The Fountains of Silence: A Novel

Daniel meets with Ana and learns she was fired when the staff saw the book he purchased for her at the museum, which Daniel had inscribed to “Tom Collins.” Daniel wants to go and explain everything to the management at the hotel, but Ana refuses. She tries to get Daniel to understand that he does not fully comprehend the danger of all they have done, that he cannot comprehend it because he does not know what it’s like to live in fear. She tells Daniel that for him, “this is a vacation, but for me it’s real life. I’m the daughter of Republicans. Do you understand what that means in this country?” (374).

Daniel is both shocked and hurt by Ana’s words, but Ana tries to explain that she means that Daniel, not trapped in poverty or silence, can’t understand what her experience is like. She tells him that he is “wonderful” but that he cannot love her because he doesn’t understand her. She then gives him a kiss and flees the garden.

Rafa is in jail, and the Guardia Civil question him about Fuga repeatedly. Rafa tells them only that “[é]l quería ser torero […] He wanted to be a bullfighter” (375). The other men tell Rafa to keep a low profile and promise to leave Madrid. They tell him that he will only be held for a few weeks, and when he is released he can walk out of Madrid. Eventually, Father Fernández will come and take him back to Vallecas.

Rafa doesn’t listen; he screams and begs for Fuga’s body to be released to him. He won’t say anything else and refuses to answer questions about his family. He remembers what happened to his parents, and he hears Fuga’s voice reminding him of what happened to them “in the detention hole in the boys’ home” (377).

Puri looks through the Inclusa’s files again, desperate to learn whether she is adopted. Sister Hortensia catches her, and Puri says she wants to know about her origins. Sister Hortensia confirms that Puri is adopted, saying that she is the child of Red degenerates. Sister Hortensia insists Puri is guilty of several offenses: She has stolen “keys to a private file library, trespassed, violated privacy laws, and committed crimes against the country of Spain” (378). When Sister Hortensia threatens to call the police, Puri throws herself at the nun’s feet and weeps.

Back at the hotel, Daniel feels devastated by Ana’s insistence that he cannot understand her. Carlitos tells Daniel that Lorenza had dated Rafa and that all the notes Ana received were from Lorenza. Neither Ana nor Rafa know that Lorenza’s father is a member of the Guardia Civil.

Daniel runs into Nick, who apologizes for the father he hates. Nick says he doesn’t think Daniel truly understands and tells Daniel:

I see your parents together. Your father’s a steady guy, an honorable guy. My dad? Shep’s a lech. I can’t even bring a girl home. He’s awful and humiliating. It’s a game for him. And sometimes people get hurt. Me. My mother. Ana (381).

Daniel asks Nick to talk to Ana, to get her to agree to meet Daniel for dinner the next day at Lhardy. Daniel feels like he’s missing something important, and thinks of all the people who have told him he doesn’t understand, including Ana, Fuga, and now Nick. 

Daniel’s parents tell him that their plans have changed and they are leaving Madrid in two days; his father’s deal with Franco did not take as long as they thought. They also share the news that they’ve adopted a baby from the Inclusa. Daniel is stunned both by the news of the adoption and by the announcement that they are leaving Spain. He asks to stay longer, but his parents insist they must leave within the next 48 hours.

Julia and Ana discover that Fuga is dead and Rafa is in jail, and Julia is devastated. She is angry that Ana lost her job and that Rafa got himself in trouble. She resents her siblings’ behavior and their unwillingness to listen to her.

Ana is ashamed of her behavior, of being “selfish. She put her own hopes and dreams before her family and now they will all suffer for it” (384). Julia tries to figure out a way forward, to get the money they need to get Rafa out of jail, but they have another problem: Julia’s daughter Lali, always sickly, has a fever.

In jail, Rafa imagines attending confession with Father Fernández in Vallecas. He realizes that what he thought was Fuga communing with the bull was actually Fuga’s realization that they had been caught. Fuga had stayed where he was, so neither Rafa nor the animals in the field would be hurt.

Rafa feels that his fear is gone; he is inspired by Fuga’s selflessness. In his fantasy, Rafa tells the priest that he believes that Rafa “has been promoted” and is now “an angel in a heavenly suit of lights. […] He is taking care of the children. […] El Huérfano is taking care of his own” (387). 

Carlitos comes to Daniel’s room and tells him about Rafa and Fuga. Nick seems to think that Fuga was killed for trespassing on the farmer’s fields, but Daniel wonders if he was killed because of Fuga’s suspicions about the empty coffins. Daniel begins to wonder if Lorenza stole his photographs and gave the information to her father.

Puri and her mother go to Ana’s home to help Julia with the baby; Puri has never visited her cousins at home. Puri is still in shock from the “confrontation with Sister Hortensia” (389), but she is nonetheless stunned by the conditions in which her cousins live.

Puri’s training at the Inclusa allows her to help Lali, but she feels bewildered by her mother and cousin’s refusal to take the baby to the hospital. When she unwraps Lali to help lower her fever, Puri is shocked by what she sees, and thinks to herself, “¡Virgen Santa! What have I done?” (391).

Daniel meets with Ben, who helps him to choose the photos that will win the contest and get him the money he needs for journalism school. Daniel worries only about Ana and feels incredibly guilty about Fuga and Rafa. Ben tells him that Lorenza, not his photography, is to blame for the things that have happened. He advises Daniel to concentrate on winning the contest, going to school, and coming back to Spain to get Ana.

Ben insists that “the world is full of Lorenzas: jealous, deceitful people” and then points to a picture of Ana and Daniel, saying “Look at you two. That—is the truth” (393). Daniel is not so sure, and he waits for hours at Lhardy for Ana, but only Nick shows up. He tells Daniel that Ana said if he really loves her, he will leave her alone. Daniel thinks he finally understands.

Before leaving Madrid, Daniel leaves a box for Carlitos at the front desk. It contains a “letter to the ambassador. A letter to mail to Washington. Five silver dollars and his belt buckle” (394). On the plane, Daniel helps his mother with his new baby sister, Cristina.

His mother is very happy, but Daniel wonders if she realizes this “will set her even further apart from society” (395). He also wonders if Cristina was part of whatever it was that was going on at the Inclusa and whether she will ache for Spain, like he already does.

After three months, Rafa is released from jail, and Father Fernández picks him up a few miles outside of Madrid. He tells Rafa that Antonio and Ana have new, better jobs and that Lali is no longer ill. Rafa is pale and thin, but he is also at peace in a way he never has been before. He realizes that “life is struggle” but has decided to “commit wholly to the struggle and find meaning in it, rather than trying to silence it” (396).

On the floor of the jail cell, he left a message for future inmates: “Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly” (397). On the way back to his family, Rafa sees a picture of Franco and thinks, “You don’t know me, Generalísimo, but I know you. I am Rafael Torres Moreno and today, I am not afraid” (397).