and begged my pardon. He’s in the prison hospital now.”
“And Maruca?” said Kate.
“They’ve got her too.”
“There will always be a traitor,” said Kate gloomily.
“Let us hope there will also be a Caterina,” said Ramón
“But will you go on with it—your Quetzalcoatl?”
“How can I leave off? It’s my métier now. Why don’t you join us? Why don’t you help me?”
“How?”
“You will see. Soon you will hear the drums again. Soon the first day of Quetzalcoatl will come. You will see. Then Cipriano will appear—in the red sarape—and Huitzilopochtli will share the Mexican Olympus with Quetzalcoatl. Then I want a goddess.”
“But will Don Cipriano be the god Huitzilopochtli?” she asked, taken aback.
“First Man of Huitzilopochtli, as I am First Man of Quetzalcoatl.”
“Will you?” said Kate to Cipriano. “That horrible Huitzilopochtli?”
“Yes, Señora!”