Chapter 11: Rebellion of the Villagers

At night, I worriedly looked at our outdoor lights. They flickered some went out. The power consumption was too high. Although I turned off all non-essential electrical devices, the situation did not improve. Carmen confirmed to me over the radio that the two radiators in the Casa would also be unplugged, but when I was helping Bruno breastfeed around 5 a.m., it was almost worse. I turned off the power to the basement and to the outside lights, but the lamp above the patio door was still flickering. Nobody in the village answered the radio.

A few minutes later, early Sunday morning, full of anger, I visited the Ayllu, our Indio village in the valley. Olivia came with me for translation, even though I had unexpectedly woken her up by radio at 6:30 am. When I drove up with the e-cart, she was waiting behind the door of the Casa. That was also something special with almost every one of my wives and with every girl. If I came with an urgent matter, everyone dropped everything and helped to solve my problem without objection. Slightly sleepy Olivia, who had only breastfed her son two hours earlier, snuggled up to me to keep warm on the walk from the end of the concrete lane, but was soon shivering from the cold on the short walk.

It was freezing outside. There were still problems with power consumption. The villagers probably used the hotplates for heating. On the one hand, that was understandable, but they didn’t know what they could do with it. It was even worse than expected. The leads were hot, almost glowing. It smelled like burnt insulation. My workers had only installed a very strong main fuse for all the huts in the last year. In almost every hut both burners were switched on. In the saloon, even four of the small double burners were switched on, without any supervision, since everyone was still asleep.

First, we shut down these abusive devices. Olivia went from hut to hut, had the hotplates turned off, and invited all the villagers into the saloon. Some women were angry at the early disruption and the turning off of their ‘heaters’. I didn’t allow anyone to argue with me. “If you don’t see that you are jeopardizing the entire power supply in the valley, I will switch off the village completely from the power supply. How did you endure it when your huts didn’t have electricity two years ago?” Awkward silence, no answer.

“Our girls don’t have heating in their rooms either. They just dress warmly and move around the house a lot. I specify:

1. Each hut may use one burner of the stove up to a maximum of ‘5’ until 10 p.m.

2. Hotplates may only be operated when someone is in the house checking them. Otherwise, there is a risk of fire.

3. Only two stoves may be used in the saloon to heat water and during meals, but then at a maximum of ‘5’, never the maximum ‘9’.

4. Everyone controls each other. If I detect a violation, I shut off the power for a day, for a second violation for a week, for a third for the whole winter.”

Olivia was interrupted with questions about the translation, but she delivered my message. “Olivia, please explain to the people that electricity comes from the sun. When the sun goes down in the evening and a lot is consumed, the stored electricity is quickly used up. They are allowed to use two burners for cooking during the day, but at a maximum of level 5, and at most one burner in the dark.”

There was a lot of discussion in typical Indio manner. Then an elderly woman came and showed us that a plate on her stove had cracked and was no longer working. In two other huts, a burner was broken without any outward signs. Based on my information, Olivia had to explain to everyone how a hotplate works and that without a pot or pan on it, she could quickly burn out.

The insight was not widespread. Anticipated, I checked the huts together with Priya and Isabella in the evening. In four out of the six shacks checked first, two plates were used with full level 9. Of course, I screamed, calling everyone to me. I put the four women with violations in front of everyone. The whole village looked embarrassed. Less than ten minutes later everything was in the dark. Isabella tried to explain the power cut in Spanish. It was not clear whether anyone understood. Priya had done the switching at the junction as ordered. I carefully locked the box. Everyone should be without electricity for at least one night. Now would show how the villagers would react. They had to see it immediately. Few of the heaters were on low in the palazzo. We saved electricity wherever possible. We could also expect that from the people of the village.

On Monday just after dawn I heard chatter outside the entrance. Olivia had come with Djamila and Florence to apologize and ask for the power to be restored. “Olivia, tell the two women that I’ve found four violations in six cabins alone. There must have been a lot more. Actually, the electricity is closed for the whole winter. Since you may not have understood it correctly, I’ll make an exception again. Next time, the electricity will be switched off until the end of September, that is, for more than fifty days.” Then I led the three Peruvian women into our hall. It was pretty cold. Only now did they understand that we didn’t need the electricity for ourselves. When Luisa turned on the two kettles and explained that we used this to prepare water for tea and heat something with it, they were amazed.

