Rafa drove the cart up to the alley door. Pêro descended and said quietly: “I’d hoped Jawoli and Kujaguo would be here waiting. Drive the cart to your house, leave it there until we need it, so no one sees that we are here. Hurry back but be careful to enter through the side door unseen.”
Rafa backed the cart out onto the main road and headed home.
Pêro glanced to the roadway and then stared dead center at the door. He held his breath and unlatched it. He slipped in, making sure his habit did not catch. He closed the door. Once inside, he released his breath, a plume of steam billowing forth, the heat of his exhale combusting in the cool fall air. He set down his satchel. How many times have I performed this act of invisibility since the Fabrica Santa María’s opening? Before the shop eve
