“Señora, you wagered a sizable amount, but you weren’t specific.The price you paidwassizable, no?”Misterioso explained.
“But I didn’t know!”Her voice shook.“Give it back!”Seeing Señora Montoya reduced to such a state should have felt vindicating, but instead it was disturbing.How easily could that happen to Lo or Mayté in another round?They needed to play carefully.
“Ah, I cannot do that, I’m afraid, but you have the chance to win it back,” Misterioso said.“You must keep wagering until you pass El Gorrito’s challenge.I have no fear that you won’tbe able to.You could say this challenge is so simple that even a baby could do it.Remember, in this round, you can bet anything your heart desires.Anything.”
“Fine.”Señora Montoya snatched the bonnet and squished it onto her head.“Then I bet everything I have left.My home.My beauty.All of it.”She smirked at the other contestants.“Just watch me win it back and more.”
“That’s the spirit.”Misterioso grinned.
“Pick up a bean,” the card groaned.
Señora Montoya plucked a bean between her fingers.She stumbled again as her high-heeled shoes reappeared on her feet along with a golden necklace at her throat.She smirked with triumph.
“What!This is nothing like Lotería,” Mayté whispered.
“I’m confused,” Dominic said as the rest of the table mumbled to themselves.
“Is this how all the challenges will be?”
“Everything we lose will just vanish into thin air?But you can get it back if you gamble more?”
“Is this going to put her at a large advantage?”
Lo frowned.Now that awful woman was going to win back everything with ease.It didn’t feel fair.“Please …,” Lo whispered in prayer, squeezing her eyes shut.“Don’t let her win.Don’t let her win.Don’t let her win.”She prayed to Dios, and San Fortuno.She had stopped praying years ago when her pleadings went unanswered, but right now it was the only thing she could do.
“Pick up a handful of beans and count them,” the card ordered.
Señora Montoya tittered with glee as she swiped a bunch of beans and used her finger to count them.“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve.Twelve beans.”
“That’s too easy,” someone at the table whispered.
Lo’s heart sank.
But the card glowed red, and the room shook.The Banker looked up, startled.His icy blue eyes darted to Lo.His stare was so intense, she had to look away.Misterioso straightened, looking surprised as well.He grinned widely again, his eyes aglow with excitement.The dimples in his cheeks deepened, turning his expression into something almost dangerous.He nodded at the Banker, who quickly cleared his throat.
“Unfortunately, señora, you are wrong,” he said, voice devoid of emotion.
Lo jolted.
“What?”Señora Montoya practically screamed as everyone else at the table glanced at each other in confusion.
“She … counted them right.I saw,” Mayté whispered.
“There are twelve beans,” Señora Montoya insisted.Her pale face reddened when the Banker shook his head.“Don’t be foolish, the rest of you saw me count them.”She held out her palm and counted the beans slowly and forcefully.“One.Two.Three.Four.Five,” she spat.“Six.Seven.Eight.Nine.Ten …” She slowed, and her eyes widened.“Eleven … t-twelve …” But there was one more bean in her hand.Thirteen.
Everyone else at the table looked just as shocked.
“That can’t be right,” Mayté murmured.
“She had twelve, didn’t she?”Xiomara asked Don Zelaya, who scratched his head in confusion.
But now she had thirteen.The only logical explanation was the impossible.Magic.“Mayté.”Lo tugged her best friend’s rebozo.“Do you think …”
Without warning, the card flew at Señora Montoya’s head.
Something warm squirted onto Lo and everyone else.Señora Montoya’s body fell with a loudthud.A river of crimson blood flowed, staining her gown and furs.Blood.Blood on Lo, on her face and hair.All over her dress.Spatters of red on Mayté’s white shirt.Bloody freckles on her nose and cheeks.Smears on Dominic.Droplets staining Carlos’s dress shirt.The sickening scent of iron filled the air.
“¡Dios mío!Her head!Her head’s gone!”