During the long break of the morning lessons, Priya turned the power back on under my control. Some of the villagers looked a little friendlier now, but the majority looked angry, obviously not having understood the situation.

In the palazzo I told Luisa that many of her countrymen did not show understanding. Our cook didn’t feel like walking to the village in the cold either. Over the radio she explained everything to her mother again. It took a considerable amount of time. Luisa’s mother discussed with people from the village during the telephone call. When Luisa got angry with her mother, I knew what the future would be like.

“No electricity for the village, no food for us.” the village would have decided. I let it come to this test of strength. Inwardly I even had to smile at so much unreasonableness. Armed Babette and I accompanied our switch master Priya to the E-distribution board. Priya shut off the power. If they didn’t show any understanding within two days, the next thing I would do was stop the water supply, I told the villagers. We pulled a barrier tape from the mine entrance across the two entrances to the mine and the main road. Carmen and Olivia had to lock the Casa doors. No villager was allowed to enter the guesthouse anymore.

On the way back we met Florence. Apparently, she took the position of our opponents, didn’t say hello, and hurriedly walked towards her village. This was no fun. I thought Florence and Leonie were on our side, but the village seemed to agree. Apparently, I had underestimated the village community.

Around 5 p.m., all electricity in the palazzo was cut off. Someone, probably Miguel, had somehow turned off the electricity for us, maybe even cut the lines. With their experience of living in the wilderness, they must have believed they had a huge advantage over us and could bring us to our knees. It was still daylight. We formed an armed squad with Sula, Babette, and Lenya. Priya took her toolbox with her, but unfortunately there was no point, as we found out at the junction box.

Presumably with the help of the oxen, they had simply torn the power line out of the large masonry. That meant war for me. It was also unclear whether it could ever be repaired. At first, I wanted to shoot one of the two oxen, but further escalation was not an option either. First, we had to protect our solar arrays and power storages before we could further investigate the damage. We walked quickly to the two solar power plants. There were tarpaulins to cover the collectors so that the systems would not be damaged from tomorrow. I also stopped the pinwheel.

On the way back we visited the three adults and three children in the casa. Alejandra defended the village’s position; Carmen was undecided but not fully on our side either. Only Olivia told the two women that all villagers are stupid because they don’t listen to scientific arguments. “Anyone who thinks and acts against reason is simply stupid. In the end, we might all pay for it with our lives.”

But when Olivia finally wanted to move to the palazzo with us, Alejandra cried and Olivia stayed for the sake of her grandma. We left the three Peruvian women with their three babies. We had until tomorrow to reconsider everything. In Belgium we say: “Tomorrow might be a better day.”

Around 7 p.m. I switched on our emergency power generator for the first time for an hour so that we had light and Luisa could cook. All heaters were throttled or turned off. The heavy diesel engine rumbled through our valley. Parts of the exterior lights were on to show the rebels what additional options we had. We also absolutely had to charge the battery of the locking system at the gate; otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to get out of the gate. I didn’t want to try the emergency release of the gate yet.

The diesel consumption was worrying. We had consumed about twenty litres in the ample hour. Of course, 2,000 litres was quite a large supply, but if you used it sparingly, it might last for 100 to a maximum of 200 days.

Around 9:00 p.m. everyone was prepared for the night. With Luisa and Ramona, I discussed how to proceed by the flickering light of a candle. It was questionable whether I would ever be able to restore the power supply. That worried us the most. How stubborn and stupid could the Indios be, and how long could they keep it up? As long as they would be united and agreed to their aims, Luisa believed for a very long time.

Our Bruno was only three days old. However, Ramona assured me it would not be a problem as long as the room temperature reached at least 12°C. Of course, we hoped that the wind would change direction soon and that the temperatures in the valley would stabilize above 10°C again.

