by Billy Kring
Adan and Dario told him and he nodded, although looking at Adan with more interest. “Where do you live, Adan?”
Adan lied, “Ojinaga.”
“And you’re over here with Dario, visiting?”
“Yes. We are friends.”
“Did you come across the International Bridge?”
“No, I forgot my card so I walked downstream and waded through the river. Its shallow right now.”
“Uh huh.” The tall old man rubbed his chin, thinking, then said, “Follow me.” They started down a long hall, and he stopped beside the butler and said, “You boys go ahead, I’ll be with you in a moment.”
Adan and Dario passed by the two and continued down the hall, going slow and stopping to look at all the western artwork hanging along the walls: Remington, Russel, Catlin, and others. Dario whispered, “You think these are real?”
Adan nodded, remaining silent as he thought of their worth.
Winston watched them until they were far enough away before telling his butler, “Call the Border Patrol, tell them there’s a couple of wetbacks at the house. Tell them to come quick.” The butler nodded and left as Winston masked his thoughts with a smile and walked to catch up with the two unsuspecting boys.
“Let’s look in here first, since you mentioned the red room.” He opened the door and ushered them inside, where there were several man-sized, clear Lucite display cases showing six-foot tall pieces of dark rock that had blood red crystals imbedded across the face. Recessed lighting angled to best display the items showed the crystals so well they seemed to emanate light from within. Both boys had their mouths open as they stepped closer, so close their faces glowed with the reflected light off the crystals.
“The walls are painted in what is called vermillion, made from powdered cinnabar. Because it is poisonous, I have the walls coated with a clear finish.
Adan said, “It’s like the reddest sky I’ve ever seen.”
“Yes. A deep, rich, blood red.” Hart nodded, pleased at the boy’s response because that was how he thought of the color. “Come now, I’ll show you more.”
They re-entered the hall and continued down to where it intersected another hall running perpendicular, and with both the left and right halls extending some distance. A door opened near them and two men came into view. They stopped momentarily, whispered to one another, then came over to join the boys and the patriarch.
“Hey dad, what you got here?”
“This is Dario and Adan. I’m letting them see some of the house.”
He looked at the man with him and said, “Saw them at the golf course the other day.” He reached his hand forward, “I’m Mike.” He inclined his head to the man with him, “This is Ellis.”
Adan and Dario introduced themselves, using only their first names. Winston pointed at Adan, “His last name is Villa.”
Mike’s eyes sharpened, “Villa, huh?”
Adan felt wary, like a mouse that’s been spotted in the open. He thought fast and lied, “Yes, my family was originally from San Juan Del Rio, in Durango, where the great revolutionary patriot Pancho Villa was born. My grandfather took his name in admiration, as did my father.”
“Do you know his real name?” Winston asked.
“I say it with pride, Doroteo Arango de Arámbula, from my homeland.”
Winston didn’t believe the little bastard about where he came from, but he didn’t let on. “Wonderful, let me show you the magic cool air you mentioned.”
Mike and Ellis watched them leave, then walked toward the front door, with Ellis turning once to watch the boys.
“Where to?” He asked Mike.
“Lajitas at the golf course, some of the golf wives and their home-from-college daughters should be getting through right now.” He grinned, “There’s some holes I haven’t played yet.”
Ellis nodded, “Always striving for perfection, aren’t you?”
They left by the front door and drove towards the town, golf bags showing in the rear of the SUV.
Winston led the two boys to the end of the hall where double doors ended it. He opened one side and motioned the boys through, then followed them. He didn’t like these little Mexican pests, but he was proud of how the house was cooled
Adan heard a faint humming beyond the second set of double doors, and as the older man opened them, it became louder, but not by much. They entered a large room with tubes six-feet in diameter showing behind a fenced darkness that was one portion of a wall. Winston said, “behind there is a cave where the cool wind comes from. It goes into the hill behind the house for a good distance, and branches into smaller tunnels that bring the air from inside the cave and out through here. We harness it and send it through the tubes to air conditioning ducts placed throughout the home. The air is a constant sixty degrees. If it is cold outside, the sixty-degree air feels quite warm, and of course on the hot days it cools the house.”
Dario said, “Have you ever gone through the cave to the other openings?”
“Only the primary cave, but not after it branches.”
Adan said, “This is wonderful.”
Winston thought so as well. “Have you seen enough?”
“Yes, and thank you.” Adan said.
He waved a hand, “Come on, let’s go back to the front of the house. I think we may have more company in a few minutes.”
They fell in behind the tall, elderly man and followed him as they walked the hall. He pointed at various paintings and explained them to the boys, obviously proud of possessing the canvases. As they were passing another closed room, Winston stopped and said, “Come in here.”
Inside was a single display. Spotlighted from above, a skeleton rested on a table covered with black velvet. Dario looked at Adan, then at the elderly man. “It’s a skeleton.”
“Sure, it is,” said Hart. “It was left me by my grandfather.” He leaned forward and used a forefinger to point at a bullet hole in the skull. “My grandfather put the bullet right there. This is one of Villa’s robbers who came across to steal from my family. He didn’t get far.” Hart chuckled at his own jest.
“Why do you keep it here, like this?” Adan asked.
“What, instead of putting the bones in the ground?” Adan nodded. “Because I want anyone who is thinking about stealing from my family to know that this will be their fate. They won’t even get a spoonful of our land to cover their bones.”
