Maria's Trail (The Mule Tamer) (5 page)

“Yes?” She had their attention.

“You both have a big fortune now, much more
than children should have. Guard it. Don’t flaunt what you have. Don’t buy
fancy things: clothes, or jewelry or even guns. Don’t show the money you have
when in public, don’t eat in fancy places.”

Juana thought this very silly. “Why have so
much money if you can’t enjoy it?”

“Because it wasn’t really for you to have,
little one. This is not your money, really. It is not money for a poor Indian
to have, and you will be found out. You’ll be found out by the rurales or other
bandits.” She looked at her hands and then out to the sea. “My girls, you’ve
known many hard things, but the worst of all the hard things is not having
enough to eat. You know this.”

Maria nodded solemnly.

“You now have enough money to ensure that you
will eat well for many years. You have enough money to live in a comfortable
home for many years. Do this, girls, and keep quiet. Be invisible.”

Juana looked up at her. “Be invisible?”

“Yes, invisible. Don’t attract attention. When
you are old enough, perhaps in six years or so, find men. Find good hardworking
men, not bandits. Put the money to good use. Get a farm or buy horses or
cattle,” she smiled at Maria, “or goats. Make certain your family never goes
hungry.” She stood up and stretched her back into a beautiful arch. Maria had
not, until now, realized just how beautiful the woman was. She now knew and
also knew that she was a good person. She was happy to have met her and
resolved to take her advice.

“How long may we stay here with you?”

“Not long.” She pointed in the direction of the
house up on the hill with her head. “He’s not a bad sort, but he doesn’t want
you here. No offense intended, but he likes to be alone.”

Maria suddenly had a thought and it made her
nervous. “He is good to you?”

The assistant smiled. She knew what Maria meant
and it upset her and made her sad to know that the child had knowledge of such
horrible things. She put a hand to Maria’s face. “He is, child. He’s good to
me.”

That night they lay in bed together but were
not sleepy. They’d eaten well now for three days and Maria was no longer
exhausted all the time. The sheets smelled good and she hoped that it would be
okay to buy a bed and sheets with the money. The assistant didn’t say anything
about that, but surely buying a good bed and sheets would not be flaunting. She
thought it would be okay. She looked over at Juana who was looking up at the
ceiling, forming words with her mouth.

She smiled at what the assistant said and felt
happy to be with Juana. Maybe they’d be friends forever. She didn’t see why
not. She spoke automatically. “Juana, we should leave tomorrow, but I don’t
know where we should go.”

Juana stopped forming the words and looked over
at Maria. “I have an idea. Back near the town but outside of it, there’s an old
settlement with caves where the old people used to live many years ago. No one
lives there anymore and we could live in the caves. There’s good grass and
things up there. I think goats could live there.”

Maria liked this idea. She could get goats from
where she used to live. There was a man who would sell them goats and if it was
close to the town, it would not be far from her village. “Juana, that nice
lady, she was right, you know.”

“I know.”

“I know you like nice things and I know you
want to buy good food and things.”

“It’s okay. She’s right. Anyway,” she turned on
her side to face Maria. “in a couple years, I’ll be bigger and then I’ll just
look like a rich whore. I can dress and wear what I want and go where I want.
No one will know it was Sanchez’s money or from Sanchez’s things. They’ll think
I made it on my back.”

Maria suddenly felt ill. She didn’t want Juana
to be a whore. Without thinking she began to speak. “Juana?”

“What?”

“Don’t talk about that anymore. Don’t talk
about being a whore.”

They were on the road and Juana looked at Maria
a little doubtfully. She looked down at her peasant clothes and was
disappointed. The dress she got from Sanchez’s shop was so much prettier. They
rode along in silence, both thinking the same thoughts. Maria was sad to ride
the burro. It was a nice burro and it listened to her well, but she
wanted—dreamed of—a beautiful horse. She even had it picked out in her mind. It
would have a fancy saddle with a big wooden horn and conchos all over it.

