Gardens in the Dunes (61 page)

The first card, La Rosa, the Rose, turned up to represent her! What good card this was! The Rose was the influence affecting her and its saying was “
Rosa, Rosita, Rosaura
”—“Rose, Little Rose, Rosiness”! The rose was a sign of the Señora of Guadalupe as well; roses were her blessing and sign to the poor Indians at Tepeyac.

The second card, which crossed the Rose, was the Barrel, but on its side, as if empty or dumped. The saying of the barrel was “
Tanto bebió el albañal que quedó como barril,”
or “The bricklayer drank so much he became the shape of a wine barrel.” As a card that crossed her card, the Barrel wasn't much opposition at all! Any obstacles she might encounter would be overturned as easily as an empty barrel.

The crowning card was the Rooster card, reversed—a good card to reverse
because it had an ominous
dicho—“El que le cantó a San Pedro no le volverá a cantar”
(“The one who sang for St. Peter will not return to sing”). Probably because he got made into soup. The fourth card stood for her foundation, her origin; El Pino, the great Pine, stands proudly. “Always cool, fragrant, and always beautiful,” was the saying that went along with this card. A solid foundation in the pine forests of the highest mountains was where the people fled from the army before Delena was born.

Behind her, representing the past, was the fifth card, the card with the red, white, and green Flag of Mexico, upside down, draped around its pole. A Flag reversed was a distress call; someday the poor would prevail over the government, and not one but many Mexicos would spring up overnight.

The handsome Guitar Player upside down stood for her immediate future; here was another card that was better reversed than upright because its saying was oddly phrased: “The musician's rubber trumpet doesn't want to play,” a silly saying about a limp penis. Reversed, this card might not be so bad—maybe the trumpet would play and success would be hers.

The seventh card indicated Delena's position in the present instance, and here the accuracy of the cards gave her a chill because it was La Mano. The
dicho
called it “the hand of the criminal,” though luckily it was reversed, which meant the criminal hand was hers!

El Nopal, the Cactus plant covered with red fruit, the eighth card, represented her present home, but the card was upside down, to reflect the truth—she was uprooted like the Nopal, her homeland torn open by war. Its
dicho
was bitter: “All anyone sees is something to eat.” Plundered lands, the animals, even the people plundered. Even reversed the Nopal card was a good one, because although uprooted, neither the Cactus nor its fruit was destroyed; in fact the Cactus was able to take root again upside down, even broken apart, almost anywhere.

Her hopes and fears were represented by the ninth card, El Corazón, the Heart, with a bloodied arrow through its center. “Don't banish me, sweetheart,” the saying went; “I'm returning by wagon.” Perfect. The Heart might mean romance but the bloody arrow was shot by a warrior. An arrow through the center of the Heart meant success at the heart of the matter—her sweetheart was the uprising in the south, and they would prevail. Yes, she would return with a wagon, loaded with supplies.

The tenth and last card represented the future, the outcome of the present enterprise, and here was La Sandia, the fat ripe Watermelon; its sliced, succulent red flesh meant success, success! The dicho said, “
La barriga que Juan tenía, era empacho de sandia
”—”Juan's belly is glutted with watermelon.”
Only the best conditions produced big ripe melons or permitted Juan to gorge himself—this card told her the conditions were perfect. Clearly it was time to take the dog circus to perform at the construction camp.

Despite the noise of the camp, and his father's fear, the little black grandfather was growing. Now Sister teased him and called him Little Black Spider because his legs and arms seemed longer as he grew. He still fretted over the noise unless she held him and sang louder than the outside noise. Hour after hour she sang, and when she ran out of songs she sang sounds that were parts of words—Sand Lizard, Spanish, and English nonsense words seemed to calm him and drown out the noise best.

She bundled him onto her back, secured with her white cotton shawl, and took him for a walk away from the tents. As the earth was heaped higher across the riverbed, the dam resembled more and more one of the monster stories Maytha and Vedna learned from their father. This monster ate up all living things up and down the poor river. Upriver, the backwaters flooded the cottonwoods and willows; now they were beginning to die. The watercress and delicate mosses that used to fringe the river's edge were submerged, and the silver green minnows disappeared. She sat at the river's edge for hours and watched the slow currents move through the tall reeds and mosses while the little one enjoyed a deep sleep. She thought about Indigo and Mama then, and about the Messiah and the dancers. She was beginning to think they would not see one another again.

