Down to the Soul

Who: I’m Narda. I work for Doña Pilar—for my sins—as cook, housekeeper and all around dogsbody.Where: Fuentespina, Spain—a village limping along on its last legs, festering with old secrets and betrayals.When: 1999, but around here, 60 years is a drop in the bucket. The Spanish Civil War might as well have happened yesterday.What: Esmi comes to town—a city girl, with city clothes and a city attitude, seeking refuge with her estranged grandparents.Listen, Esmi’s not a bad kid, but she rubs everyone wrong, especially my boss. We all try to clue her in on how things work around here, but she doesn’t listen. When we warn her about not going out at night—because unearthly dangers lurk here as well as run-of-the-mill ones—she, with her fancy college degree, writes us off as ignorant and superstitious.That’s how she meets Señor Iban. Restless, unable to sleep, she saunters into the town plaza in the middle of the night, where, by the bullet-pocked fountain, she happens on the only other stranger in town. She may not have a great track record when it comes to men, but I don’t blame her for being smitten—Señor Iban can be a charmer.When her crazy old grandfather turns on her, and one of the villagers is found dead, her situation becomes more precarious than she can imagine. And me? I’m feeling more than a little jittery myself. I warn her that the so-called natural death was actually the act of a vampire. And I blame Señor Iban! She doesn’t know what to think. Death hangs in the air, and everyone is telling her, “Me, me, trust me!”Esmi must decide what and who to believe. Her life depends on it.

About the Author

Leslie Hayertz was born in Washington State. She earned a BA ed. at Central Washington University, and an MA in Spanish at Middlebury College. She writes fiction and one-act plays, and is also the author of The Subwhative? A Workbook and Guide to the Spanish Subjunctive. She teaches Spanish in the Portland Metro area.

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