The Fountains of Silence: A Novel

Ana thinks about how many Texans visit Spain now that Franco has opened the country to oil exploration. Ana thinks about Daniel, about how he is different from the other Americans: he treats her with respect, rather than as a servant. She also thinks of how lucky Daniel’s mother is to travel to Valencia, which hotel guests say is beautiful: “tranquil beauty, fragrant orange trees, and rolling blue waters” (76). Ana has never seen the ocean, and thinks about how she can transfer to the hotel’s business office so that she can travel; perhaps, Daniel’s family will write her letters of recommendation if she does a good job.

As Ana straightens up the room she sees in the trash, a small green glass bottle. She looks at the bottle and “immediately wishes she hadn’t. She doesn’t need Texas secrets. She has enough of her own” (77)

This chapter is followed by an article from the 1954 Abilene Reporter-News entitled “World Travel is Turning Texans into Real Sissies” (79). It’s about the many Texans who visit Spain.

Ben is thoroughly impressed by Daniel’s portfolio and asks why Daniel is following in his father’s footsteps when he’s so talented. When Daniel explains that his father won’t pay for journalism school, Ben lectures Daniel on what it takes to be a good photojournalist and encourages him to go to journalism school, even without his dad’s support. He tells Daniel that he must be careful, that if he takes “photos with this type of sincerity [he] may as well be holding a gun” (82). He explains that Spain offers no freedom of the press but suggests that Daniel could work as kind of undercover reporter, one not subject to that censorship. 

Ben tells Daniel that his portfolio “showed […] 10 layers of Texas” and challenges him to “show […] 10 layers of Madrid” (84). He encourages Daniel to take meaningful photos of people enduring hardship, as a way to get a scholarship to journalism school. Ben also hints that he can arrange a meeting for Daniel with LIFE magazine, but he issues a stern warning: Carelessness will get Daniel in trouble with the Guardia Civil.

Antonio, Julia’s husband, tells Julia the baby seems to be getting stronger, and asks after Julia’s health. They are both very sad about something: “Julia knows his arms ache with sadness. She wonders if Antonio feels her pain through their embrace as she feels his, as she feels Lali’s. The baby’s cries are haunting, heavy with separation” (90). Julia and Antonio talk about all their dashed hopes and dreams, as well as her worries, and Antonio reminds her that even though the truth is dangerous, they should search for it nonetheless.

Julia has brought work home with her, as well as a suit for Fuga. Her boss, Luis, has given it to Rafa, out of gratitude for Rafa burying is father at the cemetery the year before. Rafa is so touched and grateful for the suit that he is moved to tears.

Daniel goes out to find something to eat and notices a narrow stairway in the lobby. At the bottom of the staircase, he finds two basements with storage areas and a classroom as well as a staff break room. Unlike the rest of the hotel, “this lower level is not glamorous. Stretches of weathered gray stone line the walls and floors. Gaslight flickers in the primitive fixtures, not yet converted to electricity” (94). He spots Ana in the staff breakroom, and is interrupted by a voice asking “¿Qué hay, amigo?” (95)—“what’s up, friend?”

One of the hotel staff thinks Daniel is an employee who is too shy to enter the staff room. The employee pushes Daniel into the room, where everyone is very embarrassed and frightened when Ana says he is a guest.

Ana and Daniel then eat together in the staff cafeteria. She asks Daniel about Texas and photography. Although they talk about Daniel’s passion for photography and his father’s desire for him to join the oil business, Ana tries to avoid answering questions about herself. Daniel finds himself more at ease with Ana after one day than he felt after 10 months of dating Laura Beth. He wonders if Ana hesitates to answer questions because of hotel rules or family rules or whether “she’s following the master in Spain that Ben spoke of. Fear” (100).

As Ana wishes she could have an actual conversation with Daniel, a clerk interrupts them with a telegram. Daniel offers to take it to his parents’ room. When he gets on the elevator, the “fleeting sensation of fun from the basement disappears. The gold elevator doors close, leaving Ana with her one and only companion. Loneliness” (101).

Sister Hortensia tells Puri that there has been a change, and the family from San Sebastián is not going to adopt Clover, one of Puri’s favorite children. This knowledge upsets Puri, but she tries to hide it because favoritism is frowned upon. Puri believes “Clover is a special girl who must have a special life. To live amidst the velvet-green mountains of San Sebastián, looking out upon the churning cobalt sea, this is the plan” (103). Sister Hortensia tells her to have more photographs of Clover taken.

Daniel’s mother calls, waking him up, and asks him to have the telegram forwarded to her in Valencia. She tells him not to open it because it’s about “business, well, of the womanly sort” (104). Daniel doesn’t believe her, but falls back asleep and wakes again to the ringing phone. This time, he ignores the phone and opens the telegram.

Rafa begins his day at el matadero, “the cavernous slaughterhouse,” and thinks about how fear “lingers in the blood” (106). Rafa works at both the slaughterhouse and the graveyard to face fear and cleanse himself of it. Furthermore, “[e]ach day, Rafa chooses a brave and happy smile. He faces fear and wins. The temporary victory is silent, but sings through his soul” (107).

Today, however, his smile is genuine. His supervisor tells him someone may be able to give him and Fuga a ride to a caping where Fuga can demonstrate his skills. Rafael’s supervisor asks for Fuga’s name and wonders how Rafa plans to promote the bullfight. Rafa realizes that he cannot recall Fuga’s real name; however, even the effort to glimpse that memory raises painful memories, despite his attempts to purge fear.

The excerpt following this chapter is from a presidential memo, from Truman to his Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, in 1951. The memo expresses Truman’s outrage at the way Protestants in Spain were treated.

Daniel feels even more confused after reading the telegram meant for his mother. It is from their family priest back in Texas, Father Brodd, assuring his mother that Father Brodd will forward the documentation she has requested and urging “reflection and prayer” over her “recent misfortune” (112). Daniel thinks it may concern his father’s business troubles but doesn’t know for sure.

In the lobby, Carlitos tells Daniel his photos are ready, and Daniel returns to his now-clean room. Ana has left him the article about Texans in Spain becoming “sissies” with a funny note in the margins: “And some boys from Dallas are ‘getting lost’ in the basement” (113). Ana’s note pleases him, and he leaves one for her in a magazine, which he then gives to Carlitos to deliver to her.