UNTIL THE DAY ARRIVES ANA MARIA MACHADO TRANSLATED BY JANE SPRINGER Groundwood Books House of Anansi Press Toronto Berkeley
1 Bento It was all very unexpected All it took was an instant In a few minutes Bento’s life changed forever And Manu’s life too although it wasn’t obvious at the time Manu saw the guards take Bento away But all he could do was hide so as not to be seized as well It wasn’t clear how the brawl had started But it soon became violent ugly Manu heard the shouting and saw Bento throw a plate of leftover food at someone There was such an uproar that it was impossible to make out what was going on He wanted to help but he was too far away coming down the stairs with a tray that the tavern’s owner had asked him to bring from one of the rooms Bottles were flying barrels were rolling dishes were breaking creating a huge din Some of the brawlers joined arms to overturn the heavy long table that would seat ten men at the end of the day In seconds it was transformed into a barricade protecting Bento and the innkeeper’s son
soon bring the soldiers of the king They’d arrive in no time aggressive and confrontational Manu stood on the stairs tray in hand stunned by the sudden violence Bento signaled not to go down Without actually hearing his words Manu understood perfectly what he was saying his hands cupped around his mouth Get out of here Don’t let them grab you Manu stepped back and hid behind a huge chest on the landing that was used for storing mugs and tin plates Afraid and angry at the same time he wanted to run away and disappear but also felt like jumping into the fray and swatting people left and right or smashing someone with the tray He didn’t know what to do but obeyed Bento His heart was pounding hard enough to burst Call the king’s guards someone shouted Everyone in the city knew that this distress call would From his hiding place he watched as someone evil looking hit Bento on the head with a heavy object A candlestick maybe Bento staggered A trickle of blood began to drip down his forehead Here come the guards The guards As the message spread people ran in all directions The place emptied in seconds Only Bento was left standing in the immense room half-dazed disoriented not really seeing straight He swung and lumbered all over the place
