In Refugio, the third human settlement on Higgins, the far speaker’s first report about the land shakes was alarming. The shake had been felt all across the land mass. The waves that followed were very destructive along the coast, especially the delta and marsh lands where Hacienda Carbajal was located.
In the far south at Hacienda Valentino, they felt the land shake but did not call in fishing boats. They were fortunate that the boats were far enough off the coast that the wave from the shake slid by unnoticed. The few left on shore were smashed. The oldest resident had recognized the pull back of the sea and evacuated everyone up the hillside. They lost the last dock and many buildings but no people. The leader of the hacienda, Ser Valentino was at the Overlord’s office in the Residence on a different matter when the news came.
“We have news from your hacienda, Ser Valentino,” First Successor Megal Morales said as the older man entered the office. “One of the volcanoes near Port has erupted again and a big wave hit the harbor. The report we have says all your people are safe, but there was damage.”
“What, who sent this message? Is it those pirates from Port again? We just got the drying racks repaired from their last attack,” he said. “Ser Morales, your son and his foreigner wife told me those attacks were going to stop.” He shook his fist at the Overlord, Francos Morales.
“Poncho, you didn’t understand what my son said,” Francos yelled at the old man. “It was not an attack by humans but by nature. One of those waves from the land shake and the volcano hit the harbor.”
“We have seen smoke from that big one off to our south. Knew that was coming. Didn’t think it would hurt us,” Poncho said. “That is not why I am here. My sister seems to think she is capable of running her hacienda without male supervision. I want to send my second son to take over and run the place before she ruins it completely.”
“That is the other message we have, Ser Valentino,” Megal said. He augmented his voice a bit in hopes that the old man would understand this time. “Sera Carbajal has messaged that the fishing boats are bringing your people to the delta, but some are walking with the goats and what they could salvage from the village.”
“The damage was that bad?” Poncho said. Serept, the Overlord’s assistant, moved a chair to behind the old man because he looked as if he would faint. One of the staff handed Serept a note which he passed on to Megal.
“I’m afraid so, Ser Valentino. The wave pushed the dock into the sheds and houses above it. There was not much left from what they said in this latest message,” Serept said.
“We will give what help we can, Ser Valentino, but moving to your sister’s hacienda seems the best course right now,” Megal said.
“I have worked for years to build up that hacienda. I chose that place because it was so beautiful. The cliffs are striped, so many colors of rocks and the beach was wide before the rock fall. We had just finished rebuilding the drying racks after that last slide. I wanted this land for my sons. Now, it’s ruined.” The old man covered his face with his hands and began to weep. Francos called for the healer to come.
“We will continue when you are calmer, Ser Valentino,” Megal said. The healer helped the old man rise and led him out of the room. “Odd, he seems more worried about the physical structure than the possible loss of life.”
“The old fool build in that canyon in spite of all the recommendations against it,” Francos said. “Those multicolored layers of rock are unstable, and the canyon itself was a collapsed lava flow. No place to actually grow anything. Yes, it was beautiful, deadly beautiful.”
***
Should you want to read the whole story…
Book One
Book Two
Amazon.com: Surviving Higgins World: Change or Chaos? eBook : Gibson, Patricia : Kindle Store
Book Three is in the works. Check this space for more…