The Horse Healer by Gonzalo Giner Read Free Book Online Page B

filigree in gold over blue steel.
    â€œThis neighborhood is called La Alcaicería. They sell very valuable wares here, and for that reason, it is closed every night and watched over by fearsome armed guards.”
    After passing over a few more streets, they reached the Great Mosque and a madrassa where the Koran was studied.
    From this point, they entered into the Muslim quarter proper.
    â€œWhere are you from?”
    â€œFrom Malagón, a village to the south of Toledo.”
    â€œIf you find your horse, will you go back there?”
    â€œI can’t,” he answered brusquely.
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œAll those lands are now in the hands of the Almohads. I have no family left there. My father was killed, my older sister, too. And I lost my other two sisters. I don’t know how to find them or even if they are still alive.”
    The girl felt shamed, but it seemed absurd to her to ask for forgiveness for the savage conduct of others who had nothing to do with her, and she preferred to simply offer her hospitality to the boy.
    â€œMy family and I live on the outskirts, close to the river, between the gardens they call al-Hufra and the road that leads to Mérida. We have a little house there and some stables where we keep the horses before we sell them. I’m in charge of caring for them. When we buy them, they’ve normally been neglected, and often they’re starving. We don’t put them up for sale until I’ve gotten them in better shape. If you’d like to go some time, you’ll find me there.”
    â€œOr in the Zocodover.”
    â€œOf course, or in the market.” She looked thoughtfully at the ground. “We’re almost there.”
    They passed alongside a potter’s workshop, and at the end of a narrow street they came to an imposing wooden door with a hinged opening in its center.
    The girl beat energetically at the wood with a heavy doorknocker shaped like a horse’s head. Almost immediately they heard the turning of a lock and there appeared an old man’s face in the window, pudgy and rather dark, with a nose that bent extremely to the right.
    â€œWhat you want?” His voice was deep, almost raspy. He seemed to be a foreigner.
    â€œWe’re looking for Master Galib,” the girl answered with a generous smile.
    â€œHe busy. No time for snot-nose kids. Me Sajjad and no like kids. Sajjad no want see you.”
    The children looked at each other, stunned by the man’s strange way of speaking, while he shut the wooden panel abruptly.
    The girl didn’t accept his no and beat at the door more energetically than before, but she didn’t receive any answer. After numerous attempts, it still wouldn’t open again. All they could hear, once, off in the distance, was the sour voice of that individual telling them to go to hell.
    â€œWhat do we do now?” Diego asked in desperation.
    â€œI have to go. My father will be worried. But you wait here until Galib comes out. Sooner or later he’ll have to, to visit one of his patients. Nearly thirty thousand souls live in Toledo, and though they pray to different gods, almost all have in common that they own a horse or a pack mule, or a few, in the case of those who work the land. Galib isn’t the only albéitar who attends to all those animals, but he’s the best. Be patient.”
    The girl could see the abandonment in the eyes of that young man who looked at her, begging for compassion. She came close to him and caressed the wound her father had given him.
    â€œDiego, I have to leave you now. My name is Fatima. If you need me, you know where to find me. Wait for Galib. I have to go.”
    Fatima went off down the street, but before taking the first corner, she turned and smiled at the boy. She felt good for helping him. When she had left the narrow street behind her, she sped up her step, fearful of her father’s reaction.
    For the next hour, the door only