Golden Roses Read Online Free PDF Page B

escape that spawn of the devil, with or without money.”

Chapter Three
    For two long, agonizing weeks, Amber was locked in her room. Dolita was the only person she saw. The maid brought in meals three times a day. Amber begged her to explain what was going on, but the frightened girl wouldn’t talk. Her gaze darted nervously around the room, as though Valdis were hiding somewhere.
    On the fourteenth day, as Dolita came with breakfast, Amber cried, “I’m going crazy, sitting here not knowing anything. He can’t keep me locked up forever. When is this madness going to end?”
    “As I told you before,” Dolita sighed, setting the tray down on the bedside table, “Señor Valdis announced that the entire household would observe a two-week mourning period. That period is over today. He may let you come out. But be careful, for he will always keep an eye on you, señorita. And do not ask the vaqueros on the ranch for help. They serve him as though he were a god. They will not help you.”
    “Someone must help me,” Amber declared angrily. “Everyone on this damn ranch can’t be a devil worshipper. You aren’t. You don’t care for Valdis.”
    “No, and I would leave if I could, but I could not find other work anywhere in the valley. You do not understand the power he has here. Please do not try to fight him. You cannot win, señorita.”
    Amber gave her a probing look. “Dolita, I do not understand you. You are a beautiful girl, yet you wear dismal clothes. Is this to discourage Valdis? But surely there are young men who would love to take you away from this miserable place.”
    Dolita dropped her eyes and blushed, and Amber prodded further. “See? You do have a beau, don’t you? Is he a vaquero here on the ranch?”
    “Oh, no.” Dolita shook her head quickly, firmly. “No, he is a farmer and lives with his family. He is not really my ‘beau,’ as you call it. Reydro is my distant cousin. I see him when I visit my aunt. He smiles at me,” she added dreamily, a happy glow on her face. “I think he likes me. One day—who knows? For now…” The glow faded and her perpetual frown returned. “I work here, and I do as I am told, and I do as the señor tells me. I am lucky to have this job. I can work here because I speak Spanish and the languages of the Indians who work here, and also English.”
    “Can’t you find work elsewhere?”
    “This ranch is the largest in the valley, and the only one to hire workers. Others are so small they are worked by the family who owns them. I have no close family, only my aunt, and with twelve children of her own, she has no room for me. I must stay here. There is no place else for me to go.”
    Amber sighed and began to pick at the bowl of hot corn and milk on the tray. “Maybe I could convince Allegra to leave. She can’t be happy here, and surely she has relatives she could go to.”
    Dolita emitted a deep sigh. “She will not leave. She knows the señor would kill her if she tried. You should have seen her when he finished with her after she talked to you of private things.”
    Amber threw her spoon down and cried, “Did he hit her, Dolita? I don’t believe it! She’s a woman, and—”
    “I should not have said anything.” Dolita looked very frightened again and began looking around the room, afraid she had been overheard. “I only try to make you see you cannot escape him. You would do well not to try. It does not have to be so bad here, señorita. There is much luxury.”
    “I don’t care about that,” Amber snapped. “Now tell me what he did to Allegra.”
    Dolita took a deep breath, hesitating, then decided it was too late to keep silent. “Her servant girl, Bonita, said she had bruises on her face. She would not get out of bed for a long time, and when Bonita insisted she bathe, she saw her body and screamed. It was covered with bruises from the señor’s beating.”
    Amber screamed, “That bastard! That devil! How dare he? Oh, I’ve got to get