Lee—a cryptid file. How stupid of me not to link it all! The file is more about the Chupacabra than the tribes and traditions, I think. I need to read it again properly now that I’m making all these connections.”
“Go easy, Vanessa. You could be treading on delicate ground there. It sounds as if things are pretty tense anyhow. Who took you to the shaman’s house and the museum?”
Vanessa realized that she had not mentioned Armado yet and did not do so now. Could Armado be involved somehow? Why had he taken her to both the house and the museum when Carmen had been fearful of them both?
When she didn’t answer, Lee asked again. “Who took you, Vanessa? Is someone making you uneasy?” It was Pablo, of course—not Armado—who bothered her, but Vanessa couldn’t really explain over the phone. And anyway, she didn’t want to worry Lee unnecessarily. The less said the better for the moment, perhaps.
“There’s nobody, really. I was just freaked, I suppose, by the strange things I saw. Probably the spicy food—Dad did warn me! I’ll be all right. I promised Dad I would be, remember? But don’t say anything about this to him, will you?”
Lee agreed reluctantly that it was best not to say anything for the moment and then gave Vanessa a number to write down with the promise that she would ring her if anything else strange happened.
CHAPTER 19
In the summer of 2010 over a period of 50 days, 300 goats were killed by an unknown creature. Shepherds from Colonia San Martín, Los Reyes Metzontla, and Cañada Ancha in Puebla State were frightened by the attacks on their flocks, as they were unable to track down the killer.
The next morning Vanessa woke feeling very low. It had been so nice to talk to Lee, and even though she had tried to ignore her words of caution she felt uneasy. It was as if she was waiting for something bad to happen.
Normally Vanessa hopped into the shower as soon as she woke, but this morning she couldn’t face the day. She pulled the covers up over her head to hide from it for a little longer.
When the door to her room burst open and Carmen stumbled through with Nikki tripping over herself behind, Vanessa shot up in bed. For a split second she had the brief pleasure of knowing she had been right, but it disappeared quickly at the sight of Carmen, who was distraught.
“Vanessa, it’s so horrible!” Carmen wailed.
“Come on, Vanessa, get up,” ordered Nikki, throwing Vanessa’s dressing gown to her. “You have to come. Everyone is out by the stables. Hurry.”
The family was gathered in a tight circle, and Pablo stood off to the side, a shotgun across his arm. A kid goat was stretched out on the ground. Armado was crouching down. Vanessa could see that he had a whining Xolo by the scruff of the neck.
Carmen buried her face in Frida’s hair, her shoulders heaving. Frida looked stunned.
“It’s Tepin,” whispered Nikki. “Carmen’s pet goat. He’s dead! Those chickens too.” She pointed at a heap of feathers on the ground near the dead goat.
“It’s extraordinary, I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said a strange man who was washing his hands in a bucket of water. “These animals have been completely drained of their blood. Every last drop.”
“That’s horrible!” said Nikki in a strangled whisper.
El diablo, thought Vanessa, horrified. The Chupacabra … Her skin prickled.
“Who’s that man?” she asked Nikki.
“That’s the vet,” Nikki said. “Armado found the goat dea
d and called him. Xolo was sniffing around him with blood on his face.”
Vanessa’s heart started to thump wildly.
“You can’t really think Xolo had anything to do with it!” Vanessa turned to Joseph, who was standing beside her. “It has to be the Chu—” She made herself stop.
“Well …” said Joseph. “There are puncture marks in the kid’s neck, and the vet thinks they were probably made by dog’s teeth.”
“But a dog wouldn’t make neat holes,” Vanessa argued. Through the fabric of her dressing-gown pocket, she fingered the tooth the turtle-seller had given her. It had to be a very different kind of animal from Xolo. “A dog that killed another animal would tear it to pieces, not drain its blood like a vampire. It doesn’t make any sense!”
Vanessa was beginning to shout, and Frida was glaring at her.
“You can’t blame Xolo! You just can’t. It’s so unfair.” Xolo was still whimpering beside the dead goat.
