Chapter 23: The Grand Voyage

When the fire was out and a silence and peace descended on the country side, Joaquin, Angela and his parents began at once to make things right. The fire had not reached as far as the secret lair that rested beneath the de la Vega hacienda but it was not the place for them to remain hidden. Many of their possessions had been lost and yet the most important and secret items had been saved by the family secret and much of what Joaquin would need to travel back with Angela had been saved. His father was prepared to send him off equipped for battle and well funded.

As for Alejandro and Elena, they needed to be visible and confident in the presence of such destruction and so it was set that Alejandro and Elena would take up residence, for the time being, in the village, among the peasants who had lost everything. To begin to show a unity among the people to rebuild, and prove that it was not only the lower classes but the upper classes as well that had been affected by the terrible pirates. A tent city was build within hours and though much was destroyed and many people were feeling the terror that had just passed, many were optimistic and much would be rebuilt.

By the time the sun began to rise over the destroyed village and the people were able to really see the extent of the damage, many had already set to work to make things livable and bring some comfort back to the village. The churches within the area were well build and not as affected by the fires and so many people were able to take refuge in the churches and many of the priests prepared meals and gave assistance to those in need. There was a new renewal in the faith of the people and many found hope and refuge in the light of the of the resurrection and the suffering that had once been endured for them and now they would be brave in the suffering they had face.

Joaquin and Angela set out on their journey as soon as they knew that everything was settled for the village. Cleaning was started, buildings that were beyond repair were demolished and the work was going to start as the authorities and a work force began to arrive from around California. The news of the devastation had spread quickly through the monasteries and the travelers that passed through and soon the city was over run with people and supplies that would help in the rebuilding. Ships began to arrive from other Californian ports, from Mexico and work had even spread to larger ports across the United States. The state of emergency was granted and from there work had begun to rebuild and protect the small sea side village and hope was restored.

Joaquin remained with his family, with Angela by his side, for the destruction of the unsalvageable parts of the Hacienda. Much of their stuff was completely destroy and as the remainder of the house and the surrounding buildings came down Joaquin could not help but feel a part of him being destroyed with it. His whole childhood disappeared in the rubble of the house that has been his safety, his refuge and the keeper of all his secrets. Suddenly he felt the weight of the world, like he had never felt it before because he was among the people that had lost everything and he felt for what he had once been. He was a selfish and spoiled child, someone who had always had everything and who had thought he was just like everyone else, but he really wasn’t and although he knew from experience and age that he was different and he fought so hard to make people equal it took this devastation and destruction to bring him down to a level like everyone else. Even then he knew that things would be rebuilt for him and that his father’s estate was wealthy enough to reestablish them in their high statues but for the rest of the people that were being affected by the tragedy they would have to continue to struggle.

Alejandro watched the change in his son and the change in the girl that did not stray far from his side. A touch from Angela and Joaquin’s spirits would be restored and he worked hard, not for himself but for the people that needed his help. He spent much of his time not working for the family but working for the families that lived on the property. He had been a key figure in the rebuilding of the farms and though there wasn’t a lot of time left in the season he had helped to replant and clear the fields. His big struggle was to see the people around him well established because he knew that even though the hacienda had come down around them, his family was safe and Alejandro was always the first person to assure him that his family would be safe.

Angela on the other hand had lived a life of luxury, much like Joaquin, but she had never worked as he had worked. Joaquin had been brought up to understand the struggles of other people and to work for equality although he knew he would never be equal to them. Angela however was a selfish creature. She worked hard for the tasks that her father had put before her, but as long as her mother was alive, she would be a lady and brought up to be a house keeper and the well accomplished woman. Music, embroidery and painting served for nothing now in this world of work and heat but she did her best. The women of the village opened their arms to her and although she didn’t know anything that they did she learned quickly and although she was slow and her hands and feet hurt because of the labour she tried very hard. Aside for the work that she was doing she was also watching Joaquin break his back with the other men. There were days when he would blend in to the crowds of people, he and his father, working side by side, covered in filth and working nearly naked in the scorching sun. Elena ever fit into the working class wearing simple, light clothing and working up to her elbows in the earth that yielded most of the food for the village and much of the revenue that helped the village survive.

Angela swallowed her pride more often then not and joined in the labour, learning to plant and harvest, milk cows and spin wool. Many of the animals had survived and so they needed attention as the men rebuilt the world around them. There were days when Joaquin looked like he was ready to give up and for a fleeting moment Angela felt his pain and wanted to quit but she had grown so fond of him and to esteem him above so many other men that she couldn’t allow herself to give up and she did all that she could to encourage him to do his best and a smile, or a touch would push him on.

When Joaquin and Angela were convinced that the city would be alright and that all that they could do to help had been done they let themselves leave the family that had developed around them. The hard work and the scorching sun had changed their looked dramatically but they were happy and excited about the voyage before them. Many of the men, women and children that they had been helping came to see them off as the ship that they had bought passage on arrived in the harbor. The ship had come from Europe bringing with it many necessities that could be used by the people that had lost so much and as the ship arrived a great joy descended on the city.

The night before they left a fiesta was held in the city center for them and though there had been so much sadness, great joy and music was had at the prospects of a new beginning and the possibility that some day they would know that Joaquin and Angela had done well in finding consolation for them. They wanted to know that the woman and the men that she had brought with her would be apprehended and charged for their treachery and Joaquin vowed not only to his family but to every family he knew that he would do everything in his power to make things right for the city.

When morning arrived and the sights and sounds of the party had died away the crowds that gathered on the decks to bid farewell to their prodigal son were enormous, but the excitement was among them and even though Angela had arrived with the terror she was leaving as someone they saw as one of their own. She had never felt the belonging she felt from the community she had been adopted into and she wanted more than anything to stay, but she knew she had to go but in the back of her mind and to all the people that she had come to love and cherish for accepting and helping her she promised that she would return.

Joaquin felt the weight of leaving very personally, he felt homesick the moment he followed Angela up the gangplank. He had never left his family before and never embarked on anything that would take him so far from home and yet there was still a great excitement just on the horizon and as he looked at Angela and saw the sadness in her eyes and knew it was from leaving he knew he would follow her to the ends of the world if only to see her smile.