Chapter 1

It had been several years, almost a decade, since Graciella had gazed out at the coast. She had long forgotten how the salty seas had flowed rapidly through her veins. It was as if she had been born straight out of those humongous crashing walls of angry water. Her once royal blue eyes had faded to a soft grey, giving off the pains that haunted her day after day. She stood on the beach at the edge of the wapping waves. He bronze shoulders peeked out from under her voluptuous curls of dark umber hair and the ratted shawl she had found packed in a dusty trunk. The young woman’s ears picked up the sound of crunching sand behind her, as Amancio silently moved to her side.

Neither one said much of anything for a few moments until Amancio cleared his throat. He had aged tremendously since Graciella’s mother’s passing. 

“Pardóneme señorita Cofresi, but what are your intentions? Surely your mother�"dios bendiga su alma�"left some sort of will, sí?” Graciella shook her head, closing her eyes in thought. 

“If she did, I know not where she hid it. Believe me, I would have followed her directions wholeheartedly.”

She turned to look at the older man she had looked to with respect for the last ten years. He had been a companion to her mother since their arrival in Spain. Now, Graciella did not know what to do with him, the rest of the estate’s staff, or with the villa. 

Amancio glanced at Graciella and smiled, his face breaking into a hundred leather-like wrinkles.

“Ah mi amor, you will follow your heart and wherever it takes you. What do you feel is the right thing to do now?”

“Now?” Graciella paused, her sad eyes shifting from Amancio, to the sand, to the ocean, and back to Amancio, until someone she had not thought of in years fluttered across her mind.

“Papí!” She exclaimed, grasping Amancio’s arms. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion

“What?”

“My Papí, he must know of mother’s passing. He loved her, Amancio, from what I remember.”

Graciella’s eyes glazed over as she sought to remember events from too long ago. However, she came out of her reverie with a smile.

“Amancio, I must find him.”

Her friend pulled Graciella to him, wrapping his arms around he. Hugging her close, he silently reassured her that he would do anything she asked of him. 

“Do you know where he is, niña?”

The girl tugged herself away from him and shook her long dark dreads.

“No…the last place I remember him is when Mama pulled me away from Puerto Rico.”

Her face clouded over with a scowl. Graciella vaguely recalled screaming as a young child at her mother while being forcibly dragged from her warm bed, down to the bay where a ship to Europe sat moored, ready to leave at a minutes notice. She could hear those frightening words clear as the waters she missed so much.

Hush my daughter, hush! Please, we must move quickly!

However, something else crossed her mind that had been filed away in her memory; an image of her mother’s expression the day they left the islands. 

“Armanico? You were here when Mamá and I arrived all those years ago, sí?

He nodded grimly. Graciella hummed as she began to pace back and forth on the sand. 

“Was mother afraid of something? Was she running from someone?”

Amancio’s heart skipped a few beats as his mind raced to think of what he should tell the hurting girl. 

“Graciella, I do not know how to tell you…Yes she was terrified for her life, and yours.”

“But why? Papí would have protected us from anything. I am sure of it!”

The girl searched Amancio’s eyes, hoping for a positive answer. She was not to receive one. Amancio sighed heavily, painfully rubbing his greying temples. He could feel the disappointment emanating from Graciella.

“What are you saying Amancio?”

He drew in a heartbroken breath before whispering a short prayer. 

“Your mother was running from your father.”

The words hit Graciella like the winds of a hurricane. Her knees grew weak, causing her to sink to the grainy sand, hot tears streaming down her flushed cheeks. 

“No…but why? It cannot be true.”

“Hija…I am so sorry. she made me swear that you would never find out. You must know why your sainted mother was afraid. Please let us go inside, to the warmth.”

Graciella nodded. She slowly picked herself up and followed the man into the abandoned villa. A lone servant poured the couple two goblets of sweet wine and offered them a platter of savory meats, cheeses, and grapes from Italy. 

After several minutes of silent eating, Graciella set down the bunch of grapes she had been munching on in a growing fury. Her emotions were running wild like the bulls of Madrid. 

“Why? He always did everything he could for us…he provided us with stability.”

“Sí, but who you both thought he was, was built by the blood of many poor sailors’ misfortune.”

Graciella became confused, for she had known her father as a bondsman for the Cabo Rojo governor. 

“You knew Señor Cofresi as a kind hearted man who did love you very much and he loved your mother.”

He paused to take a sip of his wine. 

“He was always open with her, very honest; but she was convinced by rumors that he was un pirata peligroso and would physically harm either her or you.”

Graciella’s eyes changed from soft to steel as the light from the fireplace danced in her pupils. 

“Un pirata? Amancio, Papí never would have succumbed to such activities. You speak lies!”

Amancio stared blankly into his goblet.

“It is only the truth Graciella…Your mother took you aware from Puerto Rico because it was about to be ransacked by other pirates. But she cared not that were enemies of your father, only that he would give up her hiding place.” His shoulders sagged, relieved that the heavy weight he had been carrying for twenty years had finally been taken away. 

“Come with me. I must show you something.” 

Graciella relented as Amancio took her by the hand and led her to a back room with furniture covered in cobwebbed tarps. The girl looked around as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. 

“What room is this? I’ve never seen it before.”

Amancio chuckles, taking a match from his coat pocket and lighting the old gas lantern.

“Before you were born, mi amor, your father once roamed these halls.”

“What do you mean? I thought Papí was born in the islands?”

“Sí, bit her traveled here to court your mother. This room was his. When you and your mother arrived here, he wrote you letters; which your mother made sure you never received.”

He could see the hurt in Graciella’s eyes the moment he let the words come out of his mouth. He moved to a lare piece of furniture and folded back the sheet. Underneath was a large oak roll-top desk. Amancio opened the aged lid and pulled out a small box. From within he took a yellowed parchment with blue ribbon tied carefully around it. He gently handed it to Graciella, careful not to crinkle the paper. She slowly pulled away the ribbon and unfolded the parchment.

My Dearest Graciella,

I miss you with all my heart my love. How are you? Does your your mother take good care of you? How I wish I could see you darling daughter. Graciella, perdóname  torque he pecado. I am not who you thought I was. I have lied to both of you for far too long. I hope that by the time you read this, you will have found out the truth. Quiero que me encuentres, siempre te querie.

R. Cofresi

By the end of the letter, Graciella had cold tears making tracks down her cheeks. She looked up at Amancio who cast his own eyes away. Graciella shook her head in anger. Anger at Amancio, at her mother, and at her Papí. At that moment, Graciella decided to do exactly what her father had requested of her: she was going after him and dealing with her feelings once and for all.