Luisa viewed our stocks in daylight. We had enough supplies for a week but could neither cook nor wash the dishes with warm water. From the Casa we got the equipment stored there, two grills, a wood-fired oven for flatbread and a grill with a fire bowl and rotisserie.

Olivia told us about a late-night conversation between Miguel, Florence, Marta, and Jimena at the Casa with Carmen and Alejandra that Olivia wasn’t allowed to attend. The two women were also unwilling to tell Olivia what their conclusions were. Priya and Babette helped the young mom pack her things and take her to the palazzo with her son Michael. Sula, Isabella, and Lenya packed up our half-finished laundry in the basement and made the baskets ready for transport.

Alejandra cried more and more, was torn, but I couldn’t and didn’t want to be considerate anymore. I offered Olivia’s grandmother to move to us into the palazzo, but she didn’t want that either. Carmen also turned down my offer. Of course, I was worried about my two boys, who were only a few weeks old, but it didn’t help. We had to be consistent now.

In the afternoon I rode the BMX bikes with Sula, Babette, and Mayari to the upper valley. We caught six turkeys under vigorous spitting and mock attacks by the alpacas. Mayari tied up a young alpaca mare. The young alpaca and the turkeys provided enough meat for the next few weeks. On our way back, the ox cart, which I had recently repaired at great expense, blocked the path we had been using. Babette showed me the bush behind which one of the men had hidden. I happily allowed her to shoot a branch of a tree over it. The MPi salvo sounded alarming and the branch fell on the larger shrub. Cursing, Miguel ran away towards the village.

It was easy enough to push our bikes through the bushes. The young alpaca mare, lightly tied at the hind legs, trotted alongside us without any problems. After we delivered our loot to the palazzo, I also took the three other girls with farming experience with me. We harvested two rows of potatoes behind the guesthouse, along with a large basket of carrots, some beans, and half a basket of onions. The potatoes alone would be sufficient at least three weeks if we only ate potatoes for lunch and dinner, but we still had rice and pasta products.

Luisa called her mother again on the radio, but the village didn’t want to answer or the batteries were already empty. Carmen didn’t get in touch at the Casa either.

Since football was cancelled on Monday and I wanted to demonstrate normal life to the villagers, we played Mayari’s favourite game in the morning. Luckily, the wind had shifted; it was blowing towards us from the direction of the canyon, actually from the warm ocean 150 kilometres away. It was already almost 15° today and dry, so the best weather.

During the game, Babette spotted Leonie running towards our entrance. Our Romanian girl also showed me that at least three villagers were hiding in the grove and watching Leonie. I waved to Leonie she waved back. But we played the last three minutes of the current game to the end. Then Sula let the Peruvian in.

Olivia translated Leonie’s request to me in the anteroom. She reported to Luisa and to me about the problems in the village. There had been hostilities and strong arguments. The group around Miguel, his wife, his niece Florence as well as Marta and Jimena was supported by four other women. The other seven were in the minority, although Nuria, as the wise Inca woman of the valley, and also Alonso, as a lay Catholic priest, condemned the situation instigated by Miguel’s wife Vittoria. Carmen would be in a bit of a quandary because she saw her role as strengthening the village and representing it to us.

We decided to talk to Alejandra and Carmen. Our buggy didn’t even make it to the gate. The batteries needed power.

While Alejandra relented, Carmen continued to side with the rebellion. She was the mother of my two boys and they were almost in distress from the lack of electricity. What was that?

So, I decided to demonstrate strength. My two assistants with battered machine gun (MPi) went with me to the e-distribution board. Olivia backed us up with her pistol, more symbolically of course. From my point of view, there was no direct danger from the villagers, but they should see how little I trusted them anymore.

The power line to the palazzo had not only been ripped out of the brick distributor with brute force, but the electrical system had also been damaged. It was questionable whether it could ever be repaired again. The Casa was still connected, but as you know, I had to switch off the three generators, so nobody had electricity.

