Domingo Armada Omnibus by Jefferson Bonar

Author:Jefferson Bonar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-06-11T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Forty-Two

Two days later, Armada sat down on an outcropping at the very end of El Peñon, where it stuck out into the sea like the bow of a ship. From here, when Armada looked due south, for an instant he felt as though there was nothing but him and the sea and the sky. All of the land, the towns and villages, all signs of mankind and his deeds, all of it could be blocked from his view, a reminder that the world was large and that man’s undertakings did not encompass the whole of it. In fact, the longer Armada stared at the distant horizon, the more he got a sense of its vastness and insignificance. Here, where he could see nothing but sea and sky, where he could hear nothing but waves and the squawking of birds nesting in the caves below, where he could smell nothing but seaweed and saltiness, he felt at one with nature. This calmed Armada, and nearly brought him some sense of peace. This place, this connection, had been here all the time. All the while that he’d been chasing a killer, this vastness had existed—patient and waiting—and offering a sense of eternalness that helped to quell his nagging doubts.

But Armada’s mind wouldn’t let things go for long. Soon, the doubts and fears crept their way back in and Armada’s peace was shattered. There was no remedy and Armada felt obliged to turn around and take in the view behind him.

What Armada saw was a landscape that had been scarred by man’s hand. The rock that the town of Salobreña had been built upon was as natural and innocuous as the rock upon which Armada now stood. But on top had been built a castle, an intimidating structure meant to frighten off pirate ships that approached from the sea, hungry for slaves and pillage. The soaring walls, the ramparts, the cannons all pointed out this way. This, which had once been a landscape so serene and peaceful, had been remade into something frightful and violent. For wherever castles stood, wars and sieges soon followed, as well as death. Why was it, Armada wondered, that man seemed so intent on bringing death to wherever he came?

There’s some organ in man that seems to need death. As the heart needs blood, as the lungs need breath.

A passage from Calderón’s Life’s a Dream, and one that seemed particularly apt. It seemed Calderón was as frustrated by his fellow man as was Armada at this moment.

These thoughts led him to think about Enrique Talavera’s fiery death. He had spent the better part of the last two days at the site of the charred remains of Enrique’s wagon. Not much had survived the blaze. Despite this, Armada couldn’t help but pick through what was left. He wasn’t sure what he was searching for, but something within him wouldn’t let him stop looking. There was unfinished business here, questions unanswered. It felt desperate to Armada. He knew that. But nothing else could be done.

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