“La Mancha,” he answered, turning again to trudge back to the ship.
“Well,” I said to Meche, “let’s hope we’re not tilting at windmills.” I took a deep breath and hollered, “OK, everybody! They’re gonna launch! Back! Back!”
Even if Glottis didn’t believe in magic, I did, and my faith was rewarded when La Mancha slid into the water as nice as you please. And she stayed on top, too, which was much more important. The ship moved out a ways, and then she dropped anchor fore and aft to hold her steady. After that we began the long process of ferrying everyone across on rafts. There was a hint of gray in the north as the last of the prisoners boarded and we got under way.
“Well,” I said happily to Meche, coming down from the bridge with Glottis after having set our course (we had to depart in a wide arc in order to find a channel deep enough to get through the reef and into the open sea), “how do you like our boat?”
“She’ll be something once you slam some headers on her and lower her to the waterline,” she answered.
“Are you flirtin’ with me?” Glottis asked.
“You are tired,” I said. “Get some rest.”
“Not until we’re free and clear,” he said, going below.
“Once we are,” I said to Meche, “he’s going to bed even if I have to tie him down.”
“Are you sure he’s just tired, Manny? He doesn’t look well.”
“He did in a few days a job that should’ve taken weeks. Of course he’s tired.”
Meche tried to get a better grip on the kids, but they were asleep and limp. “Take Pugsy, will you?”
“Sure,” I said, and did. “We should take them below.”
“No,” she said, “not yet. I’ve been cooped up in that factory, and in a brig for months before that. The angelitos have been in a cage for I don’t know how long. I want to stay in the open air for a while.” She started walking around the deck among the other souls, some standing or walking or lying down, asleep or just staring up at the open sky. I followed after her.
La Mancha was a lot bigger than the Lola. Plenty of space to move around in. We paused when we came to a small group being led in prayer by a nun. Meche stood quietly, then crossed herself when the nun had finished. “Sister Calabaza,” Meche said quietly as we moved away.
“Yeah?” I asked, surprised. “That’s the case Domino stole from me.”
“And you stole my case from him,” Meche said with a twinkle in her voice, “and that’s how this whole thing started.”
“No,” I countered, “it started when Hector LeMans died.”
“True,” she said, “but how will it end?”
“I don’t know, angel, but it won’t be a happy ending for Hector, not if Sal and Eva have their way.”
How to Shred a Con Man Without Really Trying
Meche and I wandered around the deck for a while, finishing up at the railing by the port bow. Pugsy and Bibi were still asleep, curled up in a blanket on the deck nearby.
“…and,” I was saying, “it seemed that as soon as I had turned around, my whole crew was sprouted. If it hadn’t been for Glottis…” I shrugged. I looked back the way we had come. We had made our way past the reef and there was no trace of the island except for a few low clouds. The sun was almost clear of the northern horizon and things were looking more hopeful, but my story was bringing me down.
“I guess I haven’t been fair to you, huh?” Meche said after I had trailed off. “You’ve had a rough couple of years, too.”
“Well, I wasn’t the one lost in the forest,” I said.
“I didn’t have to stand there and watch while a close friend sprouted,” Meche countered, “and I didn’t have to see the same thing happen to a crew I was responsible for. That’s a lot to have to go through.”
“But I wasn’t the one sprouted. Bad things happen to everyone around me, but I come through without a scratch.”
“Are you sure?” Meche asked. “Look at how you’re punishing yourself! You didn’t shoot Lola, but you hold yourself more responsible than the one who did.”
“I should have gone after her right away, you know, just like I should have sent my crew ashore as soon as I got Salvador’s message.”
“But you didn’t,” Meche said in an aggravated tone, “and not because you’re evil, or because you’re fated to destroy everyone around you. Bad things just happen sometimes, and we don’t always know why. And what that means is that you are not a special case! I hate to pop your balloon, Manny, but we’re all in the same boat.” She gave a sharp, bitter laugh. “We’re all victims of Hector, you included. The only difference is, you didn’t fall into the trap so easily. They’re shooting blind, and hitting innocent bystanders trying to bring you down, but you are not responsible for that.”
“I can’t help thinking that if only I had done things differently, no one would have gotten hurt.”
“Well, you’d be worse than Domino if you didn’t have regrets. I can’t make your burden easier to bear, Manny. I’d carry it for you if I could. But… I can’t. No more than you can carry mine. But, most important, you mustn’t compare burdens. Don’t beat yourself up because you think yours isn’t heavy enough.”
“Is that what I’m doing?” I wondered out loud, doubting but afraid that Meche was right.
“I don’t know,” she answered with a shrug. “I think so.” She sighed. “I don’t think there’s anyone on this ship who would want to trade places with you. I’d rather spend another year in that forest than,” she shuddered, “than to have watched a friend like Lola sprout. In a way, you know, she was lucky.”
“You’re kidding me, right?”
Meche shook her head. “She could have sprouted up in that lighthouse alone, Manny. I don’t know what it’s like to sprout, but I do know what it means to die alone.”
I remembered how I had found her, by herself in a hospital bed, with nothing—not a nurse nor even a bunch of grapes—in the room with her. “Why do things have to be this way?” I asked toward the fiery north.
“People have been asking that question for thousands of years, Manny,” Meche said dryly. “I don’t know the answer. I only know that the world is bigger than I can understand, so I just try to cope with my own small part of it and try to make it a little more bearable.”
“Like reading stories to small children locked in a cage?”
“Like reading stories to small children locked in a cage,” she agreed. “It’s either that, or get into a funk when I can’t set them free.”
“Harsh,” I said, feeling the implied rebuke.
“Well,” Meche said with a careless shrug, “you started this conversation.”
“And I should just take my medicine?”
“I can only be honest with you, Manny.”
“I think,” I said, not totally certain about what I was saying, “I think I’m gonna need that.” I looked westward over the sea. “We’ve got a long journey ahead and somebody’s got to keep me on track.”
We lapsed into silence. Meche broke it first. “So, are you really gonna take me to El Marrow and try to get your old job back?” she asked slowly.
“There’s no job for me now,” I answered with the ghost of a laugh, “except to bring you and everyone else on this tub to the end of the road.”
“But if you aren’t going to use me to get your job back,” Meche asked as she moved, somewhat hesitantly, closer to me, “why did you spend all this time trying to find me?” She looked intently, and slightly downwards, into my face.