Later, Sister Salt offered to take Maytha and Vedna to meet the woman with the dog circus so they could ask the Gypsy cards about their future. Sister Salt wanted to ask the Mexican cards about Mama and Indigo. But the twins seemed reluctant; it was true the woman gave water to Sister right after the baby was born; still, one had to be careful of traveling strangers. Vedna had to laugh because soon they were going to be traveling strangers themselves. Still, they wanted to see the dog circus perform, and the decks of cards that foretold the future; so they decided to stay for a few more days.

Sister Salt intended to tell Big Candy about the Mexican woman and the dog circus, but she didn't have a chance because he was so busy. The next afternoon as Sister and the twins relaxed in the shade with the sleeping baby, two black dogs suddenly appeared, dressed in patchwork capes of bright satins with little horned caps decorated with bells tied behind their ears—jokers' caps copied from a deck of cards. The dogs were quite friendly and bells rang as they wagged their tails.

Juanito called Big Candy out of the brewery tent to watch the dog circus arrive. He was astonished to see a dark woman who wore a white cape sewed with bright red satin figure of the queen of diamonds over her dress; she was flanked by more black dogs that wore satin capes sewn with scraps of satin to form the figures of the king, the jack, the ten, and nine of diamonds. She didn't notice Sister or the twins under the tree until Sister called out a greeting. Delena acknowledged them with a wave, but remained where she was, talking in a low voice to the dogs.

Slowly the dogs began to canter around the sandy clearing behind the tents, and as they gradually increased their speed, a small crowd began to gather. The dogs began to leapfrog over one another in a dead run; playfully the dogs began to tear at one another's costumes, and bells and bits of the costumes began to litter the sand. Even the gamblers stopped to come take a look, and they laughed and laughed and cheered on the dogs while the woman in her odd costume watched.

When the dogs finally stopped their tug-of-war with the costumes and gathered around their mistress, Sister and the twins joined other spectators, who cheered to see more of the dog circus, but Delena ignored them. The exhibition was over. Gradually the crowd drifted away to the gambling tents as she praised the dogs in a high soft voice. She patted and spoke to each dog separately as she retied the bells and adjusted the capes, examining the damage to the costumes. When Big Candy approached from the gambling tent, she turned away from the dogs to straighten her queen of diamonds cape before she greeted him.

Sister Salt picked up the sleeping baby and the twins followed. They stood nearby to listen as Big Candy and Delena negotiated a price for the dogs' performance. Candy said he had to consult Wylie before they had a deal, but he was sure the boss would go for it. Candy hadn't smiled like that in days. He really enjoyed the spectacle of the playing card costumes—together they formed a royal straight flush, a winning poker hand that would be inspiration for his customers! Sister felt a pang of sadness as she realized the birth of the little grandfather brought Candy worry, not happiness; Candy seemed far happier to see a dog circus than his own son.

Candy offered the dog circus woman empty crates, and kegs, even planks if she wanted them, for the dogs to leap over. A bit embarrassed by Candy's enthusiasm, Delena nodded, and he immediately called Juanito to bring the items he requested.

“Ooh ooh!” Maytha said after Delena and her dog circus accompanied Big Candy to Wylie's tent. Vedna squeezed her mouth and eyes shut tight
in mock disapproval that made all three break into laughter. Sister announced she didn't care if Big Candy went off with her—Delena was nice. Anyway, the little black grandfather still refused to forgive Candy for believing he would die. They were better off apart, especially the baby.

Before long, Delena and her dogs came back alone. Big Candy stayed at Wylie's tent to start cooking for Wylie's big dinner. His important business connections from Prescott and Yuma were coming day after tomorrow. Sister and the twins helped Delena pick up the pieces torn from the costumes. Delena wasn't worried; she kept the bear and lion costumes for the dogs to wear until the diamond suits could be repaired. Now that they'd met her, Maytha and Vedna agreed with Sister; the dog circus woman was really interesting and she seemed nice.

