The scratching stopped. The digital clock read 3:20 A.M. Beating back a rising wave of fear, she cinched the belt tighter on her robe to boost her courage. At this time of night when fear and doubt loomed large and overpowering, leaving Copan seemed the right decision. The first bus left around 5:00 A.M. She could pack and be on it.
But Elena Palomares was suspect in a crime. If she left now, it would look worse. But hadn’t the Museum director ordered her to leave? She needed to talk to Dr. Roulade to get her counsel.
The scratching started again. The hollow sound seemed to come from the patio. She tiptoed in bare feet to the patio door. The night was calm, no breeze. Some small animal must have gotten trapped in the enclosed space. Light from the street lamp fell across the center of the patio where the fountain was silent for the night.
“Cheet.”
Elena stifled a yelp. That was no animal. That was a human voice.
“Señorita.”
A child’s voice.
“I need your help. Can you help me?”
She put a hand to her pounding heart.
“Who is it?” she said in a hoarse whisper. “Where are you?”
“It is me, Flaco.” He stepped out of the shadows right in front of her.
“Madre mia,” she said at his sudden appearance. “How did you get in here?” She pulled her robe tight around her throat like that would help quell her jangling nerves.
“Over the wall, señorita.”
“Where have you been?”
“I have been hiding, because the man is looking for me.”
“What man?”
“The tall man who killed the guy at the pyramid.”
“Come.” Elena took the child’s arm and tugged him into the room. “Sit here with me on the bed. What happened at the pyramid? Did you see the murder?”
The boy sat on the edge of the bed, like it might bite if he wasn’t careful.
“Flaco, did you hear me? Did you see the murder?” Elena asked.
He nodded. “I think so. I was looking for food and trinkets that the tourists throw away and fell asleep in the bushes near the pyramid because I was too tired to return to the bridge. Voices woke me up. They were arguing.”
“What did they argue about?”
He shook his head. “I cannot be sure. About the value of something. I could not hear them very good. Maybe about where something was hidden. I cannot be sure.”
He stopped like he had run out of story.
“Go on,” said Elena. “What else?”
“Then … then the tall man hit the other man when he turned to see who had shouted. Someone shouted.”
“What then?”
“I tried to be very quiet, you see. I was scared.” He hesitated. “But I sneezed. You know, more than once. Like three or four times. I couldn’t help it. The air makes me sneeze sometimes when I wake up. The tall man heard me and shouted.”
Elena watched Flaco trace circles on the bedspread, not looking at her. His arms and legs were scratched and dirt streaked his face. He wore no shoes, and his t-shirt and shorts most people would use as rags. She wanted to hug him and tell him everything would be okay, but she couldn’t guarantee such a wish. Instead, she laid her hand over his small one.
“Tell me what happened then.”
“He yelled to show myself. And another man appeared.”
“How many were they?”
“Three. There were three, I think, with the one on the ground. He didn’t move. He just lay there. I ran toward the river, away from those men.”
He looked big eyed at Elena. “I hid in a cave along the river. The men tried to follow but the brush was too thick for them, and they gave up after a while. Then I circled back to the pyramid. The man still lay on the ground, so I ran to get the doctor who is kind to us.”
“It was you I saw running from the Park when I arrived yesterday.”
“Sí. Yesterday in the afternoon I saw you looking for me, but I was scared and couldn’t let you see me. Because the tall man came back, you see. So I hid, and after a while he left. Can you help me? Will the police take me to jail?”
This time Elena put her arm around the frail child and tried to pull him close, but he resisted like he was afraid of her, too. He pulled out of her embrace, stood and backed away.
“I don’t want to go to jail, señorita. Why were you looking for me?”
“I saw a boy leave the site. Dominic said you brought the doctor. We wanted to know if you saw anything. And you did. You saw the murder. This is very important.”
Flaco seemed to think that over, but then his thoughts turned to practical matters. “Señorita, do you have a tortilla for me? I am very hungry. I have not been able to look for food all day.”
Elena’s heart melted. This poor child, who hadn’t asked for the hand he’d been dealt in life, was scared and hungry. Hunger she could remedy.
“Stand in the patio while I dress. Please don’t leave. We’ll go to doña Carolita’s kitchen.”
Flaco did as instructed. In the bathroom Elena hustled into clean shorts and top. She was afraid the little sprite would flee. He didn’t. Hunger won out over fear. He was standing scratching one leg with another.
“Come with me,” she said. “Be quiet so we don’t wake doña Carolita.”
They tiptoed through the living room and into the kitchen, not bothering with lights. Elena found pupusas in the tortilla keeper and put them on the griddle to heat. But Flaco couldn’t wait and grabbed a cold pupusa and started eating while the others warmed.
“Breakfast so early?” said a voice from the doorway.
Elena pivoted and saw doña Carolita in her housecoat, long braid of hair over her shoulder. Flaco ducked under the table like he could hide in the small kitchen.
“Buenos días,” Elena said, smiling. “We have a hungry visitor this morning, so I’m heating pupusas for him.”
“I can see someone under the table,” she said with a smile. The widow loved children but never had had any of her own. “Under the table is not the proper place for a child to have breakfast.”
She pulled out a chair and motioned for Flaco to sit upon it. “Sientese, hijo, por favor.”
Flaco eased onto the chair, licking his fingers. “Gracias, señora.”
“Ay, Dios,” said Carolita. “Look at those hands. This will never do.” She took his arm and waltzed him to the sink. “You must wash your hands before eating.”
“Sí, señora.” He dutifully scrubbed his hands in the stream of water at the sink.
“With soap, child.” She placed the bar of soap from the ledge in his hands.
Elena watched from her position of short order cook at the stove. She put the pupusas on a plate and placed them on the table, filled a glass with cold milk from the refrigerator and set it with the pupusas.
Doña Carolita ground beans for fresh coffee and put milk on the stove to heat for café con leche.
“I think I will make some eggs for breakfast. Would you like some, child?” she asked Flaco who was devouring one after another of the pupusas.