"La Maravilla will take you because you're necessary, Juan Diego," Dr. Vargas said. "Lupe requires translation," Vargas said to Esperanza. "You can't have a fortune-teller you don't understand; Lupe needs an interpreter."
"I'm not a fortune-teller!" Lupe said, but Juan Diego didn't translate this.
"The woman you want is Soledad," Vargas said to Edward Bonshaw.
"What woman? I don't want a woman!" the new missionary cried; he'd imagined that Dr. Vargas had misunderstood what a vow of celibacy entailed.
"Not a woman for you, Mr. Celibacy," Vargas said. "I mean the woman you need to talk to, on behalf of the kids. Soledad is the woman who looks after the kids at the circus--she's the lion tamer's wife."
"Not the most reassuring name for the wife of a lion tamer," Brother Pepe said. "Solitude doesn't bode well--widowhood awaits her, one might conclude."
"For Christ's sake, Pepe--it's just her name," Vargas said.
"You are an antichrist--you know that, don't you?" Senor Eduardo said, pointing to Vargas. "These kids can live at Lost Children, where they will receive a Jesuit education, and you want to put them in harm's way! Is it their education you're frightened of, Dr. Vargas? Are you such a convinced atheist that you're afraid we might manage to turn these kids into believers?"
"These kids are in harm's way in Oaxaca!" Vargas cried. "I don't care what they believe."
"He's an antichrist," the Iowan said, this time to Brother Pepe.
"Are there dogs at the circus?" Lupe asked. Juan Diego translated this.
"Yes, there are--trained dogs. There are acts with dogs. Soledad trains the new acrobats, including the flyers, but the dogs have their own troupe tent. Do you like dogs, Lupe?" Vargas asked the girl; she shrugged. Juan Diego could tell that Lupe liked the idea of La Maravilla as much as he did; she just didn't like Vargas.
"Promise me something," Lupe said to Juan Diego, holding his hand.
"Sure. What?" Juan Diego said.
"If I die, I want you to burn me at the basurero--like the dogs," Lupe told her brother. "Just you and Rivera--nobody else. Promise me."
"Jesus!" Juan Diego shouted.
"No Jesus," Lupe told him. "Just you and Rivera."
"Okay," Juan Diego said. "I promise."
"How well do you know this Soledad woman?" Edward Bonshaw asked Dr. Vargas.
"She's my patient," Vargas replied. "Soledad is a former acrobat--a trapeze artist. Lots of stress on the joints--hands and wrists and elbows, especially. All that grabbing and holding tight, not to mention the falls," Vargas said.
"Isn't there a net for the aerialists?" Senor Eduardo asked.
"Not in most Mexican circuses," Vargas told him.
"Merciful God!" the Iowan cried. "And you're telling me that these children are in harm's way in Oaxaca!"
"Not a lot of falls in fortune-telling--no stress on the joints," Vargas replied.
"I don't know what's on everybody's mind--it's not clear to me what everyone is thinking. I just know what some people are thinking," Lupe said. Juan Diego waited. "What about those people with minds I can't read?" Lupe asked. "What does a fortune-teller say to those people?"
"We need to know more about how the sideshow works. We need to think about it." (That was how Juan Diego interpreted his sister.)
"That's not what I said," Lupe told her brother.
"We need to think about it," Juan Diego repeated.
"What about the lion tamer?" Brother Pepe asked Vargas.
"What about him?" Vargas said.