NO ONE GAVE HIM A PENNY ALL DAY… BUT WHEN THE MAN IN THE BLACK TRUCK ROLLED DOWN HIS WINDOW AND LOOKED AT HIS LITTLE DOG, ANDERSON KNEW SOMETHING VERY STRANGE WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN.
“Luna…” the person mentioned from the truck, his voice breaking.
Anderson opened his eyes abruptly.
Mayte raised her head, alert, however didn’t bark.
Visitors roared round them.
Horns started to blare as a result of the truck was nonetheless stopped in the course of the avenue.
However in that immediate, the whole lot appeared to freeze.
The person clutched an previous {photograph} between his fingers.
The picture confirmed a younger lady smiling in entrance of a humble home.
In her arms, she held a honey-colored pet.
The identical white patch on its chest.
The identical floppy ear.
The identical darkish gaze.
Anderson felt a chill run down his backbone.
“That… can’t be potential,” the person muttered as he stepped out of the automobile.
Mayte took a step again and pressed herself in opposition to Anderson’s leg.
He stood up, drained however tense.
“Her title is Mayte,” he mentioned firmly. “And she or he’s mine.”
The person checked out him for the primary time.
Not with contempt.
Not with pity.
However with confusion.
He was about fifty, properly dressed, with a face hardened by time and crimson eyes, as if he hadn’t slept in days.
“No,” he mentioned softly. “That pet was named Luna. My daughter misplaced her 9 years in the past.”
Anderson frowned.
“Then it’s not the identical canine.”
“It might be… if it weren’t for one thing unattainable.”
The driving force approached nervously.
“Mr. Esteban, we have to go.”
However Esteban didn’t transfer.
His eyes remained fastened on Mayte, as if he had been seeing a ghost.
“My daughter disappeared the identical day that canine went lacking,” he mentioned quietly. “We by no means discovered both of them.”
The phrases hung within the air.
Anderson swallowed.
He didn’t know what to say.
He didn’t perceive why this stranger was speaking a few lacking daughter whereas taking a look at Mayte as if she held all of the solutions.
“Sir, I discovered Mayte three years in the past close to the bus terminal,” he mentioned slowly. “She was injured. She had a damaged leg and a rope round her neck. I took care of her. She’s been with me ever since.”
Esteban seemed down.
His jaw trembled.
“My daughter’s title was Lucía,” he mentioned. “She was seventeen. She sang. She left dwelling after an argument with me… and by no means got here again.”
Anderson felt one thing tighten in his chest.
She sang.
The phrase hit him more durable than he anticipated.
As a result of he had recognized somebody like that.
Years in the past.
In one other metropolis.
On an evening he had by no means absolutely spoken about.
Esteban stepped ahead.
“The place precisely did you discover the canine?”
Anderson hesitated.
He didn’t like the best way the person was taking a look at him now.
As if he had already began placing the items collectively.
“In Barranquilla,” he answered. “Close to the previous terminal.”
Esteban’s eyes widened.
“Lucía was final seen in Barranquilla.”
Silence fell closely between them.
The driving force spoke once more, extra quietly.
“Mr. Esteban…”
However Esteban ignored him.
“Are you a musician?” he requested abruptly.
Anderson felt a lump in his throat.
“Sure.”
“For the way lengthy?”
“At all times.”
“Had been you in Barranquilla three years in the past… singing in small bars?”
Anderson stopped respiration for a second.
He didn’t reply instantly.
As a result of three years in the past, he had sung in empty bars, on worn-out terraces, on avenue corners the place faces blurred into smoke and noise.
As a result of in a type of locations, he met a woman.
Skinny.
Nervous.
With a small scar on her eyebrow.
And a honey-colored canine that by no means left her facet.
Lucía.
She by no means instructed him her final title.
She by no means instructed him the whole lot.
Solely that she was operating from somebody and didn’t need to be discovered.
He remembered her voice.
The way in which she sang softly, as if each phrase price her one thing.
The way in which she saved trying over her shoulder.
One night time, after closing the bar, she requested him for a favor.
“If I ever disappear,” she mentioned, “take my canine with you. Don’t go away her alone.”
He had laughed, pondering it was simply worry speaking.
The next week, Lucía didn’t return.
Of their small room, there was solely an previous blanket, a pocket book with music lyrics… and the little canine tied to the mattress, crying.
Anderson tightened his grip.
“I… met a younger lady,” he lastly mentioned.
Esteban turned pale.
“What was her title?”
“Lucía.”
The person stepped again as if struck.
“My God…”
The driving force held his arm.
“Sir, please.”
However Esteban pulled away.
“The place is she?” he requested, his voice breaking. “The place is my daughter?”
Anderson seemed down.
“I don’t know.”
Esteban shook his head.
“Please don’t misinform me.”
“I’m not.”
“If you happen to had been together with her, you need to know one thing!”
Mayte let loose a mushy, uneasy sound.
Anderson seemed up.
There was ache in that man’s eyes.
Deep, previous ache.
But in addition guilt.
“She didn’t need to return,” Anderson mentioned quietly.
The phrases hit laborious.
Esteban stood nonetheless.
“What did she say?” he requested, nearly whispering.
Anderson hesitated.
However Lucía was gone.
And this man had spent 9 years looking.
“She mentioned you tried to manage the whole lot in her life,” Anderson mentioned. “Her buddy
