8 - ZÉ CLAUDINO

 8 - ZÉ CLAUDINO

It must have been half past five, six in the morning, more or less. The sky was dark and a fine drizzle was falling over the earth. The three cowboys were already on the road, herding the herd towards Santa Helena Farm. There must have been another two or three hours of idling, as they didn't want to tire the cattle, mainly due to the bad weather. As always, Zacarias was in front, playing his horn, Tonhão was in the middle, controlling the cattle so they wouldn't disperse, and Juca bringing up the column to prevent any cattle from straying from the herd. And alongside the three, the inseparable Whiskey, always on the lookout for the cattle. They went at a slow, gentle, unhurried pace. After all, the most complicated part of the trip had already been completed, and now they were practically home... Zacarias missed Rosário... and his children too, of course. But Rosário had been his companion for years, and the image of him never left Zacarias' mind. For him, although the years had passed for all of them, his companion's swarthy beauty remained the same. Of course her hair was whitening... but he always told his wife that he didn't have anything more beautiful in the world than the white streaks that formed in her hair... yes, the two loved each other very much. Of course, they always spent some time apart, after all, Rosário worked in the fields, sometimes planting or harvesting rice, beans, potatoes, coffee... and he worked with the cattle... when everything was calm, he was the farm's official milkman. When the situation required it, he was the driver, the cowboy, the herdsman... he was always on standby for whatever might come. Tonhão was a young man in his early twenties. Dark complexion, descended from bugre and black ... his father had been hunted in the snare when he was a child, and was adopted by a family of roceiros, his mother was a former slave. The two met, fell in love and got married. That simple. And from this union came five children, Tonhão being the middle child. Tonhão had an athletic build, and was very affectionate. The girls of the farm and the surroundings sighed for his love, but he only had one person in his heart... Maria, the daughter of Zacarias. The devil is that the girl didn't give a damn about him, it was as if he were invisible... it's not that she didn't like him, she even liked him, but as a brother... and that wasn't the way he wanted to be seen by she, who was his intended... Zacarias knew about the boy's feelings for his daughter, but preferred not to guess. "Whatever has to happen, happens," he once told the boy, by way of advice. And they didn't talk about it anymore. Juca was about twenty years old, too. Red hair, freckles, he was affectionately called "sarará" by his friends... of course he didn't like the expression very much, but what could he do? If he was irritated by the nickname, that's when he would really stick... so, he took it in stride... he was good on the guitar, and he had a voice that everyone loved. Whenever there was a party on the farm, or somewhere where his fame had already reached, he was called upon to brighten the party. And then, if he ended up doing what he loved to do most in life, which was singing and playing. And then, all night long, he played with his cururús guitar, catiras, toadas, waltzes... and the people were always applauding and asking for more... yes, life was good, in the sertão... did he have his troubles? Of course yes... life always has its perrengues. But the moments of joy were remarkable, and made life worth living in every second they were on earth...

They had already been walking along the muddy road for a couple of hours, when in the distance they saw a small ranch... over the walls, a rosebush that had taken root, all in bloom... it had been abandoned for a long time, there was no one living there. .. Juca advanced towards Zacarias and suggested that the three of them take a break there, as the rain was starting to get heavier. His suggestion was immediately accepted, and the three tried to accommodate the cattle in a place that could control them until the rain stopped or at least eased up a bit. After everything was arranged, the three tried to protect themselves from the rain in the abandoned building. No one had lived there for a long time, it was obvious. The dirt floor already had a lot of vegetation spread around the room. Even a joah tree had been born inside the little house... and there were some fruits already ripe. The three picked them and enjoyed the berries. They settled down as best they could and watched the weather, which continued to pour water over the earth. It was then that Juca decided to ask Zacarias, the oldest of the group, about the house...

- It's been a while since it was abandoned, isn't it?

- Yes... here lived a family...

- Was it Zé something?

- Zé Claudino... cowboy, and the good ones...

- And what happened?

- One of those tragedies that life prepares for us...

- Did you meet him?

- Yes, we raised a lot of cattle together... he lived far from the farm because he actually worked for those who could.

- Yes, we raised a lot of cattle together... he lived far from the farm because he actually worked for whoever paid the most. As he was very good, service is what he didn't lack. He even had his own entourage...

- Yeah, but what happened?

- Well, one day Zé went to look for a herd of cattle around Ouro Fino... he stayed away from home, I think for a fortnight... it was the rainy season, in October... the season of heavy rain, thunderstorms. ..

- What about now?

- Well, we are entering March... from now on the rains will decrease... in October, no... the showers come hard... and when there is a rain with thunderstorms... may God help the living beings... even more so if it comes with wind...

- So Zé had gone to Ouro Fino... and what happened?

- The rain... came hard. It looked like the world was going to collapse, it gave the impression that God had sent another flood to earth...

-I know... but so what?

- Well, you can see that this ranch is far away from everything... the nearest house is more than a league from here...

- AND?...

- The rain came hard, and lasted about two, three hours...

- Heavy rain doesn't usually last that long...

- It's hard, but sometimes it happens...

- Yeah... it rained for three hours... and then what?

- Well, it was a strong thunderstorm, like no one had seen in a long time... the lightning cut the sky, illuminating this whole world of God....

- To be continued...

- Well... what actually happened, we don't really know... what is said is that lightning struck here on the ranch and killed Zé's wife and son...

- Believing father!...

- Two days later Zé arrived on a trip... imagine the situation...

- I can't even imagine...

- After they buried the bodies, Zé fell into a pitiful sadness... one day he packed his things and left... and nobody knows where he went...

- Yeah... it's a sad story, really... the worst thing is that no one is free to go through something like that...

- Just praying a lot and asking God for protection, to take care of us and our family...

The three remained silent... they watched the rain that, little by little, stopped. When the sun came out, the three were already driving the cattle along the road again. Whiskey, as always, ran swiftly ahead... and the little house, the scene of a tragedy in the past, was left on the side of the road, to serve as a refuge for those who needed it...