Chapter 4: Ángel the Handyman

Ángel is the one that does not naturally belong in the group as he has not been born in the village but has arrived with his parents from nearby Antequera, a town some 50 kilometres to the north and very difficult to get to due to narrow dangerous winding roads. An old market town, it can lay claim to a large castle, several pre-historic burial sites and the nearby El Torcal. The Lovers Rock dominates the town and is also known as the Montaña Del Indio, due to the resemblance of an Indian facial profile.

Ángel lives in a large farm building close to the railway linking the village to the capital of the province. The farm is old and slowly falling into disrepair, but has many hidden values to young Ángel who likes to construct things. He wants to become an engineer when he finishes college. Fascinated by how things work, he his always planning one project or other.

The job of constructing two make belief guitars for the Carnaval group he belongs to fades into insignificance compared to the stage scenery he has created for the school where he studies. He is working on finalising the stage setup for the end of term play which will be his last before entering the real world and hopefully gain a place at the university to study engineering.

A big person, strong and with a generous head of hair, he has designs on getting to know the young beautiful girl living next door to the farm. She lives in a large house with turrets and a clock tower. Her front garden is part of a public right of way used for religious processions when the local patron saint is carried across the close by railway lines, around this suburb and returned to the tiny chapel where she will rest for another year.

Another thing that attracts Ángel to the girl is that her family are butchers, specialising in best quality beef imports from around the world and for distribution to many local markets and butcher shops. Ángel himself is a sucker for a large Rib Eye steak with all the trimmings. A match made in heaven he thinks. Now he just has to win first prize, and not just at the Carnaval.