WALKÜREN - THE THREE MARIES Chapter Twenty-Two

 

WALKÜREN - THE THREE MARIES

Chapter Twenty-Two

 - Incredible!

- What's amazing, doctor?

  - That claw you're showing me... I've seen it once...

- Already? Where?

- It's the claw of an Iguanodon...

- So this is what is attacking people? An equal... equal...

- Iguanodon? In no way...

- But you said that the claw...

- Yes, the claw looks a lot like the Iguanadonte... except there is one small detail...

- What would it be?....

- This animal hasn't existed for a long time...

- But you said...

- Look, this animal doesn't really exist. And if it existed, it certainly wouldn't be in our homeland...

- I don't understand, doctor...

- I'll explain... Doctor Gideon Mantell discovered, a few years ago, the skeleton of an animal that has long ceased to be among us...

Juvêncio, Santana and Torquato looked at the doctor without understanding anything...

- Have you ever heard of a dinosaur?

- Dino.. what?

- I've seen that no... dinosaurs were gigantic lizards that walked the earth a long time ago...

- So the nail I found was from an igu... dino... that animal...

- That's right...

- But, doctor... this nail is recent... there's even a mark of blood on it...

- I saw... and that's what I don't understand... these animals disappeared from the face of the earth a long time ago...

- Well, at least one is walking here through Espírito Santo dos Pinhais...

- It's impossible, Santana... if an animal like that was walking around here, you can be sure that someone would have already spotted it...

-I know... so this Gideon discovered these animals...

- Just the bones... but the term "dinosaur" was created by another scientist professor, Doctor Richard Owen....

- Wow... and how do you know that, doctor...

- I studied at Oxford... and I was lucky enough to meet them personally...

Juvêncio scratched his head, dismayed... he thought that his find would shed some light on the mystery he had faced until then, but in fact it only left more questions to be answered... the doctor looked at the nail like a child looks at a candy or a toy... Juvêncio noticed the doctor's interest. He decided that he would have one or two more places to visit, but then he would give the object to the doctor...

After a half-hour walk, Juvêncio finally arrived at the address of Nhô Quindim, one of the most famous healers in the region. After making small talk, Juvêncio got into the subject that really interested him. He showed his strength to the healer. When he saw her, he shuddered... he didn't want to go near her, and ended the conversation with the police chief. He advised him to get rid of that evil object as quickly as he could because, according to what he said, Juvêncio would only be unhappy until he got rid of "it"...

It was very late when Juvêncio and Torquato dismounted in the village. Everyone had already retired. Torquato went to Pajé's hut, to ask for his protection and permission to spend the night in the village. The Pajé was known as Joaquim, and was already a man of a certain age. After the usual chats, Juvêncio asked if they could talk about what really interested him. Joaquim asked them to wait until daybreak, as the night could bring bad influences... it could attract evil forces... it wasn't that Juvêncio truly believed in this, but he had already seen so much in his life... it was. Better not to risk it. He lay down in one of the hammocks offered by the shaman, Torquato slept in another... and so they spent the night. When the day dawned and everyone had their first meal, Joaquim finally allowed Juvêncio to ask him about what was bothering him... Immediately our friend took out the claw that bothered him so much from his saddlebag and showed it to his host, who didn't hesitate in picking it up. to examine it better. After a few minutes of paying attention to the object, he returned it. He was thoughtful for a few moments. He stood up and motioned for the two to follow him. They remained silent. They entered their hollow again, the three of them sat down... Joaquim took two stones from his pocket... at first they seemed common. He made a few movements with his hands as a blessing and then handed them to the two boys. Finally he started to speak....

- The guardians of Tupã are loose in the world....

Both Juvêncio and Torquato remained silent, looking at the sorcerer, trying to understand what he meant. But they knew that, no matter how curious they were, they couldn't ask... he would tell them everything they needed to know, when they needed to know... but he didn't say another word. He stood up and with a gesture invited the two to do the same. They mounted their horses and were preparing to leave, when Joaquim decided to say something more to them...

- Never part with the talismans I gave you... it will be your protection against Tupã's fury...

They nodded, indicating that they understood the instructions and set off at a gallop across the plain... after a while, they decided to talk...

- Did you understand anything?

- What I already suspected... there's a wizard's hand in this angle...

- And what are you going to do?

- Trying to find out who would have done this... and why....

- Could it have been the Indians?

- Indians, blacks, whites... who will know? All I can say is that someone was mad at the community... and cast the curse...

- The Pajé spoke of Tupã...

- You know that doesn't mean anything... he simply generalized what happened...

- I know...

- Not all blacks, not all whites, not all Indians are guilty... but they are not innocent either...

- Do you mean to say that...

- We can't rule out anyone... until we find out who the culprit is, everyone is a suspect...

- Including the delegate?

- Including him... in my travels around the world I learned that the one we least suspect could be the culprit...

They continued the rest of the way in silence... after a while they saw the houses in the village. Juvêncio stopped in front of the morgue. He needed to know if a new attack had occurred... after all, tranquility had reigned in the region for two days... The doctor was in his office... a rare thing in recent times. Although he looked tired, he seemed more excited... after all, he hadn't needed to examine any corpses these days... When Juvêncio entered his office, he got up and went to greet him. The two began to talk, Carneiro explained that another peaceful night had passed... Juvêncio knew that the reason was the change of the Moon... although it was the first time, since the attacks began about two months ago, that the deaths have stopped... it would be so good if this were definitive. But he knew that, sooner or later, they would return. If when the Full Moon returned, four weeks from now, the deaths happened again... that would mean that whoever was responsible for all that would have lost control of the situation...