Explore "The Nine Guardians" by Rosario Castellanos on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The next stop is Palo María, a cattle farm belonging to my father's first cousins. There are three of them: Aunt Romelia, the solitary one who shuts herself up in her room whenever she has migraine; Aunt Matilde, a spinster who blushes when she's spoken to; and Aunt Francisca.
They've lived on the ranch for years, ever since they were orphaned and Aunt Francisca took charge of the household. They seldom come to our town. When they do, we watch them ride in side-saddle on their three white mules, twirling the dark silk parasols that shade them from the sun. They stay with us several days, visit their doctor, order dresses from the seamstress, and when they go calling they listen (Aunt Romelia with delight, Aunt Matilde shocked, Aunt Francisca haughtily) to whatever gossip happens to have Comitán by the ears. When they go they give Mario and me a silver peso each. They warn us to be good, and then we hear no more of them except for brief and infrequent letters.