The Chupacabra (13 page)

She found Nikki and Carmen still at breakfast in the courtyard, chatting, and she forced herself to give them a big smile. She sat down and poured herself an orange juice and then bit into a piece of toast.

“The police have just been here.” Nikki's eyes sparkled with excitement. “Frida refused to talk to them. It was Joseph who called them in. Apparently they said that it had happened before—the animal killings, I mean. It was—”

“Four years ago and it was wild dogs.” Vanessa finished the sentence for her friend.

“How on earth did you know that?” Nikki said indignantly. “And why didn't you tell me?”

“Sorry, Izel told me. I would have said it, only I got sick, remember?”

Vanessa kicked herself. That hadn't helped things
between them. What would happen if Nikki ever found out just how much Vanessa had kept secret from her?

“Have you seen Armado around? He said he would give me another riding lesson once I was better. I'm learning to jump at last,” she added hastily, hoping that the word
liar
was not branded all over her forehead.

“Funny, that. He was looking for you not ten minutes ago, although he didn't mention a lesson. Iiinterressting …” Nikki drawled the last word for effect.

Vanessa could think of nothing to say, so she aimed the crust of toast in her hand at her friend's head and fled, the sound of the girls' laughter propelling her on.

Curses or magic spells are placed on people with the intention of harming them—causing illness, accidents, and even death. They are the most dreaded form of magic and are universally known as “black magic.” Curses laid on families have been known to plague them for generations.

The horses were drinking from the river and Vanessa and Armado were sitting on the bank, cooling down. The tension between them was bad. Vanessa knew they would have to talk about it sometime. They just
couldn't keep putting it off.

“Can you tell me what's going on, Armado? I heard the police were here today and that your mother would not talk to them.”

“She can't talk about it. She feels that she is responsible,” Armado said gloomily, picking up a small stone and throwing it into the river.

Vanessa waited.

“Since she took over the ranch,” Armado went on, “four years ago, bad things have started to happen. She believes she has brought the curse here.”

“I know this is really difficult for you all.” Vanessa paused and swallowed the lump that had formed suddenly in her throat.

“Mama never talks about it. Papa told me a little, but she never has.”

“Please tell me, Armado. I need to know.” Frida was the key to it all, she felt certain. She just wasn't sure how she had become involved. “You have to trust me,” said Vanessa. “Sometimes I see things that other people can't see. I don't know why, I just do.”

She could see that he was thinking. He looked into her eyes. Then he pushed away a strand of her hair that had fallen across her face and tucked it behind her ear.

“I will tell you what I know. Although I know Mama would hate us talking about this.” He got up and began to pace the bank just behind her, his hands in his pockets.

“She was about sixteen when Papa moved into the house. My grandfather had hired him to be my mother's tutor. When he found out that they had fallen in love, he went mad. He locked her up in her room for weeks at a time. Nobody was allowed to visit. My father was thrown out of the house. He was lucky to have made it out alive.”

“How did they get back together then, to get married?”

“Months later my mother ran away, I don't know where, but she went to him. Her father sent the police after her, but they did not find her. They married in secret. That's all Papa ever told me. The rest I picked up from Izel, and I've tried to piece the story together.”

“I see, but what about the curse?” said Vanessa encouragingly.

“Izel told me that Don Miguel, my grandfather, put a curse on Frida and swore that she would never set foot on the ranch again. He made sure that she
wouldn't inherit the ranch when he died. It went to a nephew instead, but when that nephew died suddenly, he left it in his will to Frida, so she inherited it indirectly. That was four years ago.”

“Ah,” said Vanessa. “So that's why she thinks she has brought the curse to the ranch. She went against her father's wishes, even after he was dead. And maybe that is why she puts up with Pablo now. She's trying to put it all right again and lift the curse.”

Armado looked surprised. “I'm not sure. I know Pablo was close to my grandfather. So maybe you are right. If she does right by him …”

Vanessa nodded. “Izel believes that it was Pablo who told Don Miguel about Frida and Joseph's love affair. She says that Pablo poisoned the family against Joseph.”

