Artie's Courage by Rachel Le Mesurier

Author:Rachel Le Mesurier
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
Publisher: 5310 Publishing
Published: 2021-11-29T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Esperanza took herself around the side of the kiosca to where Catalina and her brothers were waiting. She had to fight to steady her breathing, willing herself not to cry. Today is about him, she reminded herself firmly. If he’s leaving, then he’s leaving, but right now he’s here and he needs you.

“There you are!” cried Catalina with a smile. “I’m told that your músico is on next, I was worried you were going to miss him.”

Oh, I’m certainly going to miss him, Esperanza agreed. She felt tears springing to her eyes and fought hard to hold them back.

“Hey, are you all right?” Catalina’s smile faded, and she looked at Esperanza with concern. They had known each other too long for Esperanza to be able to hide her feelings from her.

“Fine,” Esperanza lied, putting her arms around her brothers. She manoeuvred them all close to the front, right into the centre where she knew Artie would be able to see her. “I’m just a little anxious for them, that’s all. I know how much this contest means to them both. I hope their nerves don’t get the better of them.”

“We’re about to find out,” Catalina told her, nodding towards the stage. Diego ascended the steps, followed by Artie, and Esperanza forced her own feelings to the back of her mind. This was Artie’s moment, not hers, and she had a duty to him as a friend if nothing else.

He looked so serious, his brows furrowed in concentration as he muttered to himself, but at the sight of Esperanza, his face broke into a nervous grin. She grinned back, giving him a nod of encouragement, and he took a few deep, calming breaths as he prepared himself to sing. He still looked tense, and he kept glancing up at Don Raúl on the balcony. Stop it, Esperanza wanted to tell him. Looking at him won’t do you any good. Look at me. Sing it for me.

Artie glanced back down at her, his eyes full of fear, and Esperanza knew she had to do something. Fixing him with her most encouraging smile, she raised her hand and blew a subtle kiss in his direction. The impact was exactly as she had hoped. He froze for a moment, the breath catching in his chest as his face split into a beaming smile, his ears tinging pink. His chest swelled with pride as he raised his hand high in the air, letting out an ear-splitting grito that echoed all around the plaza. People stopped mid-conversation to look at him, and an eerie hush swept across the square as everyone turned towards the kiosca.

Then, with an energy that sent tremors through the whole plaza, Artie launched into an even more joyous and thrilling performance of Pajarillo than the last time she had heard it. His voice was bright and lively, his fingers dancing over the frets of his guitar as he sang.

“Pajarillo, pajarillo, pajarillo barranqueño, Que bonitos ojos tienes, lástima que tengan dueño!”

Diego was keeping up with him this time, his face a little ruddy with exertion but a smile on his lips.

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