About LEGENDSEEKER
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12/31/1969 - 17:00
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Chapter Two Part Ten
“I have heard many Cipitillo stories. Many from San Vicente. All of them say he was a mischievous little creature. Why do you think he was a demon?”
The old woman hesitated, staring at Maggie with her cataract eyes. She finally took a deep breath, folding her hands across her lap. “Very well, I will tell you. My brother Luis and our cousin Ramon left San Vicente a year before I saw El Cipitillo. They wanted to be fishermen. They wanted to make enough money to buy their own boat. To catch many fish, and become rich.”
“They came here? To Playa Arrayan?”
“No. They went to La Libertad. They joined a crew of fishermen and worked very hard. They were good fishermen, too. There was a storm one day and the boat was lost at sea.”
“I'm sorry.”
She smiled. “Oh, they survived that. They came home, telling of an island they had found. An island spilling over with gold.”
Maggie's fingers began to write quickly, her interest more than piqued.
The old woman shook her head. “I remember my brothers Martin and Jaime wanted to go back to the island with Luis. They bragged they could find more gold, and we would all be very rich. They would buy me the prettiest dresses anyone in San Vicente had ever seen.”
Maggie ignored the sweat running down her back and the sweat running down her face. “So Luis and Ramon had brought back gold with them?”
“A golden plate. Luis said they could see gold winking from the cliffs, as if treasure had been sprinkled upon the island. They rowed their lifeboats towards a small stretch of beach, nestled within the cliffs. There, they collected as much treasure as they could fit into one of the three small life boats.” The woman’s eyes narrowed. “It grew dark, and one of the fishermen was suddenly attacked by an animal. Dragged into a small cave. He managed to escape, running out of the cave, screaming of the devil, bloody knife in hand. He seemed frightened to death, begging his shipmates to leave the island immediately. The men decided to gather strength, buy a larger ship, and return to the island.”
The devil on an island sprinkled with gold? Maggie’s scribbling continued despite her eyes fixing on the old woman. This was the type of legend she had wanted to hear. The embellishment she had craved to hear. Originality. “Did they?”
“No.” Niña Tilla’s hands clasped together. “When they reached El Salvador, the gold was gone.”
“Gone?”
"They had stored the gold in a pile, in the center of a lifeboat. There had not been much room to spare, since there were fifteen men. They had covered the gold with a tarp. When they reached the port at La Libertad, and lifted the tarp, there was nothing there. It had vanished. As if the whole adventure had been a dream.”
“It just vanished?”
The vendor’s eyes widened, watching Maggie, continuing with her tale. “There had been something under that tarp, only it hadn’t been gold. I am sure of it.” She shifted, gripping her rosary tighter. “Without the gold, the men could not buy a ship. They decided to return to their homes, gather money, and rejoin in La Libertad.”
Maggie waited anxiously.
Part Eleven coming soon