Read Online The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind by Meg Medina - Free Book Online

bad luck to be killed in a mine collapse. He never touched a drop of liquor in his life.”
    “What did you say your name is?” Conchita Fo asked.
    “I didn’t, but it’s Neli Ocampo de Arroyo.”
    Conchita thought for a moment and smiled to show her perfectly white teeth.
    “Of course. Guillermo Arroyo’s woman,” she said, as if they’d known each other all their lives. “We all miss him terribly.”
    “A million pardons, señora, ” Pancho said quickly before a clash of insults could dash his plan to pieces. “May I trouble someone for ice?”
    Mongo stopped what he was doing and frowned. He gave Tía Neli a suspicious look as he popped two dirty ice cubes from a plastic tray.
    “Next time, you break their nose first,” he whispered, pressing them against the side of Pancho’s head. “No matter who it is.”
    “Thanks, Mongo.”
    “It’s my nephew we are here about,” Tía Neli said. “Rafael Ocampo. Do you know him?”
    Conchita Fo chuckled. “So. You are the family of that darling specimen? Lucky you to be a relation! Such a handsome young buck is hard to forget. Has he considered being in the cinema?”
    Tía Neli straightened her shoulders. “Have you any idea where he might be? We are crazy with worry trying to locate him.”
    “¿Quién yo?” Conchita looked with feigned surprise at Mongo. “She acts as though men tell me their secrets!”
    “Arenas suggested that Rafael has gone north,” Tía Neli persisted. “Do you know if it’s true?”
    “ El norte. Everyone loves the idea.” Conchita sighed. “I spent years there entertaining my faithful public and for what? It is as brutal a place as any, señora, for those of us cursed with humble beginnings. Look at me. Right back where I started.”
    “Well, taking a risk might be better than starving,” Tía Neli said.
    Conchita took a long drag of her cigarette. “Some would say that, señora. Of course, those of us who stay behind aren’t the ones who are bending our backs to work, are we? We are — what do we call it? — the beneficiaries of their sacrifice.” Her eyes traveled along the fancy lace of Tía Neli’s collar.
    Pancho could hear Tía Neli’s teeth grinding. He scrambled between them just in time.
    “Excuse me for speaking,” he said. “But look! I have found something here on the floor, señora. I’m very sure it’s yours.”
    He smiled and pressed the only bill he had earned that day into Conchita Fo’s hand. “Forgive me for interrupting. Go on. You were about to tell la señora about her nephew.”
    Conchita let out six perfect smoke rings and stubbed out her cigarette as they floated through the air. Pancho watched Mongo carefully; he was buffing the same spot a bit too ferociously.
    “I heard some men talking about a trip,” Conchita said with a shrug. “He might have been among them. I can’t recall exactly.”
    Tía Neli planted her feet. “Who were those men?” she whispered, leaning in.
    “Now, how would my customers like it if their secrets were shared with anyone who came asking? Don’t put me in such a position, señora. It’s bad business.”
    Tía Neli’s face was mere inches from Conchita Fo’s. “The men’s names, por favor. ” It sounded like a threat.
    “Heavens, señora !” Pancho interrupted again. “I almost forgot!” He held up his lucky silver piece and placed it on the bar, without a second thought about how he would miss its comforting weight in his pocket. “To your continued beauty and good fortune!”
    Conchita patted Pancho’s face sweetly and tucked the coin in her bosom with a flourish. “All I can tell you is this,” she said, turning to Tía Neli once again. “He left here with a man who barely knows what he’s doing. These are dangerous times for an inexperienced man to bring boys across, señora. Anything can happen crossing the Haunted Valley — you know that. That’s how we get dead boys tossed out on the road.” She signed the cross over