A Legacy Remembered

She was still giggling at his less than graceful landing as she headed off around the river bank. Tomàs had had enough, and remained defiantly motionless. “Come on, Mari,” he called after her. “I’m hot…I want to go swimming. It’ll be a climb just to get back up this embankment.” She continued on to the base of the massive stone river wall, and tread cautiously along the narrowing shelf, grasping the thick vegetation rooted in the rounded stones. His irritation grew, combining itself with an increasing nervousness about her precarious circumstances. “Mari,” he called most seriously, “I’m going back.” He turned and began finding leverage points to pull himself back up the incline. Not altogether certain that she was going to follow him, he glanced back over his shoulder. She was gone!

He slid down the incline, his eyes scanning the base of the wall. Nothing…no one there. Maybe she’d run up to the tree line, and was hiding. He moved quickly along the shelf, calling her name to the trees. No answer. “Mari, this isn’t funny. Come out.” He could feel the panic taking hold. His eyes shot to the river as it raged around the base of the mountain and met its match at the stone wall. He ran…shouting for her! His heart pounded. His eyes searched the river’s edge with the desperate hope that she’d been able to hold on to something long enough to keep from being swept away by the speeding current. He knew all too well that the frigid water was too fast for her to pull herself out. Many a grown man had succumbed to its power. When he reached the wall, he knew she was gone…the black river had taken her. His legs trembled. He lowered himself to the ground horrified, every breath stabbing at his chest. “Not Mari,” he pleaded, “Please God, not Mari!”…and while he fought the tears with everything he had in him, they would not be controlled.