her eyes, she saw her sister Rosaura aged ten, hair dishevelled, wearing a pink nightie.
‘It’s nearly morning, Amaia, go to bed. If Ama finds you here she’ll scold us both.’
Clumsily drawing back the blankets, Amaia placed her small five-year-old feet on the cold floor. She managed to open her eyes enough to make out the pale shape of her own bed amid the shadows, the bed she didn’t want to sleep in, because if she did, she would come in the night, to watch her with those cold black eyes, her mouth twisted in a grimace of loathing. Even without opening her eyes, Amaia could see her with absolute clarity, sensing the stifled hatred in her measured breath as she watched her feigning sleep, well aware that she was awake. Then, just when she felt herself weakening, when her muscles started to go stiff from the pent-up tension, when her tiny bladder threatened to empty its contents between her legs, eyes shut tight, she would become aware of her mother leaning slowly over her strained face, and a prayer, like an incantation, would echo in her head, over and over, preventing her even in those moments of darkest dread from falling into the temptation to disobey the command.
Don’topenyoureyesdon’topenyoureyesdon’topenyoureyesdon’topenyoureyesdon’topenyoureyes.
She wouldn’t open them, yet even with them closed she could sense the slow advance, the precision of her mother’s approach, the icy smile forming on her lips as she whispered:
‘Sleep, little bitch. Ama won’t eat you today.’
Amaia knew she wouldn’t come near if she slept with her sisters. Which was why, every night, when her parents went to bed, she would plead with her sisters, promise to do anything for them if only they would let her sleep in their bed. Flora seldom indulged her, or only in exchange for her servitude the following day, whereas Rosaura would relent when she saw Amaia cry; crying was easy when you were scared out of your wits.
She groped her way across the darkened room, vaguely aware of the outline of the bed, which seemed to recede even as the ground softened beneath her feet, and the smell of floor polish changed into a different, more pungent, earthy odour of dank forest floor. She threaded her way through the trees, protected as if by ancient columns, as she heard nearby the babbling waters of the River Baztán flowing freely. Approaching its stony banks, she whispered: the river. And her voice became an echo that bounced off the age-old rock framing the river’s path. The river, she whispered once again.
And then she saw the body. A young girl of about fifteen lay dead on the rounded pebbles of the riverbank. Eyes staring into infinity, hair spread in two perfect tresses on either side of her head, hands like claws in a parody of offering, palms turned upwards, showing the void.
‘No,’ cried Amaia.
And as she glanced about her, she saw not one but dozens of bodies ranged on either side of the river, like the macabre blossoms of some infernal spring.
‘No,’ she repeated, in a voice that was now a plea.
The hands of the corpses rose up as one, their fingers pointing at her belly.
A shudder brought her halfway back to consciousness for as long as the contraction lasted … then she was back beside the river.
The bodies were immobile again, but a strong breeze that seemed to be coming from the river itself tousled their locks, lifting them into the air like kite strings, while it whipped the limpid surface of the water into white, frothy swirls. Above the roaring wind, Amaia could hear the sobs of the little girl, who was her, mingling with others that seemed to come from the corpses. Drawing closer, she saw that this was true. The girls were weeping profusely, their tears leaving silvery tracks on their cheeks that glinted in the moonlight.
The suffering of those souls tore at her little girl’s heart.
‘There’s nothing I can do,’ she cried helplessly.
The wind suddenly died down, and the riverbed was plunged into an impossible silence. Then came a watery, rhythmic, tap-tapping.
Splash, splash, splash …
Like slow rhythmic applause from the river. Splash, splash, splash.
Like when she would run through the puddles left by the rain. After the first sounds, more followed.
Splash, splash, splash, splash, splash …
And more. Splash, splash, splash … and yet more, until it was like a hailstorm, or as if the river water were boiling.
‘There’s nothing I can do,’ she cried again, wild with fear.
‘Cleanse the river,’ shouted a voice.
‘The river.’
‘The river.’
‘The river.’ Other voices echoed.
She tried desperately to find the source of the voices clamouring from the waters.
The clouds parted over Baztán, and the silvery moonlight seeped through once more, illuminating the maidens who sat on the overhanging rocks, tapping their webbed feet on the water’s surface, long tresses swaying, their furious incantation rising from red, full-lipped mouths filled with needle-sharp teeth.
‘Cleanse the river.’
‘Cleanse the river.’
‘The river, the river, the river.’
‘Amaia, Amaia, wake up!’ The midwife’s strident voice brought her back to reality. ‘Come on, Amaia, the baby is here. Now it’s your turn.’
But Amaia couldn’t hear, for above the midwife’s voice, the maidens’ clamour still filled her ears.
‘I can’t,’ she cried.
But it was no use; they didn’t listen, only commanded.
‘Cleanse the river, cleanse the valley, wash away the crime …’ they cried, their voices merging with the cry issuing from her own throat as she felt the stabbing pain of another contraction.
‘Amaia, I need you here,’ said the midwife. ‘When the next one comes, you have to push, and depending how hard you push you can do this in two or in ten contractions. It’s up to you, two or ten.’
Amaia grasped the bars to heave herself up, while James stood behind, supporting her, silent and nervous, but reliable.
‘Excellent,’ the midwife said encouragingly. ‘Are you ready?’
Amaia nodded.
‘Right, here comes another,’ she said, her eye on the monitor. ‘Push, my dear.’
She pressed down as hard as she could, holding her breath as she felt something tear inside her.
‘It’s finished. Well done, Amaia, very good. Except that you need to breathe, for your sake and that of your baby. Next time, breathe – believe me, it’ll be over much more quickly.’
Amaia agreed obediently, while James wiped the sweat from her face.
‘Good, here comes another.
