Caray, Caray!

Beginning countdown 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...and five minutes of a montage of dramatic scenes presumably we'll see in future episodes: lots of gunshots and smoking revolvers, horses at full gallop, men slapping women, women slapping men, women crying, a woman falling into a river looking like she is drowning, men vowing they love women, men vowing they'll never trust another woman again. More scenes of a pretty girl bathing in a river water up to the neck. Presumably the heroine. (A familiar shot to fans of Heridas...)

The novela opens and It's dawn. Don Alvaro Montellano is in a rage. Dressed all in black he rides up to his hacienda and dismounts, pistol in one hand, whip in another. He goes from room to room looking for his wife, Soledad. He storms into a chapel where a young boy is placing a vase of callaliliess on the altar. He waves his gun in the air. Frightened, the boy drops the vase and it smashes on the chapel floor. [I think this means something bad is going to happen.] A little later, a gunshot is heard. The boy runs away to fields and finds the manager. "The owner has killed the Lady!" "I heard a shot, he killed Senora Soledad!" he cries hysterically. The manager (whose name I am not sure of, so I'll call him bandana guy) grabs him and shakes him. He doesn't believe him but goes to find Don Alvaro.

Meanwhile Don Alvaro is in a room with his spouse Soledad both afraid of him and angry. "I want you alive so that you can pay for your betrayal!" he says. There's a bullet hole in a portrait of her on the wall. Don Alvaro has a letter crumpled in his hand. It's a love letter from a guy named Jose Gomez who works at the hacienda and it says as soon as he can make some money he will come and get her and THEIR daughter. He says, as soon as he can he will get her out of that prison and it's jailer [verdugo=hangman, executioner?] Alvaro Montellano.

Alvaro is in a rage not only because Soledad has been unfaithful but also because he thinks that Alina (who we haven't met yet) is not his daughter. Soledad tries to defend herself but Alvaro isn't listening. She tells him that she is tired of his continual jealousy and suspicion of her and is offended that he would think that Alina is not his daughter. He grabs her arm and a piece of jewelry falls on the floor. [an earring? a charm from a bracelet?] He yells at her that she is Jose Gomez' lover and who knows how many more...and he is sure Alina isn't his daughter. Soledad says he's crazy.


Meanwhile, somewhere else, another couple are in a panic. The woman, Mariana is telling the guy, Jose, "Why did you have to write a letter!" "You shouldn't have done it. My brother will kill you!" Jose says "because I needed to tell you that I was going away and to wait for me to come back for you and our daughter." Mariana is shouting. "How are your going to abandon me? Me...and your daughter?!" "Don't leave me!" "Don't go!"Jose's plan is to go to El Norte and make some dolares after which he can come home and they will live happily ever after. Mariana wants to go with him. "No, no! The crossing is too dangerous" says Jose. "Wait for me in Mexico." Mariana tells him that she'll leave right away for Mexico [City]. They are all lovey dovey kissy kissy again.

Alvaro locks Soledad up in the room, which has Spanish style barred windows. It's like a jail cell. She begs him to let her out. Through the window she sees him grab some string or wire? and hold it like he's going to garrotte somebody with it. He gets back on his horse and rides away.

The scene changes to the city of Puebla where we get the slow feet to head shot of the pretty young Alina who is looking in a mirror. Someone calls her name and she turns around in slo mo so we can see her face.

[Editorial comment: Ludowika Paleta is not what I would call beautiful. She doesn't have the model good looks of Jacky Bracamontes nor Africa Zavala. I think she's cute, maybe elfin? with a button nose and kind of unusual blue eyes. They are so light colored she looks like she could play a blind person. I can see why she was a child star. ]

Alina is getting ready for a goodbye party for a friend, Sofia. She lives with her godparents who arefriendss of her mother's in Puebla. The wife, Blanca brings in a bright yellow dress which has just arrived for her. Blanca says that she's going to be the prettiest one at the party. Alina says no, the prettiest is going to be Sofia because it's her party. The party is to celebrate her going away to school. Theyreminiscee about Alina's going away party back in Veracruz when she came to study in Puebla. Alina says yes, and remember how my Pop got into a big fight with Mom? Fortunately, he went back to being his same old sweet lovable self.... [ha ha ha] I miss my mom and dad, Alina says.

