Scorpions’ Night: A Spanish Civil War Story
The book begins with the memory of the chair that Catherine and Lucien bought in a shop on the outskirts of Toulouse. She kept both, frightened. “*Catherine, cariño*,” he said. She was having another sleepless night, and she thought that the blame lay with the history teacher at school, because that morning she had called and had opened the drawer of her memories.
Catherine was invited to commemorate an event at the institute, where she had been hailed as a heroine. She explained how it ended, and people asked for autographs, interviews, and photos for newspapers. Thanks to this, she remembered her past from the time when the Civil War erupted and her father was taken prisoner to a prison in the capital.
Some time later, her mother and brother were brought to the station. During the time they were absent, Catherine took over the house. She saw how the guards broke records, took the cattle from the garden, etc. When her brother and mother returned, her mother’s head had been shaved, and her brother had suffered beatings. From that moment on, her mother became even less talkative than she was before.
A Fateful Meeting
During a party in town, she met a boy named Emilio, who lived in the mining area. They danced together throughout the party, and finally went to a fountain where they parted with a kiss. A few days later, she was warned not to go with this kid because his parents had “business.” But she ignored the orders of the people and reconnected with him several days later.
They rode Emilio’s bike for walks, shared a bar of Belgian chocolate, and decided they would go together to see the pyramids of Egypt. Meanwhile, her brother Thaddeus decided to leave for the forest to kill at least some civil guards. After that talk, her mother seemed to forget him and became increasingly disillusioned, while Catherine started working as a liaison for the mountain, carrying packets between the enemies of the dictatorship.
She became increasingly suspicious and even had a quarrel with her best friend, Dolores. Some time later, Chuck was kidnapped, and the Civil Guard became more suspicious of her, so she was forced to flee. When in doubt, she chose to go to the mountain to tell Emilio that she had nothing to do with the kidnapping. That night, she had to say goodbye to her best (and only) friend, and she faced never seeing her mother again. She partly went to the mountains.
Life in the Mountains
The first day, she didn’t know how to walk in the woods and came to think that she was guilty of stupidity. But after the first night, she met “The Andalusian,” one of the mountain men, and he told her that she had to go with her brother. He agreed to take her to the place where Hustler was. When they reached another mount, Cundo intended to kill her or throw her out, but her brother Thaddeus and Tirso, the teacher, were completely against this decision, so they let her stay with them.
During the time she was with them, she learned to read and write thanks to Tirso. She had a conversation with her brother in which he said he had decided to go to America. She learned what a scorpion night was thanks to “The Andalusian” (a night of insomnia) and also that they are creatures. Above all, she took care of Emilio and prepared food for him every day for several days.
After Emilio was rescued, they said goodbye in exchange for promises that they would not have anything.
Characters
- Catherine: The protagonist. She is the woman who lives through the scorpion’s night and faces her memories. She is a woman who lived through the Franco war up close. The entire novel revolves around events that she has lived both in the Civil War and as an adult.
- Emilio: The guy who is in love with Catherine. He is crazy to get back with her. The common people do not look favorably on the fact that his father has a business and favors the capitalist side, but Catherine knows how to value what he has inside.
- Tadeo: Catherine’s dear brother, who leaves for the mountains with a group organized and armed against Franco.
- The Mother: Obviously the mother of Catherine and Thaddeus. She always has a sense of shame because she does not want her daughter to live through the inevitable Civil War.
- Tirso: Catherine’s teacher, even when she was small, who marches with the mountain men.
- Dolores: Catherine’s best friend. She helps her meet Emilio at a dance.
- July Cega: A young history professor who prepares an interview with Catherine when she is old to recount what the Civil War was like for a few kids at the age she was when the war came.
- Lucien: Catherine’s husband, with whom she has a child. Years later, she became a widow.
- Cundo: A member of the mountain group who tries to throw Catherine out when she goes in search of Emilio.
- “El Andaluz”: A member of the mountain group who befriends Catalina.
Escape and Reunion
The mountain men believed they were not safe and decided to leave. But when they went to another shelter, the Civil Guard ambushed them and killed Cundo and “The Andalusian.” They pursued Tirso to his death. It is unclear whether Tadeo managed to escape to America, but Catalina, or as Tirso liked to call her, “Delgadina,” escaped.
Days later, she was found by a peasant who helped her find a liaison, who in turn helped her flee the country. But when she left the bus in Oviedo, the Civil Guard was waiting, and they killed the liaison. Catalina managed to escape to Toulouse, where she married Lucien.
Returning to the present, it was just another sleepless night for Catherine. She decided to go buy a newspaper. When she realized that all the newspapers had her face on the cover and large articles about the conference, she decided to go to a cafe that she used to go to in order to see Emilio without being discovered. While she was having coffee, the waiter delivered a Belgian chocolate bar “from the Lord of the bar.” She then returned to meet Emilio (the Lord of the bar), and after several hours of conversation, they decided to stay together and go to Egypt to fulfill the promise they made years ago.