The Fountains of Silence: A Novel

Daniel and his family have dinner with Shep Van Dorn, the U.S. public affairs officer for the U.S. embassy in Spain, and Van Dorn’s son, Nick. Shep introduces Daniel to Ben Stahl, a reporter.

At first, Ben mocks Daniel as the privileged son of an oil baron who has an expensive camera and dreams about winning a Pulitzer. Then, Daniel reveals he’s the finalist for the Magnum prize, which impresses both Ben and Nick.

Another oral history excerpt follows this chapter, this time from William K. Hitchcock, the special assistant to the U.S. Ambassador in Madrid from 1956-1960. Hitchcock discusses Spain’s willingness to allow military bases to be built in Spain as part of an “unexpressed” desire to help Spain’s “political rehabilitation” and “help burnish Franco’s image” (45). However, Hitchcock notes, many in the United States were strongly against the deal between Spain and the U.S.

Puri works in the orphanage and “longs to be a good Spaniard, to support the noble country El Caudillo fought so hard to build” (47). The children who live at the Inclusa arrive in many ways. Some of the babies are abandoned anonymously with no information, though others have notes pinned to their clothes or blankets.

Some babies are brought “in through the back door” by the nuns or doctors (48). When Puri asked about them once, she was scolded for her curiosity. As Puri leaves for the day, a woman on the sidewalk accosts her, asking about her baby, who was born two days before.

At dinner, Ben repeatedly asks Daniel to capture the mood of the room in one word, telling him that “accurate reporting” requires “the perfect word” which “captures every subtlety. The perfect word shows true comprehension” (49-50).

Nick tells Daniel he should rent a car so that they can be own their own; he thinks that with Daniel’s connections, they will all have a grand time. Daniel is confused, but Nick explains that obviously, Daniel’s father has connections: Mr. Matheson will be meeting with Franco to close the oil deal.

Daniel’s mother asks Daniel if he wants to go to Valencia with her and Daniel’s father, or stay at the hotel. She then asks Ana for a variety of services, including showing Daniel where the camera shop is. Not overly excited about the other errands, Daniel is eager to develop his pictures: “The sooner his pictures are developed, the sooner he’ll see if he has a contest entry, a worthwhile story of his own, and—most important—a potential exit from oil” (54).

On the elevator, Daniel takes a picture of the elevator’s mirrored walls, which reflect Ana from multiple angles. He meets Paco Lobo, whom Ana introduces as the “hotel’s most cherished guest” because he supports “two orphan girls” and has “recently adopted an entire village” (56).

Daniel asks Ana about working at the hotel, but she quickly changes the subject and asks about his camera. Ana introduces him to the bellboy, Carlitos, and to Lorenza, an attractive maid who reminds Daniel of Laura Beth.

Rafa asks Julia if he can borrow a suit for Fuga to wear as a matador. Julia resists, but she knows Rafa is unstoppable: “He watches, quietly gathers pieces, and puts things together. But many pieces are still missing. The Crows carry pieces of her brother in their pocket. And he is desperate to win them back” (62). Rafa explains that Fuga was the bravest of all the boys in their home. Even his name, Fuga, means “escape”; each time he ran away, the directors punished him, but he never stopped trying to escape. Fuga helped Rafa find his courage, and Rafa feels he owes Fuga a debt.

Julia agrees to ask her boss, but only if Rafa will warn Ana again about the danger that could befall “a gorgeous young woman surrounded by a fairy tale” (62). Rafa says that Ana is smarter than both of them and does not need his advice. He reminds Julia that what happened to Ana the previous year wasn’t her fault. Julia knows Rafa is right, but wonders if Ana is hiding something. Both Rafa and Julia realize that of course Ana is hiding something; in Franco’s Spain, everyone hides something.

Ana and Daniel go to the camera shop, which is run by Ana’s friend Miguel. While Miguel is impressed with Daniel’s camera, Ana is both appalled and saddened to discover that the camera is worth $300, or 18,000 pesetas. The camera is worth more than most Spaniards can earn in five years, enough to eliminate Ana’s family’s debts and allow them to live in financial freedom.

Daniel shows Miguel and Ana some of the pictures Daniel took in Texas, including one of a tornado as well as a photo of a party. Ana notes “the vibrancy of freedom” it depicts, where people are “happy instead of lonely” (67).

At the orphanage, Puri plays with the children, who have been taken outside for sun exposure to prevent rickets. Puri is proud of the “rigorous” medical care offered at the Inclusa. She has also overhead some of the doctors “lament that mortality rates of newborns in Spain are particularly high” (69). One of the other women was reprimanded for asking why Spain doesn’t use the new polio vaccine.

Puri looks at the children and admires their beauty. She wishes she were beautiful like her cousins Julia and Ana, but is also grateful that unlike her cousins, her parents were not “Spanish Republicans” who, Puri learned in school, “killed many priests during the war” (71).