Back in Veracruz at the Hacienda, Alvaro sees some workers standing around chatting and he imagines they are talking about how Soledad cheated on him. It stokes his rage. He keeps going and says I always knew this would happen. Suddenly a woman comes up to him. It's Alfonsina, the maid. "Are you sure that the letter was written by Jose for Soledad?" He asks her. "Si, Patron, she says. "Jose gave it to me to give to your wife." Alfonsina asks tentatively if the Patron has killed his wife. "No, but you'd like it if I did, wouldn't you?" It seems pretty clear that the two have some history. Alfonsina protests and Don Alvaro dismisses her and rides on. Alfonsina looks back at him and thought bubbles: "Your jealousy is your worst enemy, Patron."

Back in Puebla, Alina is talking to her madrina, Blanca, thanking her for taking care of her in Puebla. She remarks that she has not been able to reach the hacienda inperjuresz by phone and nobody has called her from there.

It looks likemarinaa and Jose have just had a last roll in the hay.marinaa brings out some pictures from their little girl's birthday. Her name is marianita and she's a real cutie. [But hey, she looks like she's about 3 or 4 years old. How long have they been hiding this relationship anyway?!] More kissing.Suddenly, there's a shout from outside. "It's my brother!, "Quick! let's hide in the closet!" They hide and in comes Don Alvaro kicking the door down. Marinana is his sister and this must be Jose's place since Don Alvaro has come looking for him since he still thinks that he and Soledad are the ones fooling around. Alvaro is about to open the closet when he hears someone shout for him outside. It's bandana guy. He comes running up and says what are you doing Alvaro? Put that gun away! he tells Alvaro says that Jose is no longer working in the Canefields. Alvaro says, "then let's organize a search party for him. Quickly!"Mariana sends Jose out the back door. He gets on his horse and heads down the road at a gallop. Alvaro takes a few shots at him but he gets away.

In Puebla, Alina still can't get through to the hacienda.Blancha says not to worry, it's probably just the rain. Alina is worried but Blanca says she's just thinking about what her father would say if he knew she was going to a party at night. "Also the trip," says Alina. She expresses doubt about going...[Apparently she has a vacation to Cancun also planned with her friends Blanca gets mad and says that she can't remain a prisoner forever and that she should get out and enjoy herself.

InVeracruz, Soledad is getting hysterical, holed up in her cell and the phones aren't working. Mariana talks to the housekeeper Adela. She finds out that Alvaro is fighting with Soledad and still doesn't know about her and Jose. "I am going back to Mexico to stay with my cousin (Malena?) "Take good care of Soledad." she says. "Tell them to get the coach ready for me to go to the station."

Alvaro is in the local bar doing tequila shots. He is having an orange flashback of when he was a little boy and his mom cheated on his dad and left him. His dad tells him "this won't happen to you son, you'll find a wife who respects you." Bandana guy sits down at the table with Don Alvaro and pulls the bottle away from him and tells him he should stop drinking. Alvaro pulls it back and says this is a big deal, since his father too was cuckolded. Bandana guy tries to argue with him that maybe the letter wasn't meant for Soledad. There is no mention of her name in the letter. No, Alvaro is sure they were lovers. The thing that hurts him most is that Alina isn't his daughter.Bandana guy says he needs proof. Alvaro thinks the proof is that Jose took off running. Also Alvaro has another orange flashback of himself and Soledad eloping to get married. Soledad's brother is running after them yelling that Alvaro is making a mistake, that someday Soledad was going todeceivee him just like shedeceivedd her father. Bandana guy suggests the letter might be for someone else in his household. Maybe it could be for Mariana? Alvaro shakes his head in disbelief.

Mariana asks Adela if her brother is back yet. No (he's still drowning his sorrows at the bar). She gives a letter to Adela to give to Alvaro. She tells Adela to make sure that Soledad has something to eat. She pauses and says, "Tell Soledad.....no, don't tell her anything." She leaves for the station.