Then Babette’s “Stop!” sounded, followed by a warning shot. Someone had tried to sneak up. Miguel and a woman hurried away. It looked funny, but we didn’t feel like laughing. It was almost like a war. If the escalation continued, deaths were to be expected. While I was considering how to ease the situation, my two pregnant village women came to see us. Florence apologized to me. Her only family members, Uncle Miguel, and Aunt Vittoria, put a lot of pressure on her not to trust us anymore. She had to swear not to speak to us again. But now the situation would have changed. Even Miguel disagreed with his energetic wife on most questions. Vittoria urged everyone to continue the blockade, but Nuria and Alonso were now in charge of the village again.

We accompanied the women to the saloon. Almost all the villagers were seated in the common room; only Miguel and Vittoria were missing. Sula couldn’t be persuaded to secure her MPi. She was counting on a ruse. Most of the time I could trust her instincts. Her determined expression didn’t bode well for people. As Miguel entered, Sula stopped him at gunpoint and finally fired a warning shot on the ground in front of the old man. Miguel was shaking with fear. Babette had to search him. He really did have two long knives with him. Had he planned an attack?

Sula called out to me, “He wanted to kill you. I felt it straight away.” Olivia translated this to the village. Everyone looked embarrassed. Alonso spoke very ramblingly to distract from the conflict, but I just watched the assassin, and that with a drawn pistol. Olivia summed up Alonso’s tirades in a few sentences. “Most people in the village would have taken Vittoria’s advice badly. Miguel would have been obsessed and wanted to cut off the electricity for the strangers in their palace because the village didn’t have one either. It would all have been thoughtless.”

At least I couldn’t think of an apology. “Who’s ready to apologize?” I asked in a firm, almost angry voice. Only five women and Alonso reported. “Okay, then leave it as it is. The energy supply cannot be restored for days or weeks anyway. Miguel destroyed too much.”

Everyone looked startled. They had believed, in their simple thinking, that if they played by the rules we set, we would just turn the power back on and everything would be fine.

“Until everyone in the village has apologized, we will have no more relationships. The water supply will be turned off for you starting tomorrow. My four girls, who had previously helped in the village, plant their own fields or beds for us. If you don’t give us chickens, geese, or goats to breed, we’ll get some by force after one week. This is my last word. I have spoken, your Apunchik.”

Inwardly I had to smile at the last words, but I was fully aware that only a word of power would help in the situation. Olivia had to tell the villagers that only Miguel and Vittoria could end the argument with their apologies, or they would have to leave our valley and walk to the mountain village, where they actually come from and live there in the future.

“Save!” I called. Babette jumped in front of the saloon with her MPi unlocked, Sula threatened the people with her gun. We left the meeting together with Olivia. Actually, nothing had changed, but the villagers had realized that I didn’t let them play with me. They certainly hadn’t realized until now how well my girls could use their weapons. The question of power had been clarified, I was sure of that, even if the previous trust in us had turned into fear.

Leonie and Florence followed us. Together we went to the casa. The five Peruvian women should first talk to each other. I didn’t want to listen to the lengthy palaver. If they found a common position, they should come get me. Surprisingly, it only lasted a few minutes, then Carmen and Olivia came to me. Carmen wanted to apologize and hug me. I deliberately took a step back. She had disappointed me too much. She looked at me a bit confused.

Florence emphasized that as Carmen’s only friend, she put so much pressure on her on behalf of her uncle, which is why Carmen lost all reason. It was only now that they had understood the false game Vittoria and Miguel were playing. It was amazing how quickly the positions of the Indios changed. Actually, they were easy to lead like a lower school class, but alas, something did not correspond to their interest or they were told that it was. So far, I had only developed our relationships according to the principle of ‘carrots’, but now I realized that it didn’t work without ‘sticks’.

In Carmen’s room, my two boys whimpered. I entered the room resolutely without asking Carmen. I picked up a boy and tried to calm him down. Babette took care of the other one. We stood face to face smiling when the boys had calmed down. “Michael, how do you think? Would be a good match for me too, wouldn’t it?” My assistant must have been proud of how quickly she calmed the boy down and spoke to him affectionately.