It was better this way, of course. The big
prize was secreted in a pack under Maria’s seat; a pile of money, a king’s
ransom. The fence and his assistant took good care of them and they knew doing
it this way was right, it just seemed so ordinary. But they had three days to
travel and they were, for all intents and purposes—thanks mostly to the
lady—quite invisible.

Juana was chatty. She rode up next to Maria and
pulled out the cross on the necklace around her neck. “It was nice of her to
give us these.” Maria had one to match.

“Yes it was.” She wondered at it. It was a
pretty pewter cross with a little man attached. Maria pulled hers up and looked
at it as well.

“You don’t even know what it is, do you,
Maria?”

Maria looked on. “No.” She didn’t mind. It
didn’t bother her when Juana spoke of Maria’s ignorance anymore. Juana wasn’t
being mean and Maria knew that she wasn’t stupid, just ignorant. Ignorance
could be cured by knowledge and she was resolved to learn many things. She had
a good mind.

“That’s Jesus.” She nodded her head like a
donkey when she said his name.

“Why do you do that?” She mimicked Juana’s nod.

“You’re supposed to do that whenever you say
Jesus’s name.” She nodded again and Maria found it very amusing. She nodded to
herself and it felt a little silly.

“So, teach me of Jesus.”

Juana laughed. “I cannot believe someone
doesn’t know of Jesus.” She grinned and moved her head from side to side and
Maria realized that she’d forgotten to nod. But all this nodding would likely
knock one off balance and she didn’t want Juana falling from her burro, so she
didn’t say anything to her about forgetting the nod.

“He is the son of God and his mother is Maria,
like you. But she’s the Virgin Maria, not like you.”

“Can you not talk of that?” Maria felt sad when
Juana brought it up and it made her feel funny and hurt a little down below.

“I’m sorry, Maria.” And Juana was. She’d been
so casual about the act for so long, living around the whores, that she didn’t
realize how hurtful it was to talk of such things, especially to a person like
Maria, who’d been abused. Juana had seen many bad things in her young life and
known much depravity, but she’d never been abused.

She tried to change the subject away from the
virginal properties of the Virgin Maria. “So, God and Maria had Jesus and he is
the son of God and he was made into a man, but he was still God and he did a
lot of nice things and then he died for our sins by being nailed to a cross.”

“Oh, that’s terrible.”

“Yes. You can see it at any church. They have
big statues of Jesus nailed to the cross and he got stabbed in the breast and
he had a crown made from thorns and it was pressed into his head so the blood
ran in his eyes. It was really quite terrible.”

“Why’d they do such a thing to him? Was he a
bandit?”

“No, no. He was good and nice.”

“And they did that to him?” Maria was confused
and wondered if maybe she didn’t want to wear the crucifix anymore. She didn’t
know if she wanted to be named after the poor woman Maria whose son was so
terribly abused.

She didn’t want to talk about it anymore and
looked off in the distance. She pointed at some high hills a few miles away.
“Let’s camp there.” She looked up at the sun and reckoned they’d be there with
an hour of daylight to spare.

She was pleased that they had good food to eat
and she wouldn’t have to hunt. She didn’t have a rifle now because the
assistant told her it would not be a good idea. It would not be normal for
young girls to have a rifle so they didn’t keep one. She did have a little six
shooter tucked under her rebozo but that was supposed to be used only if she
had to defend herself or Juana. The assistant told her that she shouldn’t fire
the gun as that would also make them not invisible. 

Maria thought a lot about the assistant. She
was so good to them. Maria decided to start remembering every person who was
ever good to her. She’d remember them and keep them in her mind and someday
she’d go and visit every one of them and do them some kindness. She’d buy them
a gift and visit them.

So far, she had the nice woman with the mean
husband in her village, the whore with the yellow hair in Nuevo Casas Grandes,
Juana, of course, and now the assistant. This made her feel good.

