32 - THE VISIT

 32 - THE VISIT

Almost a month had passed since the girls left and Zacarias was wounded in combat. With his arm still in a sling, he was already riding through the fields, supervising the cowboys in their daily work of cattle. As the injured shoulder was the left one, he continued to use his gun normally, although he didn't want to take it out of the holster... "Only pull your gun out if you're really going to use it", was the first lesson he received when he got his revolver . And he tried his best to avoid using it, even in the field. Although it was customary for some cowboys to shoot upwards in some situations to control the cattle, Zacarias always looked for an alternative way out. In short... even though it was an important tool in his daily life, Zacarias hated the use of weapons.

While his arm was immobilized, Zacarias was unable to carry out the duties of milkman and carrier, which he loved to do so much. To cover his absence, he left Tonhão in charge of the two tasks... Juca was still in the field, taking care of perimeter security, to avoid new visits from other people's friends... everything was going well, as expected. Of course, the only thing that bothered Zacarias was the lack of news from his daughter and her friend... but he followed the old premise that "no news is always good news..." although that didn't calm his heart at all. true....

It was a little after noon... Zacarias was sitting at the door of his hut, when he saw a horseman approaching at a slow pace. The horse trotted dolently, denoting that its rider was in no hurry to get where he wanted to go. Try as he might, he couldn't identify who was approaching. After a quarter of an hour or so, he was finally able to identify the visitor... it was the Sheriff who had assisted in the recovery of the stolen cattle. What would he be wanting there? Well, until he arrived, he would have no way of finding out...

Finally the knight reached Zacarias, greeted him and waited for the invitation to dismount. Zacarias looked at the visitor for a few minutes and, as the sun was burning, he invited him to come in and protect himself from the heat... Without delay, Vicente dismounted.

- Late, Delegate... how can I help you?

- Nothing serious, Mr. Zacarias... I just wanted to chat with you...

- Would you like a coffee? Lunch will be out soon... eat with us...

- Thanks... I won't get in the way?

- Of course. Just give me a little excuse, I'll be right back...

And Zacarias went to tell Rosário that they would have a guest for lunch. And on the way back, he brought the coffee pot, with a plate with some cookies...

- And then, Chief? What did he really want to talk about?

- Well, first, you can stop calling me a deputy. You can call me by my name. You can call me Vicente or Juvêncio, which are my birth names...

When he heard the second name, Zacarias almost choked on his coffee….

- The... sir is not... is not....

Juvêncio was amused by Zacarias' momentary confusion. Every time he introduced himself with his first name, the surprise on people's faces was... how could you say... amazing!

- Yes, my friend... for a long time I rode through this sertão... and they called me "punisher".

- But you were already a delegate?

- No, of course not... it took me some time to join the law team... which is not always on the side of justice...

- I didn't understand...

- Let's leave it there... I assure you it's better...

- What did you want to talk about?

- I heard that you saw some... apparitions....

- These people talk too much. I did not see anything.

- Mr. Zacarias, this is very important... if it wasn't, I wouldn't have come looking for you.

- I didn't understand...

- Let me explain... I know you don't like to talk about the apparitions you've witnessed...

- Well... I can't talk about what I can't explain...

- Mr. Zacarias... I've been walking through this endless wilderness for a long time...

- I know...

- And I've seen a lot of things, this and the other world...

- Do you believe in "the other world"?

- And you, sir?

- Well, I admit I've seen some weird things...

- That's what they say...

- But that doesn't mean it's something from the other world...

- And how do you explain the ball full of sacis?...

- Who told you that?

- It doesn't matter... you saw it, didn't you?

Zacarias was silent for a few minutes. Certain things he preferred not to remember and that apparition, despite not having been as frightening as others he had already witnessed, was one of them. He didn't like to talk about anything he couldn't explain and he sure as hell didn't talk about it....

- So, Mr. Zacarias... you've already seen some strange things here in the region... by the way, this is a bit like a haunted region, isn't it?

- I don't know what you're talking about...

- Well, Duarte and I had a face-to-face encounter with "Enchanted"...

- Did you see her??!!!

- As I can see you...

- And he's still alive?

- Well, when we go after certain things, we have to take certain precautions...

- To this day, no one who has seen one of these things has lived to tell the story...

- Yeah, I know... but like I told you, this isn't the first time I face this kind of... enemy!

- And what did you want from me?

- Your help, Mr. Zacarias... I need to clean the camp of these... things! And alone, I won't make it.

- You have Deputy Duarte to help you....

Juvêncio looks at Zacarias and laughs... a light, amused laugh. Zacarias looks at him seriously...

- You trust him, don't you?

- At Duarte? Hell yeah... he's an inept... but he's honest. The problem is that he is not prepared for certain... hunts, you know what I mean?

- Well... honestly... I think it wasn't in his plans to hunt ghosts, when they sent him here...

- It's not in anyone's plans... but we have to dance to the music...

- I understand...

- And if to solve the cases that are haunting the life of the region depends on investigating the world beyond, that's what we have to do... after all, when we exhaust the possibilities of the real world, we also have to see what seems to us too fantastic to be true...

Zacarias was silent for a few moments, thoughtful... what that man in front of him was saying didn't make any sense to him... how could they investigate forces from beyond? How would they arrest a headless mule, for example? No, definitely this guy didn't match the ideas well...

- Can I count on your help, Mr. Zacarias?

- And how could I help you, sir?

- First, telling me about the region... if you can tell me about the stories you've heard about the region... even the most fanciful ones... it helps me a lot...

- I don't understand...

- Mr. Zacarias, there are only two ways to get rid of a ghost... one is to know what he needs to abandon our plan... the ghosts don't want to stay here, because for them it's a source of suffering... .or an exorcism ritual, which takes longer to be performed and is not always a guarantee that it will work...

- AND...?

- And that's why I need your help... I need to find out who the "Enchanted One" was when she was alive, and what happened to her, so that she became a violent and bloodthirsty ghost...

- He must be getting revenge for something...

- Yes... but of what? That's why I need to know as much as possible about the region... I need to understand what makes it act the way it does....