The night air was hot and oppressive; and trying to sleep under a blanket would only have intensified the misery brought on by the heat. I lay on my side praying for a cool breeze to suddenly appear from nothing; it was a hopeless wish. The sun had not yet begun to peek over the horizon, so I was unsure of the time. I did my best to sleep but merely drifted in and out of a state of unconsciousness. I could hear an occasional grunt reverberate from the darkness where the horses were tethered. They too seemed to be impatient with the pace at which the night crept along.
I had finally slipped into a restful state when I felt a
sharp poke in my back. I rolled over slowly, knowing full well who my poker
would be. The moon shone brightly over our campsite, and I could see the albino
smiling at me as he indicated the time by pointing to his wrist. It was uncanny
the way his internal clock worked. No matter the time of day or night the
albino always seemed cognizant of the position of the earth, moon, and sun. He
was also a great asset to have at night, thanks to his ability to see through
the darkness.
The blacksmith was waiting for us, so we gathered our things
quickly and led the horses into town. Sure enough the blacksmith was ready for
our arrival and was preparing his shop for the work we had requested. The
furnace was roaring with a bright orange flame and he used a large billow to
increase the heat. We led our horses around back and into a holding pen. The
blacksmith lifted the mask he wore over his face and smiled at us. Even with
the mask covering his face he continued to smoke a cigar, and as he smiled he
exhaled smoke through his teeth.
“You can leave the two horses right there. Did you get the
burro you were looking for?” He asked.
“No, we haven’t had chance to return to the stables.” I
responded.
“Go on over there and ask for Donaldo. He’ll be up. Get the
burro and bring it back here and I’ll shoe him as well.”
“Thank you.” I said, as we exited the building.
From a distance we could see Donaldo sitting in a rocking
chair on the porch. He was up and seemed very excited to see us this early in
the morning. He was a wiry, old man who appeared to drink coffee by the bucket.
His long thin beard was ratty and frizzled and on his head he wore a worn out,
black hat.
“Good morning, gentleman.” He exclaimed while rising from
his chair, “I’m Donaldo.”
We stopped just before the steps to the porch and introduced
ourselves as the surveyors who were in town, but Donaldo seemed well aware of
who we were. Through the open door I could see the young boy who had helped us
the previous day, sleeping on a mattress against the wall.
“That’s my grandson; name’s Skip. Not much of a morning
person” Donaldo said as he gestured to the sleeping boy. “What can I do for
you?”
“We were told by the blacksmith that you could provide us
with a pack mule for our surveying expedition.”
“I see. Well, follow me around back and I’ll show you what
I’ve got.”
The coral that held the donkeys and mules was a shocking
display of old and feeble looking creatures obviously not fit for high
adventure expeditions. I looked to the albino, whose jaw hung open in
disbelief. He turned to me with an expression of frustration, but I guided his
gaze toward the end of the coral where a large and very fit looking mule grazed
in a dry patch of grass.
“How much for that one over there?” I asked Donlado as I
pointed to the mule.
“Hmm…” he said as he scratched his bearded chin. “That one
mule there is quite the prize. Strongest beast I’ve ever encountered; although,
he doesn’t have much competition here at the ranch.” He laughed to himself as
he raised his eyebrows and nodded to the other animals in the pen. “I suppose I
could part with him for $30 or so.”
“We’ll do it.” I responded.
The albino reached into his pack and pulled out the money. He handed it
to Donaldo, who began to make his way through the gate and to the end of the
coral. The mule was very casual around Donaldo, and allowed him to slip a small
rope around its neck and guide it back to the gate where we stood. The mule was
tall at the shoulders and appeared very broad. His coat was a dark brown that
shined in the rising sun. He didn’t hesitate or shudder when we approached him;
instead he dipped his head to allow us to rub his brow and scratch his mane.
“The name of this one is, Holandés. It means, Dutch.” Donaldo explained, smiling with
the smile that never seemed to fade. “He came to us as a colt. A group of
Europeans came through town on their way to the West Coast. He was born during
their trip and they felt he would slow them down, so they sold him and his
mother, who has since passed, to us.”
“He’s perfect” I exclaimed.
I was honestly taken
with the confidence and stature that Dutch displayed. We thanked Donaldo
multiple times for assisting us as we made our way back to the road. Dutch
walked slowly beside us and looked as though he was just as anxious as us for
our adventure to begin. As we neared the point where the stable’s yard met the
road we heard a loud scream come from the building behind us. We turned quickly
to see Donaldo wrestling Skip to the porch floor as Skip struggled desperately
to escape.
“Holandés!”
the young boy shouted. He fought viscously to rip his arms free of his
grandfather.
Donaldo looked at us and shouted, “Go! Go! Go!” He waived us
on with one hand as he sat on Skip’s back and pinned him to the floor.
I looked to the albino with regret in my eyes. He knew I
wanted to take the mule back, but I knew that there was no way he was going to
let that happen. He turned quickly and led Dutch to the road. I stood at the
end of the yard helplessly looking from the porch to the road and back again. I
felt unable to make a decision to move in either direction, but the insistence
from Donaldo that I go mixed with the increasing distance between the albino,
Dutch, and myself eventually prodded me to follow them down the road.
