Tree Girl by Ben Mikaelsen

Author:Ben Mikaelsen [Mikaelsen, Ben]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical, Young Adult
ISBN: 9780062035707
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2004-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

Fear froze my muscles. With soldiers less than ten meters below me, it was as if a big fist pinched my throat and squeezed the air from my chest. The soldiers could have seen me through the leaves of the machichi tree if they had looked straight up, but they were too busy shouting and waving their rifles at the scared people who churned frantically about the plaza.

I peeked out from between the leaves at the vendors across the plaza who tried to hide, crouching behind their stands. The soldiers spotted them and opened fire. From my tree I watched men and women falling dead across their stands, spilling fruit, coffee, and vegetables onto the dirt. Goats and sheep bawled and twisted frantically at the ends of their tethers.

Many people ran toward the church near the tree where I hid. Inside, a priest called loudly for everyone to be quiet and not to be afraid. “This is a place of God,” he shouted. “God will care for us. If the soldiers hurt us here, we’ll all go to Heaven together.”

I don’t think God heard our prayers that day. A small band of soldiers burst into the church. Muffled shots quieted the priest’s voice, then people from the church spilled out through the large double doors, only to be met by other soldiers who herded them like cattle across the plaza, where all the other villagers waited. I spotted Mother Lopez among them.

The soldiers shoved everybody into the center of the plaza and separated them. They shouted loudly, “All men—into the church! Leave your knives and machetes outside by the tree. All women go to the municipal building. Children, go to the schoolhouse.”

“We’re taking a census,” shouted one soldier. “This is only for administrative purposes.”

I wanted to scream down from the tree, “Don’t believe them! They lie!” But I dared not move or make a sound.

Most obeyed the soldiers quickly, fear glistening in their eyes, but a few of the men refused to leave their families. The soldiers approached those men, clubbed them down with the butts of their rifles, and dragged them unconscious or struggling into the church. After three men were clubbed down, the rest left their wives and children without argument.

Some children clung to their mothers and were forcefully pulled away and dragged screaming into the schoolhouse with the rest. One mother held desperately to her baby, but the swing of a rifle broke her arm and a soldier carried her crying baby away, upside down by a single leg.

When the plaza had been cleared of all campesinos and Indios, guards positioned themselves outside each building. Other soldiers brought wood from people’s homes and built a big fire in the plaza. I didn’t understand at first why they had started such a big fire on a warm day. They separated themselves into three groups. Some soldiers went to the schoolhouse, some to the church, and some to the municipal building. These men joined guards who were already stationed outside each structure.

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