Chapter 3 Episode 2

[Chapter 2]

"Daughter, Sofia, are you in your room?" Doña Felicia asked as she knocked on her daughter's door.

"W-Wait a minute!" Doña heard her daughter's voice in her room.

It's nine o'clock on Saturday morning. Her daughter always keeps locking herself in her room so she thought of inviting her daughter to shop at the market in the neighboring town. So he wanted them to leave immediately so that they would not have lunch on the road.

"Sofia, my dearest daughter, what are you doing there?" Doña would have spoken again but the closed door opened.

"Sorry, mother. I just fixed something. What is your intention?" Sofia asked politely.

"Can you come with me to the market, Sofia. I also want to take you for a walk because I know you were soaked in last week's activities. " Sofia smiled. "Then... what time are we leaving?" She would almost jump for joy because her mother would take her for a walk. At last she could breathe fresh air.

"We're leaving at nine-thirty, so hurry up and get dressed so that the intense sunlight doesn't catch up with us later," explained her mother.

"Yes, copy! Wait a minute mom, I'll just dress up!" Doña Felicia, on the other hand, smiled because she was watching her daughter who was very happy to be able to escape today.

Sofia turned around and Doña Felicia closed the door of her daughter's room. She also went to the large room where she and her husband, Don Ireneo, slept.

"SELIN!" Doña Felicia calls a maid who is mopping the kitchen floor. Sofia and her mother are currently opposite the kitchen door.

When Selin heard her boss's voice, she first squeezed the rag and then hung it outside. She also hurriedly washed her hands and immediately went to Doña Felicia. "Y-Yes? What can I serve, Doña Felicia?" She put her wet hand behind her back.

"Get dressed, join my daughter and me in the market," Doña Felicia calmly ordered. "Yes, Doña Felicia!" its observance. She immediately went to her room and got dressed.

Sofia was wearing a yellow baro and black saya. She braided her waist-length hair with a silver spindle and had a heart-shaped necklace and a white round pearl on it. She also wore a blue bracelet made of smooth wood and Felipe even gave it to her when they were children. It also has an engraved name so this thing makes it even more special to her. Because of her dress, her complexion was so dazzling that it grabbed the audience's attention.

Doña Felicia, on the other hand, is wearing a blue baro and cream of white saya which makes it even more beautiful.

Don Ireneo was not at home because he went to a rich businessman in Laguna to negotiate because he wanted to expand his family's businesses.

Less than ten minutes later, Selin came out of her room and showed up to her bosses. She is currently wearing a green baro and yellow skirt. "Come on!" She smiles at them.

"Manang Nelia, you will take care of the whole Hacienda Monteclara while we are away," Doña Felicia instructed the butler of their family. She nodded in response.

Doña Felicia has already prepared their fancy carriage with their driver who is almost forty years old. When it was ready, the driver put the three on board and continued on their way.

FIFTEEN minutes later, Sofia's heart almost dropped as she peered out the window of the carriage to its right. Sofia and her mother are next to each other and Selin is opposite them who is talking to Doña Felicia.

He could not follow what his mother and doncella were talking about because he could not take his eyes off the place he was looking at. His eyes almost popped out while his jaw almost dropped.

He is currently overlooking a wide and clean river. "Son, that is the Dumacaa River. The cleanest and widest river here in Tayabas, "explained his mother. "We are currently crossing the Puente de Malagonlong," he continued to his son.

Puente de Malagonlong is a stone arch bridge with strong columns and a total length of 445 feet (136 m). The first arch has the same height and width of 36 feet (11 m); the second arch also has a height and width of 33 feet (10 m); the fourth arch is 30 feet (9.1 m) wide and the fifth arch is 18 feet (5.5 m) wide. The bridge has a carriage of about 6 m (20 feet) and six small balconies where modern -day tourists can stop.

Currently, it has become a bridge for tourists instead of for the highway after a new bridge was built like this. It is currently owned and operated by the local Tayabas municipal unit.

The bridge was built between the years 1840 and 1850 under the leadership of Father Antonio Mateos, a Franciscan friar who served as Ministro del Pueblo of Tayabas. In an account about a Spanish traveler Juan Alvarez Guerra, the bridge was built in 1841 under the administration of Gobernadorcillo Don Joaquin Ortega. The bridge was built by the people of Tayabas through forced labor. It is estimated that 100,000 blocks of adobe were used to build the bridge. An inscription on the bridge indicates that it was inaugurated in 1850 under the term of Gobernadorcillo Don Julian S. Francisco. And under this historic bridge is the Dumacaa River. The boundary of such a river is the Bay of Tayabas (Tayabas Bay) and its end is the ocean.

"I can't believe there is such a scene, mother! This place is so beautiful! " Sofia's astonished response to her mother. Selin smiled as well.

Soon they crossed the bridge and about half an hour later they reached the town market.

"You are just HERE, son and Selin. I will just go to the meats so that your clothes will not be stained with blood, "Doña Felicia instructed the two.

"Let me know if my son disobeys my order, Selin," he added. Selin nodded in response.

Sofia's mother smiled and turned her back on them with the backpack. Selin was also holding a bag full of fruits and vegetables.

Doña Felicia knew that there was a possibility that her son would travel here to the market so she did not allow her son to go for a walk because she was afraid that she might not find her son again.

Sofia's shoulder was swollen and numb. They looked for a tree to shelter because of the warming environment. The weather was hot and there were few clouds in the sky. Busy insignificant needle people all around the market. Some shoppers also belong to high social status.

The market has two columns, one on the right and one on the left. The center is a wide road through which carts of goods pass as well as wagons and wagons.

Sofia and Selin are in the right row now. Sofia was so bored from her seat, she was also blowing her red fan because of the heat.

Sofia sighed before speaking, "Why else would my mother and I come here if I can't go for a walk either." Sofia sighed at her doncella.

"Señorita Sofia, just understand your mother. I'm sure he only thinks about your safety and another thing, we don't know the ins and outs of this market, "Selin explained to his boss.

Selin Asunción is a young woman about Sofia's age and has only been serving the Monteclara family for five years. He is the son of Manang Nelia who is the butler of their family. They even came from a town in Cavite. Selin treated her boss, Señorita Sofia, kindly and like a sister. Moreover, they also always agree on everything.

He also knew what was in his master's heart. They know how to keep secrets from each other so that Don Ireneo and Doña Felicia would not know.