Now he looked at Vanessa and tried to go to her, but Armado tightened his grip on the dog.
“Stay,” he ordered curtly.
“We just can’t be sure, Vanessa,” said Joseph. “I think we should lock him up for the moment.”
Pablo spat something in Spanish that Vanessa didn’t understand, but it sounded threatening.
She ran to Xolo and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Xolo didn’t do it,” she moaned to Armado. “You’ve got to believe me.”
Armado touched her on the shoulder.
“We will put him somewhere safe, I promise. In the stable,” he said gently. “We will not let Pablo shoot him unless we know for sure it is Xolo who has done this. Do you understand me, Vanessa?”
In the end she agreed to go back to her room with Carmen and Nikki. They were all upset, but they sat on Vanessa’s bed together and went over the details of what had happened again and again. Then through the open doors they heard the sound of two shots ringing out. They were loud, even at such a distance, and the girls stared at each other helplessly. Vanessa turned on her side to face the wall and began to cry hard, deep sobs racking her body. Carmen and Nikki did their best to soothe her, but when nothing worked they went in search of Izel.
It was nearly midday before Vanessa woke. She felt as if she had been run over by a large truck, and feebly she put her hand on her chest to check her bruised heart. She would never forgive Armado. He had tricked her, told her that Xolo would not be put down. Slowly she put on a crumpled pair of shorts and her T-shirt from the day before.
The more she thought about poor Xolo, the angrier she got. It was hard to imagine how she would stay on at the ranch now. She would just pack her bags and insist on going home. But what about Nikki? Could she do that to her best friend? Maybe she should tell Nikki about everything that had happened to her since she came to Mexico …
Vanessa hadn’t realized how much Xolo’s devotion had meant to her. The dog had chosen her over everyone else—and she had failed him. The thought of Pablo, his thin lips and cruel eyes, made her feel physically sick now. He had been pretty determined to get rid of Xolo.
Nikki and Carmen were not on the veranda outside or in the sitting room doing their embroidery. Embroidery, for goodness’ sake—what a ridiculous place this was!
Maybe ridiculous wasn’t quite the right word—what was the right word when shamans go missing, dead people turn into animals and chickens and goats are drained of their blood? And cows had been killed too, Vanessa remembered then. It must be the Chupacabra. No wonder the locals called this place Rancho del Diablo.
Vanessa made for the kitchen. She heard the murmur of voices through the closed door. Then she heard Nikki’s laugh, and it twisted like a knife inside her. How could she be laughing after what happened this morning?
All eyes turned toward Vanessa when she walked into the kitchen. Izel was chopping as usual, Carmen and Nikki were sitting at the table shelling peas, and Armado was stirring something on the stove. Cozy. Vanessa’s anger was dangerously close to the surface, and it was unfortunate for Armado that he was the first one to speak.
“Hi, there. How are you feeling now?” he asked cheerfully.
She glared at him before answering. “How do you think?” she said rudely.
They all stopped what they were doing, surprise in their faces. All, that is, except Nikki, who was well used to her friend’s fiery temper.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Armado said. “It was a shock for us all.”
He spoke as if Xolo’s execution was nothing. Vanessa actually saw the color red in front of her eyes just seconds before she replied through clenched teeth.
“As if you had nothing to do with it!” she growled.
“What are you saying, Vanessa? What exactly am I guilty of?” Armado replied, his voice hardened.
Vanessa’s face was hot, red hot with anger, and she held his gaze defiantly. She could see that he was puzzled, and this made her more cross. He didn’t even realize that he had betrayed her.
“Of being a liar and a traitor,” she replied tartly. When he didn’t respond she bit her lip, which was wobbling dangerously. She would not cry in front of him. She would not.
“You told me that Xolo wouldn’t be put down, you promised me. And then when my back was turned you let Pablo shoot him anyway!”
She just couldn’t believe it when a smile started in the corners of Armado’s lips and broadened out to a full beam. Then, slowly, to make sure she understood every word, he said, “Yes, I promised you, and I kept my promise.”
