13.
Desert MoonIt was the first of January, and with it people also ushered in the 1930s.
Not long after breakfast, the telephone in the hall of the Casa Turquesa rang. Isabel picked up the receiver regally. The other end was speaking very rapidly, the housekeeper could only get hang of Maximiliano’s name and the word ‘urgently’. As she gave the receiver to him, she left for the kitchen discreetly, just took a few steps when she heard the dreadful squeal. Isabel would never forget that ghastly shriek for the rest of her life. When she turned back, she looked at Maximiliano’s facial expression – on the brink of sanity – as he was screaming at the top of his voice.
An unpleasantly cold wind blew in the late afternoon light. Gustavo looked horrified at the long skid marks on the road, subs