…… …… ……
I felt genuinely sorry for the young boy, Skip. It seemed
that he must have been very fond of Dutch, but the albino continued to remind
me that we were on an important mission that required focus. In addition, Dutch
was proving to be a very capable pack animal that was both intelligent and
willing to work. We often spent time
with him exploring some of the rocky terrain on the outskirts of town.
Over the next week and a half we spent the mornings
exploring the landscape east of town and practicing with the surveying
equipment, and the afternoons studying maps and trying to stay out of the sun.
In the evenings we would go into town and meet with some of the citizens that
we had made acquaintance with. There was Abuelo who was in town quite often,
the elderly lady from the restaurant whose name turned out to be Francis,
Donaldo from the stables (although we didn’t see a lot of Skip), and of course
I would stop by the trading post and see Ruby any chance I got. She was usually
busy until late into the afternoon and then would hurry home before the sun
set. If I caught her at slow times during the day she seemed to enjoy chatting
with me. The albino discouraged our interactions and would spend most of his
time with the horses outside of town.
There was one particular
visit I made to Ruby’s when I was able to spend a significant amount of time with
her. A large package had arrived at the trading post, and she asked me to help
her get it back to her house. It was a wooden crate about four feet long and
three feet wide. The package was heavy and though I inquired as to its contents
Ruby didn’t want to open it until we reached her home.
She explained, “I’ll open it as soon as we get back to the
house, but I don’t want my grandfather to see so we need to hurry.”
I grabbed one side of the crate and she grabbed the other.
We made our way down a small, rocky trail that led from the back of the trading
post and over a short hill. As we reached the summit of the hill I could see
that the trail led down into a small grouping of houses. There were about eight
small, adobe homes built with no apparent order, at the base of the hill. Ruby
guided us to the home farthest from the hill and pushed the door open with the
heel of her boots.
The home was very small and had few possessions. The door
opened directly into the dining area that was an extension of a small kitchen.
In the center of the room sat a wooden table that was worn with years of use.
Ruby instructed me to place the package on the table as she closed the door
behind us. The setting sun shone through the dusty windows.
“How do we open it?” I asked as we didn’t seem to have any
tools worthy of the task.
Ruby raised her finger to me and said, “Wait one second.”
She ran out the door and returned quickly with a large crowbar in her hands.
She motioned for me to stand back and began prying the wooden package open. One
by one the boards came off the top of the crate, but all I could see was the
straw packaging used to protect the contents. Ruby pulled the straw from the package
and I leaned in to peer inside. Sitting inside the crate I could see a leather
saddle with a dark brown color that shined in the fading sun light.
“A saddle?” I asked.
“Yes, but see its no ordinary saddle.” She pointed to the
sides of the saddle, and I could see that she was right. “It has all of these
large pockets to hold supplies. It has a rifle holster on each side and a spot
to tie on a bed roll.”
“It looks a lot like the saddle the albino and I have, but
that’s the kind of saddle you buy to travel long distance. It’s good for an
expedition or something like that.”
“Exactly” she said.
“Is it a gift for your grandfather?” I asked. “Is that why
you didn’t want him to see it?”
“No” she said with the hint of a smile forming on her lips.
“It’s for me. I’m going to use it when I go looking for my brother. I only have
a few more supplies to gather and I’ll be able to go.”
“Whoa!” I shouted. “You’re doing what? Who would you go
with?”
“Just me; my granddad would never let me go, even with
someone else, so I have to go alone in secret.”
“No, no, no. Come on! You can’t do that! You know how
dangerous it is!”
“That’s why I said I need a few more supplies. I saved up my
salary from the trading post for this saddle, and I’m going to save up a little
more to buy a Smith & Wesson .30-06. Then I’ll be ready to go.”
I grabbed her by both hands and looked directly into her
eyes, “Ruby, promise me you won’t go out there by yourself. You have to promise
me.”
“I can’t do that. I need to find my brother. I know he’s
still alive out there, and I know I can find him.”
“You can’t find him. It’s too dangerous, and you’ll just end up getting
yourself killed.” I looked to the floor and took a deep sigh. I thought for a
second about what I needed to say then looked again at Ruby’s face. Her eyes
were becoming moist, and they screamed desperation. “I know you think you have
prepared well and you could find your brother, but you are greatly
miscalculating the danger your putting yourself in. Promise me this; just
promise me you’ll let me look for him first. If I don’t find him, I’ll help you
organize a search party to look for him again, ok?”
Tears streamed down Ruby’s face. She leaned into me and we embraced. I
held her close to me and felt her shake as she began to sob.
“Thank you” was all she said.
…… …… ……
Needless to say, the albino was not pleased with the idea of searching
for Ruby’s brother; neither was he pleased with my growing affection for Ruby.
He scolded me for wasting so much time becoming attached to the small town and
reminded me that the plan was to find the lost gold mine and get out of town
before any trouble came up. We wanted to be conspicuous and quick about our
work, and draw as little attention to ourselves as possible. The albino worried
that a congregation would form when we left town, just to wish us well. Again
he reminded me that a crowd of people was the last thing we wanted. I assured
him that we wouldn’t be leaving to a crowd of people, but the only way I could
truly appease him was to agree to leave early in the morning before the townsfolk
awoke.
To be continued…
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