Summary

Tuesday Siesta – The woman and her daughter take a hot, lonely train journey across a landscape that is, in places, parched by drought. When they arrive at their destination, they find that the town they are visiting is in the middle of its afternoon siesta. They make their way to the priest’s house, where the woman insists, firmly but politely, that she and the girl be allowed to see the priest. The woman who opened the door goes to fetch him, narration commenting that the two are clearly brother and sister. The first woman asks the priest for directions to the cemetery, explaining that she is there to visit the grave of her son, Carlos Centeno, whom she identifies as the thief who was shot and killed the previous week while committing a robbery. After narration briefly describes the...