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Several men carefully lifted him between<br />
them to carry him to his<br />
bedroom. Tita, holding Pedro's unburnt<br />
hand, refused to leave his<br />
side. As they went up the stairs, Rosaura<br />
opened her bedroom door.<br />
She noticed the smell of burnt feathers<br />
immediately.<br />
She went to the stairs, intending to go down<br />
and see what was<br />
happening, and there she found the group<br />
carrying Pedro, with him at<br />
the center in a cloud of smoke.<br />
Tita, at his side, was weeping uncontrollably.<br />
Rosaura's first impulse<br />
was to run and help her husband. Tita tried<br />
to let go of Pedro's hand<br />
so that Rosaura could get closer to him, but<br />
Pedro, between moans,<br />
cried out to her, addressing her familiarly for<br />
the first time: "Tita,<br />
don't go. Don't leave me."<br />
"No, Pedro, I won't."<br />
Tita took Pedro's hand again. For a moment<br />
Rosaura and Tita looked at<br />
each other challengingly. Then Rosaura<br />
understood that there was<br />
nothing for her to do here, and she went<br />
back to her room and locked<br />
the door behind her. She didn't come back<br />
out for a week.<br />
Since Tita didn't want to leave Pedro's side,<br />
she commanded Chencha to<br />
bring her lots of egg whites beaten with oil<br />
and finely grated raw<br />
potatoes. Those were the best ways she<br />
knew to deal with burns. The<br />
egg whites are applied very gently to the<br />
injured area, and reapplied<br />
each time the preparation dries. After this,<br />
plasters made of grated<br />
raw potatoes should be applied to reduce the<br />
inflammation and relieve<br />
the pain.<br />
Tita spent the whole night dispensing these<br />
home remedies.<br />
While she applied the potato plaster, she<br />
studied Pedro's beloved<br />
face.<br />
There was no sign of his bushy eyebrows<br />
and his long eyelashes.<br />
His square chin was now an oval from the<br />
swelling. It didn't matter to<br />
Tita if he was left with scars, but it might to<br />
Pedro.<br />
How could she prevent scarring? Nancha<br />
gave her the answer, just as<br />
Morning Light had previously given it to her:<br />
in a case like this the<br />
best remedy was the bark of the<br />
tepezcohuite tree, which must be placed<br />
on Pedro. Tita went running out onto the<br />
patio; even though it was<br />
very late at night, she got Nicholas up and<br />
told him to get this bark,<br />
from the best brujo in the region. It was<br />
almost daybreak before she<br />
managed to soothe Pedro's pain a little, so<br />
that he was able to fall<br />
asleep for a moment.<br />
She took advantage of this opportunity to go<br />
out to say good-bye to<br />
Gertrudis, since she had been hearing<br />
movements and voices outside for<br />
quite a while, as the men in her troop<br />
saddled up their horses to get<br />
ready to go.<br />
Gertrudis spoke with Tita for a long time,<br />
saying she was sorry she<br />
could not stay and help Tita in this<br />
misfortune, but her orders were to
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