My sisters and I were somewhat close to Hacienda Dorada. Even though Pita, the twins, and Juanita would not stop complaining about how tired they were, we could not stop. We had to get to Hacienda Dorada before dawn because there were no safe places to sleep in the forest. When I felt like giving up, I reminded myself that it was my duty to make sure we got there safely.
As we walked under the scalding hot sun, trying to get some interaction going, Pita said, "Who do you guys think is the most frightening and dangerous monster?”. It was a great question and had me thinking for a few minutes, but the twins quickly shouted "Chaneque!" in unison. Pita looked confused, and asked: "Who is Chaneque?". The other girls proceeded to give a long explanation. They disagreed with something Juanita said, ended up discussing, and as always I had to be the one to stop them before they got into a fight.
It was getting dark, and we were scared. “We should try to find somewhere to sleep before it gets too dark,” Delia said. We all agreed with her and I said, “I did not want to sleep in the forest because God only knows how dangerous it is but since we have no choice, let’s stay together. If you guys see something tell me okay?”. After walking for about 15 minutes, I could not believe my eyes. Chaneque jumped and was standing right in front of us. He was small but had big feet and elf-like features. We were petrified and did not know what to do.
My first instinct was to call for help using the ear pendant Lla Lorona gave me. “Aztec Queen, Tonanzin, Holy Mother of all mankind, please give us your magical assistance! Protect us from any harm that the Chaneque might try to do to us”.
He was hypnotized for a few minutes and then said in a firm and arrogant tone: “Who are you guys, and what are you doing here?”. I told the girls not to worry and get behind me. “Please, do not harm us. I am Odilia, and these are my sisters; Pita, Delia, Velia, and Juanita. We are trying to get to my Abuelita Remedios house. Sorry if we bothered you, it was not our intention”. Chaneque was still standing there looking at us with a wrathful face. I did not know what else to do. “How do I know I can trust you guys? I am not letting you go until I know your story is veridic and you will not harm me or nature”, “Well I love nature”, said Velia, trying to make the situation better, “Shhh, let me handle it,” I said.
It was pitch black. I could not see much anymore. At the best of my ability, I told Chaneque the whole story of how we got here. "You guys faced the lechuzas, Cecilia, the Nagual, and many more atrocious creatures by yourselves while running from the authorities? Wow. You are all strong, and your sister bond is very admirable,” said Chaneque. “Yes, and thank you so much,” I said, “but we did not do everything by ourselves. We had the help of Lla Lorona. She gave me this'', I showed the ear pendant to him. All of my sisters were shocked, but I did not have time to explain everything right now, which is why I pretended not to see their astonished faces. “Ah, Lla Lorona, she is one of the people that teaches you the lesson, do not judge a book by its cover”, Chaneque proclaimed.
We all kept talking for a few more minutes, laughed, ate, and had fun. I forgot about Hacienda Dorada, the creatures, and the fact that many people, including our mother, were frantically looking for us. Chaneque offered to give protection and take care of us while we slept since he was up 24/7. We gathered leaves and made a few “beds” so that we would not sleep in the rocks and dust of the forest. “This was probably the craziest day ever,” said Pita. “Agreed,” said Juanita.
After about an hour, we fell asleep under the big, starry blue sky.
As the sun got up, so did we. Once again we ate with Chaneque and thanked him for everything he had done for us, "Do not worry! I will keep taking care of the forest and will not let anything dangerous pass and put you guys at risk.” Anew, we thanked him and kept going. Today, we would finally get to Hacienda Dorada and see Abuelita Remedios after so many years.