27 - THE ENCHANTED

27 -  THE ENCHANTED

  Duarte was starting to get irritated... after all, Vicente couldn't seem to get enough. They had already visited the priest of the festival, five famous healers from the region and a little more from pais de santo. He asked everyone questions and listened to the answers with great attention. Apparently, he was taking that story about ghosts and other animals seriously... the story that made Duarte the most nervous was that of the woman who appeared on nights with a full moon and lured the unwary to the river, where she slaughtered them, sucking out all their bodies. blood... coincidence or not, all the bloodless bodies were found on or near the riverbank. When Duarte asked one of the pais de santo what this woman would look like, he got a look of contempt... how could they know? No one who found that woman ever lived to tell the tale... all right, he thought... but if no one who found her escaped alive, how did they know she was a woman? Vicente looked a little askew at him, sending the message "shut up, let them talk"... And Duarte remained silent, without further questions... It was late at night when Vicente gave up and decided to end the interviews with the day... they had completed a long shift. They were leaving the house of Pai João, a healer of unparalleled fame. Knowing the diseases of this and the other world, he always had a remedy for whatever it was... always accompanied by a prayer and a blessing. They were already reaching the gate of the terreiro when the preto Velho called them both and handed them each an amulet, recommending that they always leave it hanging around their neck, to have protection against the forces of evil... Vicente thanked him and immediately put his amulet... Duarte stared at it for some time... but once again Vicente's look made him do what was expected. Pai João prayed, blessing both men, and said goodbye, telling them that as long as they kept their amulets they would not need to fear the occult forces of this world... and off they went walking through the streets of the village, talking about everything they had heard during the day. Duarte couldn't understand what all that was going to do. After all, "I've never heard so much rubbish together in one place"... but tonight he would start to change his mind about the world beyond...

It had been two hours since the two had been talking as they walked along the riverbank... intentionally or not, Vicente had guided his research partner to that place that seemed to be one of the keys to solving part of the mystery. It was full moon night. It was the night of the enchanted...

According to one of the healers, "the enchanted one" was a girl who got engaged, but on her wedding day she was betrayed by the groom with her friend... as revenge, she bled them both and drank their blood... that cursed her to forever, she was condemned to live in the river and on nights of the full moon she needed to satisfy her hunger for blood... and that's when she attacked the unwary... she didn't discriminate against anyone... man, woman, fat, thin, young, old... whoever passed by his stronghold on the nights of the full moon served to satisfy his hunger...

- Seu Vicente, you didn't really believe in that nonsense we heard...

- What nonsense, Duarte?

- Those, from the enchanted woman, for example...

- Why?

- Well, because... there's no logic...

- What is not logical, Duarte?

- That... from being a haunting responsible for the deaths that are happening...

Vincent stopped. From his pocket he pulled out a bag of chopped tobacco, took a corn husk and started to roll a cigarette. He lit it, took a puff. He held out the material to make a cigarette to Duarte, who accepted it and repeated his partner's gesture. And so they stayed for some time, in silence, peacefully smoking their cigarettes. When the butt was almost reaching Vicente's lips, he threw it with a flick, and the small remnant of the cigarette fell into the waters of the river. Still silent, he looked up at the sky, took off his hat and stood as if he were praying. Duarte looked at him, not quite understanding what was going on. Finally Vicente finished his prayer, replaced his hat and invited his partner to sit on a fallen tree trunk. After some more silence, Vicente broke the silence that reigned between the two....

- Tell me something, Duarte... you weren't born here, were you?

- No... I came from the Capital...

- So he's a literate goat...

- Yes... I studied Law in Coimbra...

- Wow... went overseas... don't you like the Academies of our land?

- It's not that... it's just that my parents are from there... and I wanted to know the lands of my ancestors...

- But there are also legends about the world beyond... in fact, most of the stories we hear around here came from there...

- Vicente, you are an enlightened man... legends are stories to scare children...

- Can I tell you something?

- Clear...

- Until recently, I used to run through this sertão chasing bandits...

- And isn't that what you still do today?

  - Yes, but I did it to avenge the death of my family...

- I don't understand...

- Well, I wore a mask... and ended up getting into some trouble because of it...

- And why did you wear a mask?

- I already explained... it was a sign of mourning for my family...

- Wait... you're not...

- For a long time I rode with Corisco...

- ... Juvencio? The Avenger?!!!...

- Yes, that's what they called me...

- And how did you join the police?!

- Well, one day I crossed Doctor Aristides' path...

- The Fed?

- He himself... and then he convinced me to leave that life of adventurer without a threshing floor and use my knowledge of sertaneja life in the service of the Law...

- But you already fought for the law...

- No... I fought for justice... and sometimes I ended up going against the law...

- And then you joined the police...

- Yes...

- And that boy who accompanied him?

- It was also for him that I accepted the Delegate's offer. We stopped running through that sertão and the boy went to study...

- And what does he do today?

-He's a Federal Delegate, like me...

- Wow... I didn't expect that one... and where is he today?

- Well, you know... we have some problems over there in Bahia... he was assigned there...

Duarte was thoughtful... he always thought that Juvêncio, who he had heard so much about, was just a legend from the sertão... and now, there he was, in the flesh in front of him...

The two were watching the calm waters of the river, when suddenly they felt their body shiver. Gradually a ghostly figure began to appear in the waters that became a whirlpool... the night seemed to have become darker, the stars seemed to have disappeared from the sky... it was as if a dark mantle had been extended across the sky. ..the figure began to take on human form...but it was simply horrifying. Hair that looked like snakes, eyes that looked like two embers, they were so red and shiny, and a forked tongue, like that of snakes... but as he approached the shore, his figure began to change. When she set foot on the shore, her appearance had completely changed... now she was a beautiful girl, with eyes that emanated an endless sadness... and she started walking towards her two companions...