Ashes of Vengeance

Deep in the heart of the Chaco forest, in that inhospitable region in the north of the province of Salta, Argentina, populated by indigenous peoples of various ethnicities, where the sun beats down mercilessly and the white wind carries dust of bones, myths and forgotten stories, lies the place called 'Telak Mok' in the Wichí Mataco language, which means 'Grandma's Ashes'.

              Its name evokes uneasiness and fear, because there, under the shade of an old carob tree, rest not only the remains of an elderly Wichí Mataco woman but also the remains of the cold dish of revenge that she slowly savoured before dying.

              The locals say that every time a summer storm hits the area, a headless ghost appears, looking for a hat that she lost.

              It all began many years ago, on a scorching January afternoon, when Nuhaya, an elderly Mataco woman, was struggling between life and death. Her body was battered, bent like a bush whipped by the northern wind, and the pain cut her breath like invisible knives. She knew she was running out of time, but before she left this world, she wanted to fulfill one last wish: to reach Yelaj, the village where her children and grandchildren lived. There, a respected shaman had the power to heal sick bodies and broken spirits, and Nuhaya hoped he would ease her suffering. However, reaching Yelaj was nearly impossible in her condition.

              After walking for hours across what seemed like endless terrain, she found shelter under a carob tree. The tree’s gnarled, twisted roots rose from the ground like bony fingers, providing her with a makeshift seat. Exhausted and too weak to continue, she let herself fall into that wooden embrace, hoping some traveler would find her and take pity on her.

              Hours passed, and the oppressive midday heat was replaced by the stifling afternoon breeze. Just when Nuhaya thought no one would appear, she saw a cloud of dust in the distance, announcing the arrival of a rickety truck. When the vehicle stopped in front of her, her heart quickened with a spark of hope. Experidion Sandalio Anaquín, the foreman of the Los Chilotes ranch, stepped out with his usual air of superiority. He was a tall, bony man, with sun-tanned skin and lips stained green from chewing coca leaves. Around his neck a sweat-soaked handkerchief gleamed, and on his forehead rested his most prized possession: a chaqueño hat, made of rawhide, with the initials “E.S.A.” delicately engraved in cursive. The hat, inherited from his grandfather, was his symbol of status and power. Unlike his ancestors, Experidion had forged his own law in the forest, a law in which the weak were not worth a second of his time.

              "—Amtena. Chi wo ya —Nuhaya murmured a greeting in her language. Good morning. How are you? It was like a whisper that faded into the wind because she spoke with the little strength she had left.

              Experidion's eyes scanned the old woman from head to toe with disdain. The gleam of contempt reflected in his pupils, and a twisted smile crossed his face. Without bothering to reply, he spat a greenish spit that missed Nuhaya’s cheek by inches. The viscous liquid landed in the sand, a symbol of what she represented to him: nothing.

—Take me... to Yelaj—Nuhaya pleaded with a broken voice.

The foreman snorted and, without even speaking a word to her, adjusted the load, got back into the truck, and sped away in fury, kicking up a cloud of dust that enveloped the old woman, choking her. The engine roared, and the vehicle drove off, leaving only an echo of indifference and scorn in the air. As the dust cloud settled around her and the sound of the engine faded away, Nuhaya felt a spark ignite inside her. It was a dark spark, born of resentment and humiliation, that soon transformed into something more: the certainty that she had to respond to that act with the only weapon she had left, the “tayij,” the posthumous revenge of the ahat, the spirits of the dead. The old woman closed her eyes and, with hot words loaded with hatred, cast her curse upon him:

—May death in the white wind come for you... and may your bones scatter on the earth like sand in the river! May the forest devour you and spit you out again and again into the earth! You will never find rest, doomed to wander, searching for your head and your hat!

That night, Nuhaya died beneath the carob tree, completely alone, with the dust of humiliation still clinging to her skin and the words of the curse stuck to her lips, frozen in a scream of pain and fury. Her family found her body at dawn, stiff and cold like marble, twisted by the last worms of pain. Fulfilling her wish, they gathered her ashes and buried them at the foot of the carob tree, giving the place the name 'Telak Mok': Grandmother's Ashes.

However, the story did not end with Nuhaya's death.

A few days after Nuhaya's burial, Experidion Sandalio Anaquín was driving his truck on a road near the area. He had completely forgotten about the old woman, but he didn’t understand why she kept appearing in his dreams: her wrinkled face, her sickly yellow eyes, the creaking of her old bones, and the words of her greeting echoing in his mind. And then something strange happened. That day, the steering wheel began to vibrate, and an icy wind blew through the windows, making him shudder. He saw a flock of crows appear out of nowhere, circling overhead, flying around the vehicle and over his head. The birds cawed deafeningly, as if announcing an ill omen. Somehow, the steering wheel slipped from his hands and jerked violently to the side. The truck skidded and rolled down a steep ravine. Metal crunched, glass shattered, and everything went silent in that harsh land, scarred by injustice and historical neglect.

When the ranch workers arrived at the scene of the accident, they found the wrecked truck. But something was missing. Experidion's body lay crushed under the wreckage, but his head was nowhere to be found. They searched for days, even bringing in tracking dogs, but they found no trace of the foreman’s head. And the strangest thing of all: the hat, his prized hat, was missing as well.

Since then, locals and hunters passing by Telak Mok on stormy nights have reported seeing an ahat, a wandering ghost, roaming aimlessly, with its body hunched forward as if searching for something.

Some say that it appears behind people and in a hoarse voice asks them:

—Haven't you seen my hat? It has the letters “E.S.A.” engraved on it... without it, I cannot rest.

And they say the spirit continues searching for his hat and his head, unable to find peace. Nuhaya's tayij was fulfilled, as always happens with curses uttered with true hatred. The revenge, cold as the earth covering the old woman’s ashes, was served in due time.

Because revenge, after all, is a dish best served cold, and when it arrives, it leaves nothing uneaten."