Delena mentioned Big Candy had invited her and the dog circus to camp there next to the tents, then made them laugh as she repeated her reply: “Thanks but no thanks!” Her dogs would bark all night at the drunks stumbling around. She made it clear she wasn't going after Big Candy even though he was interested in her—they all could see that. Sister had almost given up on Candy; still, she felt relieved Delena wasn't after him; she and the twins liked her even more now. They told Delena she was right—the place was getting noisier at night now that the soldiers were camped nearby. That's why Maytha and Vedna were leaving, and Sister might go too.

They all walked her and the dogs back downriver to her camp hidden in the tamarisk and willows. The dogs fanned out ahead of them, bounding along then stopping to sniff a rock or to urinate on a dry log. They hadn't gone far when Delena stopped because there were only six dogs; the crippled dog was missing. They were about to go back to look for the dog when she limped out of a tamarisk thicket, her tail wagging.

“Ooh look! What's that in her mouth?” Maytha exclaimed. The others bent down for a closer look; they were amazed to see a $1 bill in her mouth.

“Some drunk dropped his money!” Sister Salt laughed, and the baby let go of her nipple with a soft pop to stare at her merriment.

“We need that kind of dog!” Vedna remarked.

Delena smiled but said nothing as she folded the banknote into a tiny square and reached under the satin cape to tuck it down her blouse between her breasts. The seven black dogs were her army.

In her shady camp, they shared two bottles of beer the twins swiped from the brewery tent while the Mojave ladies were gone. No more green beer by the pail like the other night, they laughed; the hangovers were too
brutal. The beer got Maytha and Vedna excited again about how amazing and funny the dogs' performance had been. Just wait, Delena told them; that was just a little rehearsal. Wait until they saw the big show!

They sat awhile without talking, and the sudden quiet woke the little grandfather, who peered sternly at the young women until Sister offered him a breast. After he was nursing contentedly, Sister asked Delena to bring out the Mexican cards to see what they knew about Mama and Indigo.

OK, but first she had to understand the cards might bring bad news, Delena explained. The Gypsy woman—she called her Auntie—who took her in and began to teach her about the cards was strong, never sick. That winter in Chihuahua she came down with a cold; she wasn't very sick—she still was up around the camp. Delena was still learning the cards then, and just for practice she asked the cards when her auntie would get over her cold. She shuffled the deck four times as she had been taught, then took the first card off the top for the answer. It was La Campana, the Bell, upside down. She had not seen that card reversed before, and was not sure of its meaning after she recited the card's
dicho:
“The bell and you beneath it.”

As she was talking, Delena took the Mexican cards out of their woven bag and unwrapped them. She paused to look up at them before she continued.

“I took the card to Auntie to ask her how the reversed Bell should be read.” Here Delena paused and swallowed.

“Auntie said, ‘That's my card, isn't it?' ” Now tears streamed down Delena's cheeks, and the twins looked at each other and Sister.

“The Bell means good fortune when it is upright—the church bell rings and everyone dances under the bell at weddings and baptisms and other happy occasions. But reversed, the Bell lies upside down on the fallen beam that supported it; to be under the Bell, then, can only mean disaster.”

Sister glanced down uneasily at the baby in her arms, and Maytha and Vedna shifted their legs under them to restore circulation. Delena smoothed out the patchwork cloth of colored satin and shuffled the Mexican cards over it. Vedna tipped the empty beer bottles to her mouth one after the other for any remaining drops.

“She died?” Maytha asked in a soft voice. Delena nodded as Vedna elbowed her and whispered loudly, “What do you think, stupid!”

Sister shook her head at them both. Delena was laying out the cards, and Sister didn't want the message of the cards affected by the twins' quarrel. Now as Delena began to lay down the cards they didn't take their eyes off
them. All three inhaled sharply at the first card, La Muerte, the skeleton with the big scythe. Delena frowned and shook her head at them; their reactions might influence the cards.