“You look good with a child, Babette. It suits you, but you know, not this year.”

“We’ll see. Right now, I have a different opinion.” She laughed.

Carmen took Sergio from me, as she said, I still couldn’t tell the boys apart. Babette helped her clean and re-nappy my sons. “Well, are you already thinking differently, Babette?”

“Nope, it does smell, but it’s a miracle. I enjoy helping your little mice. I think I’m catching the having a baby virus right now.”

Of course, Sula played the same ball. “I’ve been infected for a long time, can’t wait.”

“But you can still remember our agreement?”

Babette was in shape. “Yes, there was something..., true, ... but I didn’t sign anything.” Her mocking manner made us laugh, even Carmen also.

Almost casually, Carmen said to me: “Forgive me, please. I stand by you again. You are our apunchik. Leonie and Florence made that very clear to me.” I looked at her steadily, put my hand on her shoulder, but said: “You’ll have to prove that to me, Carmen. You gambled away my trust. In the end you’re on your own if you turn away from Luisa and me. No one in the village will support you, you are not a relative of any of the villagers, and even you’re only half-Indian too. You help me the most when you lovingly raise our two sons. Talk to them, sing to them and be happy. That’s the only way our boys can become optimistic guys.” I brushed off a kiss. I wasn’t ready for that for a long time.

Miguel was waiting in front of the house. Olivia translated that he was sorry for his behaviour, wanted to make amends and would be fully cooperative. “What about your wife, Vittoria?” She would be ill, sorry for the misunderstanding, but couldn’t speak to me at the moment. “Then say hello to her. Nothing will change without her personal apology. Did you really want to hurt me with the knives or kill me?” His twitch betrayed more than the babble that followed. “Miguel, which would have been your death sentence. My assistants would have shot you immediately. You will never take the power in the valley, never. Make that clear to your wife too.”

Olivia had the same harsh tone as she translated. The seventy-year-old stuttered a few words and finally looked down thoughtfully.

“Miguel, if you get closer than two meters to me again, I’ll draw my pistol. You are no longer allowed to enter the palazzo. In the future you will plant potatoes of two different varieties for us in a field here near the road and lay out vegetable beds for us. If you don’t do this, your hut will have no water or electricity.” He wanted to protest, but I said a little violently: “Your wife and you are my enemies. No more word. Be glad we didn’t shoot you yesterday.”

He wanted to argue again, but I just walked away. Olivia left him alone too, nodded in agreement and wrapped her hand around my waist. Sula said the man was seething with anger. It wouldn’t be over yet, which I’m sure she was right about.

Puffs of smoke greeted us behind the palazzo. Luisa cooked and baked together with Cara and Priya. Today we had fresh flatbread with grilled turkey, along with a salad of carrots, beans, and herbs that I didn’t know. We ate outside without plates or cutlery, the bread served as a base. Freshly carved wooden skewers were ready for everyone. Florence and Leonie had accompanied us and of course they were allowed to eat with us. They must have realized immediately that we could deal with the situation better than the village with its quarrelling residents.

Luisa spoke to the two pregnant women. Later my ‘first wife’ informed me that it was safe for her that Florence would again support our positions. She would have let her uncle and especially her evil Aunt Vittoria tempt her, but she would now be fully with us.

In the afternoon, the two women from the village accompanied us to the electricity distribution point on the hillside, about five hundred meters from the village. It was actually built like a transformer house; only there were three distributors with the corresponding measuring devices and the associated main fuse. In addition to my two armed assistants, I also took our electrician Priya and my soon-to-be partner Isabella. Leonie showed us on the way that five coca trees had been completely harvested here. “Vittoria!” Leonie said when she pointed to each tree individually.

The column with the cables to the palazzo had been torn from its ground anchors and tipped sideways against the wall. The strong cables were simply torn off at the stripped points. We were able to temporarily fix the column, but it still had to be anchored with concrete. Priya did exemplary. She asked for the main switch, shutting off all power completely. Then she loosened the six individual wires. We had forced the severed cables back into the house through the openings, but they were too short to clip. Now I was even angrier with Miguel.

