From our camp outside of town we could hear the preparations for
the end of summer celebration taking place. The shouts of people giving
directions and the clanking of metal stakes being driven into the ground
traveled through the breeze. The timing of the celebration could not have been
better; we had noticed a definite change in the weather. The heat that had been
so oppressive when we arrived in town was giving way, and the evenings and
early mornings were beginning to cool off. It was a welcome change for
everyone.
The end of summer celebration was set to kick off that night just
after dusk. The albino and I had made
plans to leave during the celebration; we would make a short appearance and
then slip out the back when everyone was preoccupied by the festivities. If we
were lucky we could be miles from Tortilla Flats before anybody noticed we were
gone. In the late afternoon we readied
our packs and loaded them onto the horses and Dutch. On the east side of town
there was a small hill that rose slowly towards the east and then descended
sharply into the desert. At the eastern base of the hill was a small wash with
a rugged batch of juniper trees. Before we left for the celebration we hid the
horses in the small batch of junipers where they would be safe from the eyes of
the townspeople. This would become the starting point of our voyage into the
high desert landscape of the Superstition Mountains.
I couldn’t believe the number of people that filled the town that
night. It was hard to imagine that many people living in this entire territory.
There were large tents erected for shows and performances, and vendors set up
stands all down the center of town. The main event that night was going to be a
large bonfire accompanied by music and dancing. The albino and I were not too
keen on dancing and hoped to be able to leave just as the bonfire started.
As we approached the tents, where others had gathered, the sweet
smell of barbecued beef and pork drifted through the air. There was a small
group of men playing country-western songs and all around us we heard laughter
of people both young and old. On the porch in front of the trading post we
found Abuelo and Ruby. Ruby smiled as we approached and Abuelo put out his hand
to shake ours. The albino surprised us all by removing his hat and bowing
politely to Ruby. Despite his reserved
nature I knew that he too was somewhat excited for the events tonight, and this
gesture was evidence to support my suspicions. With Ruby by our side the albino
and I walked slowly from tent to tent and observed the different products the
vendors had to offer. We saw works of art whose medium ranged from canvas to
clay and from steel to stone. We tasted the varieties of food that included barbecue,
Mexican dishes, and some native Apache dishes. We found it all to be very
delicious.
As the sun began to set the people started to congregate towards a small
field on the west side of town. To one side a large pit had been dug and filled
with an enormous pile of wood for the bonfire. On the other side a small stage
had been erected, and in front of the stage a wooden floor for dancing had been
prepared. The group of men who had been playing music all evening moved to the
stage and again begun playing. Someone on horseback rode into the field
carrying a torch and headed directly for the large fire pit. It was a very
interesting festival. There seemed to be nobody in charge. No director with an
agenda that had to be followed. People just moved along with the events as
though everyone knew the next step in the celebration. The fire roared from one
side of the field and the dance floor was soon filled with people. The albino
and I began to move towards the edge of the field where the shadows from the
fire and the large mass of people bounced back and forth across the desert
rocks and shrubbery. We looked at each other and nodded as though this would be
an opportune time to sneak away. We turned quickly to slip into the darkness,
but as I took my first step I felt a hand reach through the darkness and grab
mine.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I heard Ruby say playfully. I
stopped in my tracks, unsure how to react. In the darkness I could see that the
albino had also stopped. His eyes glowed from the light of the fire, but I
could see no other features in the darkness.
“We we’re thinking about calling it a night. This isn’t
really our party.” I answered sheepishly.
“Not so fast.” Ruby said with a smile “Come dance with me.”
She pulled me onto the dance floor, and we turned to stand
face to face. Ruby took my right hand and placed it on her hip. She then
grabbed my left hand in her right and took one step closer to me. It was very
nice to be this close to her, and to have her hand in mine.
“Do you need me to lead?” She asked almost laughing. I
realized then that I had been in some kind of a trance and needed to snap out
of it.
“No, I can lead.” I responded. We danced slowly to the sound
of a song I had never heard before. It spoke of a cowboy and a young pilgrim
girl he had met. He had wanted to marry her but she wasn’t interested in
marrying a gunslinger, so he had rode off in the sunset and regretted it ever
since. It was sad but somewhat sweet at the same time.
Ruby moved her lips close to my ear and spoke, “I’m glad you
came to town. I’m even glad your albino friend cam with you. I think he is
cute. A little hard at first, but I’m sure he can be very cuddly.”
