The Mammoth Book Of Vampire Stories Written By Women

As always, she felt guilty as she scraped the remains into the garbage disposal. With just what was left on these plates, she could feed her entire family for one day. Early on she had eaten the leftover food from their plates, but Mrs Richview caught her and insisted it was not "sanitary" and that Remedios must throw it away.

Remedios carved off a piece of meat from the outside of the roast, avoiding as much of the red part as possible, and made her own plate, with a small piece of squash, and a little bowl of salad. All her life she had eaten the largest meal in the middle of the day, and something light before bed; she could not get used to having so much food in her stomach at night. Before she sat down to eat, she wrapped the rest of the meat in clear plastic, stored the salad and squash in airtight containers and placed everything in the refrigerator already bulging with food. The children had eaten their desserts. Mr Richview ate some. Mrs Richview's pudding went untouched, as always she never ate dessert. Remedios placed the pudding next to her plate. Finally she sat down to eat.

She missed the food she had been raised on. Rice, and rich red and black beans, heavily spiced, sometimes with a little meat, if the family could afford a cui . And the flat bread! There was nothing like it here. She had made a traditional Ecuadorean meal when she first arrived. Mr and Mrs Richview ate a little, but the children would not even try. Mrs Richview said that it might be best if she told Remedios exactly what foods to cook every week, and how to cook them.

Just as she was about to take a bite of the meat, Mrs Richview said from the hallway, "Remy," and she jumped to her feet.

"Yes, Mrs Richview?"

"I forgot. This package came for you, to the postal box."

Remedios met Mrs Richview at the doorway and took from her a small brown parcel. Even before she saw the address, she knew it was from home. The oily dark paper, and the hemp cord holding it together. The parcel had gone through two postal systems, and was damaged.

"Thank you," she said, and waited until Mrs Richview was halfway up the stairs before returning to the kitchen table.

She opened the package. First she found a piece of newspaper, el Comercio , with an article about the les Chupa-cabras . Now there were sightings in Ecuador! She read the article about the vampire-like creature, the "sheep sucker" that attacked not only sheep, but horses, cows, even dogs and cats, biting into them, draining their blood. The article said eye-witnesses had seen el Chupa-cabra , and described it as four or five feet tall, having the body of a bat, with large wings, and scales along the back of the neck, a cat's face, and the teeth! Remedios shivered just reading about it.

Next, she found a note, from her grandmother. Or, from Uncle Antonio, the only one in the family besides herself who could write in Spanish. Her grandmother had told him what to say, of course.

"Remedios, my dearest one. You are blessed by the Holy Virginsita, and God has seen to it that you were born strong, and must help your family. You are the one we rely on."

The letter went on with news of the family. Grandmother suffered pains in her arms and legs, and felt very tired. The twins had both been sick, coughing a lot, but were now well again. Dolores, who had been born with a club foot, was having difficulty walking. The neighbour examined the foot and said it was turning more inward; was it possible there could be money for a doctor? Esperanza was pregnant. This did not surprise Remedios — her sister had always been pretty, and always liked to flirt with the boys. But it meant one more mouth to feed! News of Juan was the most troubling. He had begun to go out at nights, and Grandmother suspected he was using cocaine and travelling with the packs of boys that murdered.

Remedios lowered the piece of paper, shaken. Tears sprang from her eyes. What could she do? She was not there. If she went home to try to make Juan behave, they would have no food. And he was now thirteen. Even before she had left home, he had been nearly impossible to control. Esperanza had never listened to her, and that would not change. Could she find money for a doctor? Already she sent everything home but for ten dollars a month, and that was only for little things she might need for herself; the Richviews gave her food, clothing, bus fare she did not need much. Perhaps she could send half of that home every month and then in three or four months there would be enough for a doctor, and Dolores could be taken to one But half of the ten dollars would go to the government, and Uncle Antonio. Home. If she were there, Grandmother would not have to look after everyone. But then who would earn the money? There was no work in de Quito. Or in most of Ecuador. All her thoughts seemed to end in impossibilities, and she could do nothing but cry silent tears.