“She never told me that,” Armado said.

“OK,” Vanessa said. “So let me get this straight. Four years ago your mother inherits the ranch and you all come to live here. Things start to go bad straight away: animal killings, drought, the ranch starts to lose money. Also four years ago, the local shaman goes missing and supposedly leaves Pablo in
charge. But why does Xolo, the shaman's dog, hate Pablo? And why does Xolo act like a guard dog to me?” Vanessa stopped and frowned.

“And what about you?” Armado said quietly. “Why did I find you out in the middle of the night, lying beside a dead cow, covered in its blood?”

The question, finally asked out loud, made Vanessa wince. She didn't dare raise her eyes to meet his.

Instead she put her hand in her shorts pocket and felt the shrunken head. The words came out of her mouth before they had time to form in her mind.

“Because I am a threat to him.” Suddenly she understood. “I saw him that night, Armado. Pablo is a nagual. I know, because I saw him transform—into the Chupacabra.”

“Nagual? Chupacabra?” Armado was shocked, but Vanessa could see that he still didn't believe her. “Slow down, Vanessa.”

“Speed up, more like it! I've only just put two and two together. But I definitely saw his face, and then I saw the face of that horrible creature—the fangs, the red eyes. He knows that I know about the murder too.”

“Murder? Vanessa, what on earth are you talking
about now? I know it was horrible, but it was only a cow.”

“I don't mean the cow, Armado,” said Vanessa. “Come with me.”

Current theories about the Chupacabra include the belief that they might be aliens, vampire bats, living dinosaurs, and even the result of genetic mutation experiments that have escaped from a government laboratory.

“Where to?” Armado asked. “Back to the ranch?”

“Yes. To get Xolo.” Before Armado could ask why, Vanessa said pleadingly, “Just trust me, please, Mado. I have to show you. It's too complicated to explain.” They went and got Xolo, and
the dog ran with them alongside the horses. He seemed to know where to go, and as soon as they reached the forested area he disappeared once again into the trees. After a moment he reappeared with the same bone he'd brought to Vanessa a few days previously.

“This is like déjà-vu,” said Armado as they dismounted and tied up the horses. “What is this all about, Vanessa?”

Xolo rubbed up against Vanessa's leg and gave a sharp bark. Then he turned and walked briskly in amongst the trees. Vanessa followed closely on the heels of the dog.

“Where are you going now?” Armado sounded alarmed.

She didn't answer him, just kept following Xolo. Armado had to run to catch up with them.

After about ten minutes they came to a small clearing. Xolo began to scratch and scrape the ground in the center. Vanessa watched at first, and then she knelt down beside him.

“Vanessa, what are we looking for?” Armado asked, but Vanessa was too busy clawing at the dried earth to answer.

“Vanessa?” he asked, sounding frightened.

“Just help us dig,” she ordered.

They found a second bone. Armado picked it out of the soil and cleaned it off. He held it out to Vanessa, but she refused to touch it. She wasn't going to make that mistake again. Distracted, she examined her hands. Her fingernails were caked with red clay, and two of her fingers were bleeding. She was shivering slightly now.

“A shallow grave,” she said grimly.

“A grave?” Armado was shocked. “It's not what you would call a grave, Vanessa. It's just a bone that Xolo buried so he could dig it up later. It's his stockpile. He's a dog, after all. They do that.”

“It's human,” Vanessa said adamantly.

She had seen enough bones in her lifetime, because of her mother's interest in archaeology, to know the difference.

Armado said nothing for a moment. Then he seemed to change the subject. “What were you doing out in the dark, Vanessa? When I found you the other night, I mean.”

Vanessa struggled to articulate the words. She felt sick.

“I don't know. I was sleepwalking and yet it was real, too.”

“The blood was real,” Armado said quietly. “It was all over your face, Vanessa. You looked like a vampire.”

“The cow, the one that was killed, I stumbled over it in the dark, fell on top of it, face down. That's all.” Armado didn't answer.

