Excerpt from Chapter 8 (Gathering Clouds and a Village Wedding)
"Hay agua! Hay agua!" shrieked Aunt Domi. This was the clarion call for everyone to rush into the kitchen and grab wine bottles, jugs, mugs, pots and anything else we could lay hands on and race with them to the tiny lavatory where the wash basin tap provided our only source of water. Since we never knew when and for how long the water would be available, it was essential to fill as many containers as possible as fast as possible. It was quite likely that the supply we were collecting now would have to last us for twenty-four hours or more. For most of the summer and autumn, when the tap was turned on, the only result would be a strangled gurgling sound, sometimes but not always accompanied by a few rusty drips. So the joyful sight of unlimited water gushing from it would automatically send us into that frenzied scramble.
On this particular day, our task was considerably hampered by the presence of two cockerels which seemed to have taken up residence in the lavatory. Every time someone opened the door to reach for the tap, the birds would make frantic attempts to escape. Twice their efforts were successful and it took Cousin Bea, who had brought the birds, ten minutes of chasing them up and down the stairs and around the house before she eventually managed to recapture them amid much indignant clucking, squawking and the panic-stricken beating of wings. - -
I did not look forward to the various visits which, of necessity, I had to make to the place wherein these ill-tempered creatures lurked. That morning, clutching my allotted bottle of water for washing, I paused outside the door, listening nervously before attempting to enter. However, all I could hear was the innocuous sound of their claws scratching in the straw so I opened the door a chink and peered in. Immediately, two heads, armed with vicious-looking beaks, thrust themselves through the crack. I pushed them back with my foot and entered hurriedly, closing the door after me in the nick of time as one of them was about to hurl itself into the outside world. Pouring my water into the wash basin, I kept a wary eye on them as they circled menacingly round my legs grumbling to themselves and observing me sideways with their beady eyes.