Vanessa felt the ground shift beneath her and looked about her uncertainly, hoping to catch Nikki’s eye. Instead, she caught Carmen’s, and her eyes were blazing with indignation. How dare Vanessa accuse her brother! She didn’t say a word, but Vanessa could read it in her face.
“But I heard the shots,” Vanessa said with a little less conviction this time.
Armado continued to smile at her and there was a look of admiration in his eyes that she really couldn’t fathom.
“That was just Pablo taking his anger out on a couple of poor birds,” said Carmen angrily. “Mama and Armado would not let him shoot Xolo, so he shot something else. Anyway, he probably should have shot Xolo. That dog nearly attacked Nikki, remember? And now he has killed Tepin!”
“Tepin?” Vanessa was so concentrated on Xolo that she had forgotten the goat’s name.
“It was Carmen’s kid goat that Xolo attacked,” Nikki muttered from the side of her mouth at Vanessa.
Vanessa opened her mouth to defend Xolo again and then shut it when she saw the look on Nikki’s and Carmen’s faces.
“I think you owe my brother an apology,” Carmen said coldly. She looked incredibly like Frida at that moment. “Armado would never go back on his word.”
Then Vanessa did something that surprised even Nikki. She walked over to Armado and threw her arms around his neck.
“Did Pablo really not shoot Xolo?” she asked quietly.
“Of course not.” Armado hugged her back.
Relief made her rest against him, and she could feel the comfort of his arms around her. It felt so good.
As if on cue, Frida Martinez opened the kitchen door and walked in to a silent room. Her back, which was already ramrod straight, stiffened further. She stared stonily at Vanessa, who stood paralyzed, her arms wrapped around Frida’s son.
CHAPTER 20
The world’s three species of blood-sucking bats live mainly in the warm climates of Latin America, where most of the Chupacabra attacks have occurred. But while vampire bats can creep up on their sleeping prey, make painless incisions, and lap up the dripping blood, they cannot drain even a tiny animal of all its blood. Animals bitten by vampire bats will occasionally die because they get rabies, not because of blood loss.
It took Vanessa a couple of days to get over her embarrassing outburst in the kitchen. Armado seemed cool about it, but Nikki was still teasing her about throwing herself at Armado. Vanessa tried to l
augh it off.
“I could do much better than that dusty cowboy, Nikki. I know he’s your cousin and he’s nice, but come on!”
She guessed that Nikki didn’t really believe her, and she most certainly didn’t believe it herself. When Armado was around the air seemed charged around her, and she found it difficult to know what to say. Oh dear. This was not the fun it was cracked up to be.
Frida was a different matter altogether. Vanessa had been mortified by her appearance in the kitchen. If only Frida had said something when she had come in and seen her like that with Armado. Silence and raised eyebrows were far more painful.
Since then Vanessa had studiously avoided Frida. If she saw her coming one way she went the other. Where possible she made no eye contact and no conversation. But she still had the Spanish lessons to face, and they had become a nightmare.
Xolo was no worse for his near-death experience. And although he remained firmly locked away during the night, he was allowed to go out with Vanessa and Armado when they went on their riding lesson. He loved to run alongside the horses as they galloped.
Today Armado and Vanessa took out the horses and headed for the eastern section of the ranch. The sky was a clear, intense blue, and Vanessa’s spirits lifted. It was good to get out of the house. Tepin’s death had cast a long shadow.
Vanessa had promised herself that she wouldn’t bring up the killings. It was too gloomy, and she doubted that anyone would want to hear her theory about the Chupacabra. But when they stopped to let the horses drink from the river, she could not help herself.
“You didn’t really think it was Xolo who attacked the animals, Armado?”
It was the first time she’d mentioned Xolo to him since the scene in the kitchen, although it had been bothering her for days.
“Well, he has got a bit aggressive in the last while. He was there when I found the dead animals, and he did have blood on him.”
Vanessa took another tack. “But how could he have drained the animals of blood? Wouldn’t a vampire bat be as likely? South America is the only place in the world where there are actually real vampire bats.”
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