We locked the building and went to the village. On the spur of the moment, I had Sula and Babette storm Miguel’s hut with my gun drawn. The two old people sat on their beds, pale as death. On the other side were seven baskets piled one on top of the other with vegetables, potatoes, or coca leaves. In the living and cooking area it looked even worse. At least eight slaughtered chickens, two turkeys and lots of eggs were ready for processing. Two people never required this.

The hoarders had to put everything in front of the hut under my screams. By now almost all the villagers had gathered. Stunned, they watched what the two rebels had accumulated. It even smelled from a basket. The mutton began to rot. I forbade any help for the two old people. Florence had brought in Carmen to translate. Vittoria was supposed to explain her actions to the village but couldn’t. It gradually became a tribunal. Many village women threatened and scolded. Miguel seemed ashamed; Vittoria railed back.

I continued to search the house with Isabella. Under the bed we found twelve bottles of wine and a few screw-top glasses filled with homemade brandy. I called Miguel to me with a roar. He also had to take things outside. That was the last straw; the people got crazy. Due to the rainfall and the flooding, the production of wine and liquor was greatly reduced, and rationing had been mutually agreed for weeks.

The villagers distributed the baskets among themselves under the direction of Leonie. Two baskets with Coca, potatoes, and vegetables and four slaughtered chickens were provided for the palazzo. The rotten mutton was the only thing left with Vittoria. She didn’t fight anymore. Apparently, she had understood that her position in the village would be damaged for years, maybe forever. While Miguel had tears in his eyes, she still looked defiant.

On the way back my dear young ladies chatted away. So much unreasonableness as they had seen, there was only scorn and mockery, no understanding at all. Carmen told me on the occasion that two village women had threatened to hit Vittoria and Miguel with larger stones if they did it again, as is customary in some Indio villages. Of course, I asked our translator to prevent that.

Unnoticed, I pulled Isabella back to me. Her gaze was questioning and anticipating. “Tomorrow, Isa - yes, or no?”

“Yes, gladly. I’m looking forward to it.” She snuggled into me.

“It’s not for sure yet, just only if we have power tomorrow.” She nodded and rubbed my chest with her left hand. Her hand stayed on my stomach and she let her fingers play a bit. It was a completely unfamiliar feeling for me, but more than pleasant, downright beautiful.

Holding Isabella’s hand, we hurriedly walked to the transition of the power supply from the overhead line to the underground cable. Here we had to gain about half a meter tomorrow in order to be able to reconnect the cable to the distributor. It wasn’t as easy as I initially thought. The underground cable had to be dug up to two meters and lay again. At the end point, the three metre high mast had to be moved by almost two metres. That meant there was a lot of digging and pouring to be done. In the new course of the overhead line, at least three strong trees had to be felled and overgrowth under the line removed. A hard piece of work was ahead of us tomorrow.

In the evening I instructed Priya and Babette how to operate the emergency generator, what is the maximum that can be switched on and how to switch between different areas. They were already excited when I switched off the diesel engine and switched on all distributions. Now they had to prove whether they had understood everything. Babette repeated the steps in their order aloud, Priya confirmed and carried them out. The first attempt succeeded. As an award, they were allowed to switch on the lamps of the large hall today.

Cara only cooked a soup, thick noodles with turkey pre-grilled for lunch. Luisa had already soaked the noodles in cold water so they cooked faster. After twenty minutes there was food. The large dishwashing machine was quickly loaded and the plates and spoons cleaned in quick succession. It wasn’t completely hygienic, but it was better than just rinsing it off with cold water.

After dinner I gave a little speech, as I had become more and more used to doing, praising Priya and Babette for providing electricity in the evening, Sula and Babette for maybe saving my life and disarming Miguel, reporting on the overall situation in the village. Then I motivated everyone except Esther and Zarina to help me relocate the power supply tomorrow.

It had been really hard work, but around 2pm we proudly went to lunch. The power connection to the palazzo was restored, even if the foundation of the mast had not yet hardened. With supports made of forked branches of different lengths, it would even be able to withstand a light storm.