Alina has put on her party dress and is sitting in front of the mirror. She thought bubbles about the romantic possibilities of the night to come. Switch to tall, handsome Emilio, shirtless getting ready for the same party while his runty, sickly unshaven brother Angel is watching. They exchange something like this: Angel: "All the women are gaga over you. Nobody ever looks at me." Emilio: "Angel, you know I don't like it when you put yourself down." Emilio thought bubbles that maybe he'll meet the woman of his dreams tonight.

Now we are at the party. Sofia, the guest of honor stands up to a microphone asks Emilio to sing a song. He's wearing a military uniform, dress whites, I guess. He sings a jazzy, classic ballad with a complete orchestra just as Alina walks in in her pretty yellow dress. It's love at first sight although she isn't the only woman in the audience swooning. Alina daydreams about them dancing together. Alina asks Blanca who he is. "Why he's Emilio Valtierra, son of a rich and important family in Puebla."

Back at the Bar in Veracruz, Bandana guy and Don Alvaro are still smoking, drinking and talking. Alvaro is starting to show the results of the empty booze bottle. Waving his cigarette around he says that the letter couldn't be for Mariana, she's too decent to run away with the likes of Jose Gomez. Also the letter talks about a daughter and Mariana has none. The only woman with a daughter in his household is Soledad. Bandana guy is still skeptical. He reproaches Alvaro for treating his wife like he treats other people [badly, I would guess]. Alvaro starts to get mad and Bandana guy talks off his hat and shows his bandana underneath. He apologizes. Alvaro goes back to feeling sorry for himself.

Sofia sees Alina outside on the terrace. Alina says she just went outside to get some air. Emilio pops in to tell Sofia he's leaving and sees Alina and stops dead in his tracks. Suddenly he's not leaving. Sofia hands Alina a shawl and warns her to be careful, that Emilio is a little wild. They chit chat while staring and smiling at eachother.

Adelea takes food to Soledad. Soledad tells Adela she's not hungry. She must get to Puebla to talk to her daughter.Adelea tells her not to go, it's too late to travel. Adela says to help her pack a suitcase, she's going to leave in the morning.

Back at the party, more dewy eyes and staring between Alina and Emilio. Emilio wants to know when he can see her again. She explains that she's going to school in Puebla but that her real home is in Vera Cruz. And she's going to Cancun with some friends. "What a coincidence says Emilio, I'm going to Cancun too...!"

Emilio's sickly brother Angel is at the party. In contrast to his brother wearing his manly uniform, Angel is wearing suit that looks too big for him, and a dress shirt with a foppish looking cravat around his neck. He bids Sofia goodbye and says he's feeling ill and needs to leave.


Bandana man is back at the house talking toAdelea, he has brought Don Alvaro home to sleep off his drunk. Adela is concerned about what the Patron will do when he finds out that Mariana has left for Mexico. And what about Soledad, Bandana man asks. Adela pauses and tells him that she has left for Puebla. (Actually, she's still at the house packing a suitcase and waiting to leave the next day). Bandana man thinks that this is really bad. It makes Soledad look guilty.



Back inside the main house, Alvaro isn't sleeping off his drunk. He's wide awake and fully dressed. He takes the portrait of Soledad off the wall (the one with the bullet hole in it) and smashes it frame and all. He pours himself another drink. The flashbacks about his Dad and Soledad's brother's words come back. He shakes the letter around some more and throws it on the floor.

Soledad is alone in another room. She vows that she has had enough of crazy Alvaro's jealousy and she shakes a photo of them together at a happier time.

Cut to another scene. Two women are talking. One of them, Telma is walking around sulking and demanding to know where Emilio is, like he stood her up. The other woman, who is her aunt, snarkily says that her relationship with Emilio isn't going anywhere. As Telma stomps off, the Aunt says, "she's never going to marry Emilio Valtierra."

Back to Emilio and Angel. Angel is trying on Emilio's uniform jacket. He looks like a hippy with a nehru jacket. The briefly discuss his illness. He has some kind of mystery bacteria which has infected his lungs. Emilio is confident that Angel will get better and with time and exercisee, he get stronger again. Angel is not so sure but he bids his brother goodnight and hands him the jacket.

It's the early the next morning, at the hacienda. Soledad is struggling down some steep stairs with a huge suitcase. At precisely the same time, Don Alvaro comes outside and spies her and shouts at her. "Soledad, where are you going?"

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