“It's got something to do with all of this,” she went on. “I know it, Armado. The bones, the curse, the Chupacabra. They're all linked.”

“The Chupacabra?” Armado did not hide the incredulity in his voice this time. “Come off it, Vanessa. You can't honestly believe in that nonsense, can you? Isn't the Chupacabra meant to be an alien from outer space or something?”

As he said it Vanessa's certainty evaporated. Maybe she was talking nonsense. Maybe she was barking totally up the wrong tree.

“Just dig, will you?” she said crossly. “There'll be more bones, you'll see. I'm telling you, it's a grave, Armado. I can't touch the bones myself,” she explained. “That's why you have to dig. Last time I saw terrible things.” She tried hard not to let her
voice sound tearful. “But I suppose you think that's a bit loony too.”

Armado didn't reply. Why was she the only one seeing things? It wasn't her ranch, not even her flipping country.

The next bone they found was definitely not from an animal. It was undoubtedly a human femur with the funny angular ball part near one end of it.

When Armado measured it up against his own upper leg it was clear that it had come from someone about his size or a fraction taller.

Vanessa still did not touch it. She sat cross-legged on the ground and said, “See? How tall was the shaman?”

Armado's eyes grew round in disbelief.

“I don't know,” he said. “He left not long after we moved in, I think. I didn't know him.”

Vanessa waited for him to come to the same conclusion as she had herself.

She could see that Armado was beginning to doubt himself. He looked deeply troubled, and now he began to dig frantically. Xolo whined gently beside Armado, his head resting on his paws.

“But who would do such a thing?” Armado
shouted as he dug up another clearly human bone. “Who would bury someone here?”

The answer hung in the air between them.

“A murderer,” she said quietly at last.

“Oh God.” Armado had found the skull. “Murder.” He exhaled he word at last. “But why?”

“Evil,” Vanessa said. “
El diablo
. Whatever you want to call it.”

“But the shaman was a good man,” said Armado. “The people respected him.”

“Yes, but Pablo wears a crystal and feathers,” said Vanessa. “I am sure they belonged to the shaman.” She spoke calmly, feeling sure of herself now.

“I still don't understand,” wailed Armado.

“When Frida inherited the ranch, it was under the protection of the shaman,” Vanessa explained. “But there was a curse on Frida, remember? Your grandfather had cursed her.”

“You mean the curse killed the shaman? That doesn't make sense.”

“No, listen. The shaman protected the ranch so the curse could not take effect. The only way to make the curse work was to get rid of the shaman.”

“Right,” said Armado. “And who wanted the curse
to take effect? You say Pablo because he has the shaman's beads.”

“Feathers,” said Vanessa. “And a crystal—a kind of necklace, a charm, I suppose.”

“That proves nothing.”

“Pablo wanted to be in control of Frida's downfall,” Vanessa said. “That's why he killed the shaman. Once the shaman was gone, Frida and the ranch were no longer protected. The curse began to work and things went from bad to worse. Animals attacked, drought …”

There was a wild look in Armado's eyes. He grabbed Vanessa's backpack and put the skull into it. Then he took her firmly by the hand and pulled her to her feet.

“Quick, we have to tell Papa and confront Pablo.” He looked around suddenly. “For all I know he could be hiding and watching us. I caught him outside your room the other day. Maybe he had been inside your room, now that I think about it. The door was open a fraction.”

“Dead lizards and frogs,” Vanessa said ruefully. “I thought he just meant to frighten me, but …” Armado looked puzzled. He didn't remember immediately.

“Pablo planted them to put a spell on me, to make me sick, to stop me finding out the truth. I'd say he has an effigy of me with pins in it, too.” She stared coolly into Armado's chestnut-brown eyes.

“You probably think that's all rubbish, but Izel believes it. She put metal safety pins around my bed to protect me because naguals don't like metal.”

She paused for a moment. “You still don't believe me, do you? I can't—”

“Stop, Vanessa!” Armado interrupted her. “We don't have time now. We have to hurry back.”