DAMN THAT MAN!
CHALLENGE #4

By JoLayne
EnyaJo@aol.com

Marta knocked on the front door of the Hidalgo casa. Vera's new dress was clumsy and extremely heavy. She waited as she did a mental list of everything that she would need to do before she and Tessa arrived for what was bound to be the social event of the season, Gaspar Hidalgo's Fortieth Birthday party. There were rumors that Governor Reyes himself was going to attend. Marta smiled as she wondered how Montoya took the news. The Governor hadn't accepted any of what she guessed were many invitations to his parties. She also wondered if the gesture of taking up the Hidalgos was supposed to be a slap in the face.

After standing on the stoop in the hot sun for a while, Marta realized that no one would be answering the door. Not wanting to put it on the ground, Marta tried the doorknob, to feel it easily open. "Hola?!"

Not seeing or hearing anyone, Marta stepped into the foyer and set the heavy dress wrapped in cloth on the settee, then brushed it flat to make sure it wouldn't wrinkle anymore than it probably had on the ride over to their hacienda.

Marta went from room to room to try to find anyone, feeling a little strange that there wasn't any activity since a party was to begin in nine hours. There were no servants, no Vera, no one that Marta had expected to see. Each step she took across the terra cotta floor amplified. When she called out for anyone, her voice echoed through the rooms. She was going to leave a note for Vera's maid and leave, but heard a noise from a room at the end of the hallway. "Is someone there?"

There was a crash from the room, making Marta jump and move back toward the door. Then there was nothing. Bucking up the courage, she walked closer to the room. "Hello?"

She peeked into the room and saw that it was Don Hidalgo's study. In the center of the room was a large ornate wooden desk. Knickknacks and books lined the shelves that covered the walls. The one window in the room was open, the lace drapery was flowing in from the breeze. The room was a mess. Papers were strewn all over the tiled floor. Some of the possessions on the shelving behind the desk were upset, toppled open, or had fallen to the floor. Marta stepped in to see if anyone was in there, but almost slipped on the broken off top of a large bottle. On the floor by the desk were little sticks of wood, like tooth picks, in various sizes. She walked toward the mess and saw shards of glass around the edge of the desk, then a model ship's mast. The bottle top had at one time been part of a ship in the bottle, but had it fallen to the floor. The ship was on it's side, looking like it was beached.

What she saw next horrified her. "Don Hidalgo!" Marta rushed to the prone man on the floor. He looked dead. A horseshoe with a smudge of blood on it laid by his head. She knelt at his side and carefully turned him over. "Don Hidalgo?"

His right temple had turned purple from bruising. Blood had made a line from the wound to the ground as he had laid. His face was calm, his eyes were closed. She leaned down to check his breathing and was relieved to feel air coming from his nose. She gently patted his cheek. "Don Hidalgo, wake up. What happened?" The Don slowly opened his eyes, then groaned. She asked again, "What happened?"

He mumbled something, but Marta couldn't hear. She leaned closer and heard him say, "My safe. They didn't disturb my safe?"

Marta looked around his office and on the wall that the door was on, in the shelves, was an open--and empty safe. The only way anyone could have left that office was through the window. She stood and looked out of it. Off in the distance was a garrison of Montoya's troops riding away from the hacienda.

"Montoya's men?"

Don Hidalgo tried to sit up, but was still dazed. Marta rushed back to his side to support him. "Just lie back for a little while longer."

He wouldn't listen to her. He yelled, "Montoya! He stole it! Damn that man!"

END

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