Free Paradise & More (Torres Family Saga) by Shirl Henke Page B

waited patiently with her groom. Swinging her full skirts across the small horse as she mounted, Magdalena kicked her heels and let the horse fly into the sleepy heat of the afternoon's deserted streets with her servant in frantic pursuit.
           Benjamin returned from the Ruiz home early, having left Serafina with her friend Sofia. The two women planned to stroll through the bazaar in search of some token or other. He smiled fondly, certain his wife would search out a special gift for Aaron to carry with him as a talisman on his forthcoming voyage. According to his last letter, the young rascal should return to Seville any day now. In scant weeks he would be bound for the Indies. Pray God the Genoese was right in his plan and that Aaron would be safe.
           As he pondered on these unsettling thoughts, his cart pulled up to the stable and he saw Andaluz. Aaron was home! As soon as Benjamin entered the courtyard, he spied Aaron's weapons and clothing strewn around the fountain. That devilish boy had ever teased his mother to wrath by leaping into the cooling waters on hot days like today. At least his son had shed part of his clothing before dousing himself! Benjamin quickly crossed the courtyard and walked up the low wide stairs that curved toward the gallery where Aaron's quarters were located.
           His son's voice called out to him from across the long room. “Father! I hoped you would return soon!” Dressed in clean hose and boots with his leather armor over his linen tunic, he looked freshly bathed and exhilarated, ready to set off on a journey, not a man who had just returned from one.
           Embracing his son, Benjamin said, “Why the full soldier's complements? Surely you must not leave so soon? Your mother will be sore beset.”
           Aaron's face fell. “She is not returned with you? I had hoped we would have this brief time together. I must be off for Palos at once. The town council is holding up the outfitting of the enterprise. Three ships, really only one nao and two caravels, to provision, but the Admiral has haggled with them since May. It is near August and we must sail soon to catch the northeast winds from the Canary Islands to the Indies.”
           “You are no provisioner of sailors. Why must you go to Palos so soon?” Benjamin argued.
           Aaron's face grew harsh with anger. “It would seem from the wording of the royal commission, that one of the inducements for signing on this unlikely voyage is freedom from criminal prosecution. Cristobal is in need of someone to inspect the recruits and keep an eye to their behavior during the last stages of the outfitting. As marshal of the fleet, that is my job.”
           “How long can you tarry?” Benjamin asked in resignation as they walked toward the stairway to the courtyard.
           “Of course I will not leave until I have said farewell to Mother and Ana and little Olivia. I detoured on my journey home through Barcelona. It was good to see Mateo and Rafaela again. We had much catching up to do ere I departed. I hate this dispersion—my brother and his wife in Catalonia, our uncle and aunt in France. Now I must leave you here in Seville...” Aaron sighed.
           “Yet you must go with the Genoese. We are all agreed on that. We will collect your mother from the market and thence ride to Ana's country house for our farewells together. Tell me of Mateo and your Uncle Isaac as we go”
           Arm in arm, the two tall men walked through the green and gold canopy of trees in the courtyard gardens, deep in conversation, oblivious of the shimmering late afternoon heat.
           When an exhausted Benjamin and Serafìna returned, the moon hung low and full over the tall palm trees lining the streets outside their home. “Pray God he will be safe,” Serafìna said in a choked voice. She had spent the long afternoon and evening putting on a brave face for her son. Ana had