Chapter 4.

The Protected One.

The sun was at its peak, the morning was cool and butterflies fluttered near the orchids, the house was particularly quiet, the clients who usually spent the night woke up and left one by one, leaving a beneficial payment for the services they had enjoyed.

The younger ones were a mess, totally exhausted, they probably needed much more than a rest, but you couldn't avoid working to supply the basic needs when you are a woman in a man's world; the not so young ones took advantage of washing clothes in the river that connected to the lagoon to be lucky that before nightfall they were already dry and shiny; and the older ones cleaned the rooms and aired the place so that the body odors that were stored in the rooms would come out.

Jimena was one of the oldest, probably around 50 years old, while Daniela was in the prime of life at 35 years old; Petra was about 47 years old, but Lola was only 16; Sol was consistent with Lola at 22, however, Luz was in her 27th, and the nice Ana was only 19, but they all had noticed that Lucero, the oldest of all at 60, was nowhere to be found, and then Ana remembered that she had hosted a young woman with a small child yesterday and Lucero should probably be in that room, so she gathered with the other girls in the kitchen and told them: I almost forgot, yesterday I met my new sister, I don't know her situation, but she came with a baby on a horse; and Jimena asked her: so the horse that is in the stables belongs to the new family member? To which Lola replied, you don't have to be a sage to understand the situation, a young woman with a small child on a horse, is obviously running away from her husband, to which Ana took the floor again and said: I don't know, the situation is that I think Lucero is in the room with her and the child, so I guess we have to be a little more understanding and careful until she can open up to us properly; and Sol jokingly told her: she can open wide for me and I wouldn't have any problem, but Daniela told her: be careful with that sharp tongue you have, the young lady has barely arrived and she's already going to run away from here if you continue with your comments and they reach her ears, and then Luz said: why don't we take some boiled eggs to her room to just say hello? Ana said it was a good idea, so Petra got them going and all the girls started to dress in fresh dresses, they put down the brooms and rags, squeezed lemons, put them in a jar with honey, cooked three eggs for each one and added one more for the guest, and then when they were all ready, they went to the room that was closed, they knocked softly without getting any response and then Lola said: what do we do if something happened to them during the night and we didn't find out? We have to call the blacksmith to knock down the door, but Petra said: I don't think it's necessary to call such a man Early in the morning, we can try to enter through the windows, so the women surrounded the room up to where the windows were, but they were also closed, so Daniela said: let's throw some stones so that they hear us and open; for her part, Sol said it was a good idea and Jimena took some small stones and threw them hard at the window until it opened and then she heard Lucero's voice shouting: who the hell is throwing stones so early in the morning? and Luz laughing answered, Lucerito why don't you open the door for us? What Lucero said, turn around and don't be wild and throw rocks again or I'll be the one to chase you all with rocks all over the lagoon, the girls laughed until they turned around and took the food in their hands again, Lucero who had opened the door told them, come in it's a blessing to see what you've cooked this morning, Lola pouting told her that I was dying of hunger and from here until Lucerito came out I would surely devour my own stomach, the girls laughed and entered finding Eva breastfeeding the infant, who more than breastfeeding seemed to be playing with her mother's breast. While laughing, Ana immediately told her: I see that you have woken up as pretty as today... I see that your appearance has improved and Lucero answered: Like Luna, wouldn't it improve if you breathe for love and happiness? Then Ana said to her, is your name Luna? To which Eva nodded saying, yes my name is Luna, it is a pleasure to meet all of you today, you really don't know how grateful I am for your beautiful hospitality towards me and then Jimena told her: calm down, we have all gone through the abandonment of a man, the betrayal of the family , slavery, getting to this point feels more like a moment of relaxation, by the way my name is Jimena; Lola intervened saying: that little one doesn't feel like eating, he wants to play, so why don't you give him to me and take advantage to eat a little, my name is Lola, but everyone calls me Lolita, Luna smiled and said: wow, how friendly they are, and Sol answered it's not that we're friendly, it's that everyone who comes here is welcomed as part of the family and once you're family it doesn't matter how close or how far you are, you'll always be family. I am as bright as the sun, that is why my name is and Daniela continued, don't pay attention to them, these girls are a little pretentious, but if you want to go fishing count on me, Daniela to serve you, and Petra said, look at that beautiful hair you have and that I have seen people with blonde, black, red and brown hair, but I had never seen someone with white hair, you are really beautiful my name is Petra and you can count on me for anything, even to get rid of someone's corpse and Luz laughing said, with you saying that they need two to dig a grave and here is your beautiful Luz that will shine when you want to do it, dying of laughter among all Lucero said: I have never seen you so lively in a morning, it is good to have you in the Luna family and Eva smiling answered: it is an honor to be surrounded by such wonderful women like you…

The morning passes between laughter and games, the dirty rags with which they cleaned themselves were used as the support of a rock to sing, while the clothes were spread out on a small rock wall near the river, the beautiful melodious voices filled the house and the little one who always seemed to sleep, was wide awake, laughing as he was carried in the arms of all those women in that house; in the afternoon some children came to the side garden where these women taught them the little they knew about writing, reading and understanding what was being written... as the hours passed everything became more fun because they also sang and taught them to play some string and wind instruments, and when the sound began to come out, others took advantage to dance; and before the sun began to set, the baker arrived at the big house with the butcher to give them some cuts of meat that could rot if left until the next day, just as they brought them the last batch of sweet bread that was baked; The children and peasants who were there, although they really learned little, had a great time, visiting the garden at the side of the house and when night fell, the musicians played different melodies to seduce everyone who came while the women spent their time dancing in tiny, completely exotic outfits that were tempting to the eye of any man.

Luna had already locked herself in her room again, the child in her arms seemed to be completely happy, fast asleep and with a small smile on his face so pure and innocent, so it was not very difficult for her to fall asleep next to her precious son.