And there was the man. The fence. He was good
to them. She didn’t know why she didn’t think of him right away and she thought
it was queer that she didn’t think of him as nice. Maybe she’d known so few men
who were nice that she didn’t think of any man as being nice. But they could be
nice. He was and she thought she’d add him to the list.

It wasn’t really his fault that he didn’t want
them to stay there, by the beautiful sea with the beautiful lady assistant. She
thought about that some more. Well, actually, it was his fault, but he was not
to blame. There was a difference in that. He had his own life to lead. He
couldn’t take in every poor person or child. That would not do. So, yes, she
would add him to her list.

Then she had another thought. Should she have a
list of people who did her wrong? Should she get back at them? Should she take
revenge? That didn’t seem a good use of her time and she resolved that she
would not have such a list.

Anyway, the only ones who would be on it were
the mean man from the village and the pendejo, Pedro, the rurale. But they were
just rude to her. Of course, had he lived, Sanchez would definitely be on the
list. But he was dead and she wasn’t sad at all about that. It actually made
her feel better to know he was dead. He could never make her dreamy and sleepy
and do that to her again and, more importantly, he could never do that to a
child again. That was the best part of it and she was again pleased with her
performance. She was pleased with her rock throwing ability.

All this thinking got her to the hills. It was
time to stop. Maria pulled up ahead of Juana and then turned to the south. She
rode a ways until they hit a gully and were out of sight, invisible.

She slid off her burro and Juana settled the
beasts down as Maria made a fire. She then took their treasure and hid it some
distance from the camp. If anyone attacked them, they’d likely take the burros
and leave them alone. At least they’d have their money. She thought of this on
her own and was pleased with herself for being so careful and clever. She kept
her gun tucked in her rebozo. She had it with her always, even when she was
asleep. No one would get them as long as she had her gun.

They ate and settled down under the blankets
and stared up at the clear night sky. The stars were so tightly packed together
and brightly lit that it almost hurt their eyes. Maria was feeling very happy
now.

“Tell me the bad words, Juana.”

Juana was pleased at the thought. “Okay, let’s
see.” She concentrated. “What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know. How about pendejo?”

“A pendejo is a big jerk, a dumb ass, an
asshole.”

“Oh.”

“What do you want to know next?” Juana felt
important. She was the great professor now.

“I don’t know any others.”

“Hmm, let’s see.” She stroked her chin. “How
about cagada?”

“That’s shit.” Maria was pleased with herself
for knowing cagada.

“Yes.” She smiled. “Okay, how about mierda?”

“That’s shit, too.”

“How about hijo de tu puta madre?”

Maria did not know.

“Son of a bitch.” Juana liked that one. “How
about boca de pedo?”

Maria did not know.

“Fart mouth.”

“Really?”

Juana laughed out loud. “Yes, fart mouth,
especially when someone has stinky breath. You call them boca de pedo.”

Maria laughed now. “That’s not nice. Some
people cannot help if they have stinky breath. I wouldn’t ever say that to
someone.”

Juana grinned and snuggled under the covers.
She was getting sleepy. She rested her head on Maria’s shoulder. “You are too
nice, Maria. Too nice.” She slipped off to sleep.

By midday they could see the hills off in the
distance that held the cave dwellings where the old people lived. Maria was
happy as they were far away from the town and far enough away from her village
that no one from there would ever run into her.

Juana was riding steadily along, dozing, not
paying attention when Maria saw him. He was alone and on a horse sitting on a
rise about halfway between them and the caves. She watched him but didn’t say
anything to Juana. When they were hidden from his view by another little rise
she slid off her burro and let the animal plod along following his companion
carrying Juana. She ran up alongside her burro and pulled the bag of money from
under the blanket. She scurried off into the brush and hid it there.

Juana was brought out of her trance by the
man’s deep voice commanding her.

“Alto.”