I laughed out loud, “If he has ever been cuddly, I’ve never
seen it.”
She smiled and then rested her head on my shoulder. “When
are you leaving on your surveying expedition?”
“Well, I think we already left. I mean we’ve been away from
home for some time now.”
“But when are you leaving us? And me?” She spoke the last
part of her question with a twinge of pain in her voice. I could see then that
she had grown just as affectionate of me as I had of her.
I hesitated for a moment and then answered.“We leave tonight. That’s where we were going when you
grabbed my hand.”
“Tonight?” Ruby said with surprise and a hint of anger in
her voice. “You weren’t going to say goodbye?”
“We thought it would be best to slip away quietly and not
make a big deal of it. I will be able to see you again when we return.”
“Well, good luck then. I hope to see you when you get back.”
She leaned in and gave me a firm hug. We held each other in this embrace for a
short second and then she released. I could see a tear in her eye as she
stepped back and turned away. Before I could say goodbye she had faded into the
darkness of the night. I turned to hurry back to the albino when I heard a
group of people shouting. A number of people were running to the spot I had
left the albino and I could see a scuffle was taking place. I hurried to the
crowd of people and saw the albino in a wrestling match with someone. The crowd
wasn’t interfering so I jumped in and pulled the two apart.
“This vermin has done made his last mistake!” The man
shouted. He pointed to me but in the darkness I couldn’t make out his face. He
said, “You two better watch your necks” turning to the albino he continued, “And
watch your hides while you’re at it.”
“What happened?” I shouted at the man. He took a step
forward and I could see that he was one of the men we had seen at the Acampo Lodge. My heart sank as I
realized that we had just made some very unruly enemies.
“Your friend here decided to sink his claws into my leg.”
“That’s not true” someone shouted from the crowd. “You
stepped on his tail first.”
“Well, I was just playing a joke on the little feller.” The
man growled.
I stepped towards the man, our eyes locked in defiant
opposition. “You didn’t need to do that. Now apologize and we’ll be on our way.”
“You’ll hear no such apologize from me. And just wait until
my brothers hear about this little incident. They don’t take kindly to
outsiders invading our territory. Watch your backs; it’s a scary place out here
in the desert. People are bound to go missing.”
With that he stepped back into the darkness and disappeared.
I grabbed the albino by the paw and hurried into the darkness in the opposite
direction. Needless to say the albino was fired up and wanted to go find the
man who had intentionally stepped on his tail. I made my best attempt to calm
him down as we approached the horses, but I knew the best thing now was to get
as far away from town as we could. Away from the bonfire, the moon shone bright
enough to make our way through the night. The horses also seemed anxious to be
leaving, so we untied them and began to head in a mostly eastern course away
from the town. We had just left the patch of junipers when the sound of a
fourth horse caught us by surprise.
We turned to see a small, mare coming towards us with a
rider on her back. The petite figure on the horse was much too small to be the
brothers that we had managed to make enemies with earlier in the night. As the
horse approached I saw that the rider was Ruby and I thought that she must have
been coming to wish us well and good luck. As she approached I saw that she was
not slowing her pace; while still a short distance off she began shouting to
us.
“They are coming this way. We need to go!”
“Who is coming?” I shouted back.
“The Baskin brothers. They’re coming after you. Hurry we
need to go!” The albino and I looked to each other and I began to object.
“There’s not time for this,” Ruby shouted. “We have to go
now.”
I didn’t like the idea of Ruby accompanying us as we set out
on our expedition and neither did the albino, but given the circumstance we didn’t
have much choice. We turned and began to hurry the horses as Ruby had directed.
She fell in behind us, and we made our way into the dark night of the desert.
…… …… ……
The events of the previous night had fired us up and worried
us enough to keep us going throughout the night. We had cautiously made our way
into the desert where the hills begin to ascend into the Superstitions. As the
sun rose we made our way in and out of small canyons and over ever growing
hills. Eventually our pace began to slow and as the sun rose above us we began
to feel the need to rest. The albino led us into a sandy wash and under a small
cliff overhang. We tied the horses off in a shady patch of mesquite trees and
retreated back under the overhang. We drank from our canteens in silence and
prepared for a quick nap. Despite our agitation and the frustration of having
Ruby follow us into the desert our fatigue had overcome us. The three of us lay
back against the sandy embankment and closed our eyes, and then we heard the
sound of hooves moving in our direction.
To be continued…
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