The voice belonged to Joaquim Lacerda, owner of the quinta de Santo António, an average coffee farm of 320 hectares, with around eighty forced laborers.
Joaquim was a little over fifty years old. His hair was graying, his beard was neat, his clothes simple but clean. He was neither one of the richest nor one of the most powerful. He was a man who survived on a land in debt, calculating every expense, every harvest, every possible loss.
The other buyers laughed. Seven cents for this woman they considered unusable. In their eyes, Joaquim was becoming senile.
The auctioneer, relieved not to have to return the goods, struck the hammer. Benedita was sold.
Joaquim climbed onto the platform, took the chain attached to his ankle and took it away. She followed him without speaking, her expression blank.
They walked three kilometers to the quinta. Joaquim was walking on his old bay horse. Benedita followed on foot, chained, her feet bleeding on the dirt road.
When they arrived, the sun was setting. The sky was tinged with orange and purple. Joaquim dismounted, tied him up, then led Benedita straight to the barn.
An unexpected proposal
The barn was a large wooden building where tools, coffee bags and a few animals were stored. Joaquim closed the door, lit an kerosene lamp, then sat down on a stool.
He observed Benedita for a long time before asking a simple question:
“You know how to read? “
She didn’t answer.
He tried again:
“You know how to fight? “
This time, something flashed in his eyes. Almost nothing, but enough for Joaquim to notice.
He went to get a large hunting blade, held it by the metal part and stretched the handle towards it. Benedita didn’t take it. She looked at him suspiciously.
Joaquim then placed the blade on the ground, between them, and stepped back.
He explained to her that he didn’t want to hurt her or send her to the fields. He had another plan, but he needed her to trust him a little, at least for tonight.w
He then told her his story. Ten years earlier, he had had an only son, Vicente, an intelligent and courageous boy. One day, on their way back from the city, they were attacked by bandits. Vicente tried to defend his father and was stabbed in the chest. He had died in Joaquim’s arms.
Three years later, Joaquim’s wife died of fever. He remained alone, with his land, his pain and a debt of 12 contos de reis to Baron de Araújo, the most powerful man in the region.
If he didn’t pay before the end of the year, he would lose the property.
Baron de Araújo’s tournament
Joaquim then explained the opportunity that could change everything. The baron had a daughter, Eduarda, aged twenty-two. Unlike other women in her community, she loved riding horses, hunting, fighting and betting.
Every year, she organized a tournament on her father’s property. Fighters from all over the region came to compete: boxing, freestyle wrestling and other forms of combat. The winner won 100 contos of reis.
This sum would be enough to pay Joaquim’s debt, restore the quinta and allow him to hold on for years.
But Joaquim didn’t know how to fight. He was old, weakened, with no real luck.
He then told Benedita what he had seen in her: not a useless woman, but a fighter. A force that no one had been able to understand, because no one had ever given her the opportunity to use it for herself.
His offer was clear: he would train her in secret for the tournament. If she won, he would share the prize with her. Half would go to him, or 50 contos, enough to buy his postage and start again elsewhere.
Benedita asked what would happen if she lost.
Joaquim replied that they would lose together. He would lose the quinta. It could be resold. But at least they would have tried.
She didn’t trust him. Still, she didn’t have many other choices. Something in Joaquim’s voice, an honest fatigue and recognizable pain, made him think that maybe he was telling the truth.
She agreed, with a simple threat:
“I fight. But if you betray me, I’ll kill you. “
Benedita’s secret training
The next day, Joaquim woke Benedita before dawn. He took her to a hidden clearing, out of sight, and improvised a ring with ropes tied between the trees.
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