She stopped and looked at him. He was an older
man with dark skin and long moustaches. He wore a rurale’s coat and striped
vaquero pants. On his head was a smallish sombrero made of straw with a fancy
band all around it. He had a six shooter stuck in his pants. He did not have a
gun belt or holster and his knife was smallish and stuck in the top of his
boot.

Juana looked him in the eye and waited.

“Where’s the other one?”

Juana looked behind her and saw only the burro.
Maria was gone but Juana pretended to not be surprised. She looked back at the
man and shrugged her shoulders. She did not speak.

“Don’t shrug your shoulders. Where is she?” He
was angry and rode close to Juana, rode around her and the other burro,
surveying them, calculating what they’d be worth. He didn’t wait for her answer
but instead ordered her off the beast. Juana complied.

The man dismounted and grabbed Juana by the
forehead. He pushed her face all around to look her over. He looked down at her
poor dress and grunted, then turned his attention to her animals. They were
good burros. He dug around the blankets and found her food and water. He took
the bags of food and threw them over his saddle skirt and then turned to her
once again.

“How old are you?”

“Ten.”

“And the other one?”

She shrugged and he hit her hard across the
face. She fell to the ground. She lay there for a few seconds and then
struggled to sit up. She waited for him to strike her again and then the rock
sailed from the brush and hit him in the eye, right where a cluster of ugly
moles grew like a bunch of grapes on his cheek. It was his turn to drop to the
ground and he lay next to Juana. She wasted no time and hit him soundly on top
of the head with a flat rock that was lying nearby. He lay there senseless.

Maria ran up. “I’m sorry, Juana. I should have
thrown sooner. He wouldn’t stay still long enough.”

Juana grinned and rubbed her cheek. “He didn’t
hurt me.” She looked him over. “Should’ve shot the son of a bitch bastard,
though. Let’s shoot him now.”

Maria thought about it. She looked at the man.
He was out cold. Blood ran freely from the wound she’d given him and a big lump
was forming where Juana had hit him. She found her six shooter and pulled it
out. She pointed it at the man’s head and looked at Juana.

“I don’t want to. He’s out. He’s can’t hurt us
now.”

“I’ll shoot him. Give me the gun.” She held out
her hand and Maria complied. Juana gripped the pistol and pointed it at the
man’s head. She waited. “Oh, to hell with him. He’s not worth a bullet, and
besides, the shot might attract his friends.” She handed the pistol back to
Maria.

“I’ve got an idea.” Maria began pulling the
clothes off the man. In short order, his boots, trousers, hat and shirt were
gone. He lay in the dirt wearing nothing more than faded long underwear. He
looked very silly. She grabbed his things and made a sack with his rurale coat,
tying everything into a ball. This she threw on his horse’s back and tied it
down securely.

“Come on.”

They rode quickly in the opposite direction and
retrieved their fortune. Along the way they scattered his clothes. They turned
back and rode past the unconscious man and, grabbing the reins of the man’s
horse, rode on to their destination. When they were a mile away they removed
the horse’s saddle, tossing it into the desert. They rode on another mile and
removed the bridle and turned the horse loose. The man would have a lot of work
to do to retrieve his traps. Hopefully, it would be enough to keep him occupied
and no longer interested in the girls. Maria was particularly happy until she
saw Juana’s face, swelling like she’d stuck a ball between her cheek and gum on
the left side.

“You’re hurt, Juana.”

Juana grinned and rubbed the swollen cheek.
“Oh, that’s nothing.” She was proud of Maria and as far as she was concerned,
it all went off very well. Maria constantly surprised her. She was smart and
nervy. She could throw a rock better than most men could shoot a gun. She was
deadly accurate.

“I didn’t mean for you to get hurt, or make you
bait, I just didn’t know what he wanted and we couldn’t change direction or run
away from him. A burro can never outrun a horse.

Juana smiled at Maria’s guilty conscience. She
was the most caring and selfless person Juana had ever known.