Dario said, “That sure impresses me.”
Hart patted his shoulder, “I don’t expect it from kids.” He led them from the room and into the main front room, where one male and one female Border Patrol Agent stood.
Adan felt his stomach flop, but at the same time, a flutter was there because of the woman. She looked beautiful, and somehow, slightly dangerous. It was her eyes, he thought. She was about five-eight, with dark blond hair and skin that gave a hint of her having Hispanic heritage. Her build was lean and athletic, and she watched him as he watched her. The male Agent was Hispanic for sure, and older, built like a boxer or someone like that, maybe a bricklayer because of the shoulders. He had a moustache, too, black but shot through with some silver hairs. Adan heard the female call him Raymond as they talked, both standing relaxed but aware of everything in the huge room, including the people entering.
Adan slowed his walk, as did Dario. Why were the two officers of La Patrulla here?
Winston walked by the boys and shook the Agents’ hands. “These are the two we reported.”
Adan felt a shock of betrayal at the man’s words and glanced at Dario, who looked at him with big eyes.
The female Agent stepped to them and said in Spanish, “Hello friends, where are you from?
Dario swallowed and both boys said, “Ojinaga.”
“Do you have papers, or a card to legally be in the United States?”
Adan shook his head, but Dario said, “Yes,” and pulled a laminated card from his pocket, handing it to her.
She checked it and said, “You can st
ay, but you,” she addressed Adan, “Will have to go with us. We can process you at the Presidio station and send you back across the bridge. That way you don’t have to ride up to Marfa and back.”
“Thank you.”
“You speak English?”
“Yes, we both do.”
She gave a tiny nod of approval. Raymond said, “Come with me.”
Adan followed him as Dario said, “Can I get a ride back? It’s a long way on foot.”
Raymond looked at Hunter and said, “Long as you don’t tell people we’re giving you a ride. Deal?”
“Yes sir.”
Hunter followed them all to the door, and as she went through, Winston Hart said, “Thanks for taking these greasers off our hands.”
Hunter stopped to look at him, no smile on her face. Raymond called with a hint of warning, “Hunter, let’s go.” She held Hart’s eyes long enough to make him lean back and give a small, nervous laugh, then she turned and followed the others out the door. As it closed behind them, Raymond said, “Hart kinda set you off, huh?”
“Ya think?” Raymond saw she was under control, so he went to their vehicle and opened the rear door, then patted down both boys. He found the stones in Adan’s pocket, took them out and raised his eyebrows in a question.
“They were for snakes,” Adan said.
“You want to keep ‘em?”
“No, I guess not.” Raymond tossed the stones aside and motioned the boys into the vehicle. He closed it as Hunter slid behind the wheel, then he got in on the passenger side. As they left the great white house, Raymond said to the boys, “I’ve got some candy bars, couple of Snickers if you want them.”
They both nodded yes, and Raymond gave them the candy. “They’re starting to melt,” he said to Hunter in explanation.
“Sure,” She winked at her best friend and said, “You old toughie.”
Forty-five minutes later, Hunter parked their vehicle at the Presidio Border Patrol Station and ushered the boys inside. Hunter processed Adan while Dario sat nearby. When she asked Adan where he resided in Ojinaga, the boy lied again, “Colonia Villa,” and he felt bad for lying to the woman Agent. It was a guess, for he didn’t know if there was a Colonia Villa or not, but he knew that Villa, the Centaur of the North during the great Revolution, was a famous man and had once captured Ojinaga.
Hunter continued to type the information without hesitation, so Adan breathed easier. Once the processing was finished, Raymond and Hunter loaded the boys into the vehicle and took them to the International Bridge where they allowed them to voluntarily return to Mexico. Adan felt confused, because he felt safe with the two officers, the Patrulla. He had heard stories of how they were terrible people, but he wasn’t so sure now. Dario walked beside them as they approached the officials on the Mexican side of the bridge. Several older men in uniform waved them through, with one telling them to hurry because they were holding up people behind them, so the boys trotted across and into Ojinaga. They walked along Calle Fronteriza, one of the main streets in the town and had not gone far when someone called out to them, “Hola niños, quieren un paseo? It was Ellis, from the great ranch, in his SUV calling to them and smiling like a good friend, asking them if they wanted a ride.
Adan felt uneasy, but Dario said, “Yes! Si, señor!”
Ellis pulled to the curb and waved them over. He had another man in the passenger seat, a darkly handsome man who looked as slender as a knife blade. He smiled, “I’m RL.”
Dario asked, “And your last name?”
RL glanced at Ellis, “Cheeky boys, ain’t they?” He looked at the boys, “Just, RL.”
“Yes sir.”
Dario pulled Adan along with him and they climbed in the back seat of the vehicle. Traffic sped by, with some cars honking at the stopped SUV.
“You speak English?”
“Yes, we both do,” Dario said.
“Good, my Spanish is rusty. Where do you two want to go?”
“We need to get to Lajitas, if you can help us.” Adan was silent, letting Dario do all the talking. It was all he could do not to jerk open the door and leap to the street in a frightened run.
Ellis said, “We can take you there, no problem. You mind if we stop along the way, do a little business beyond there, maybe get something to eat?”
“No sir.”
“My treat.”
Dario smiled but Adan did not. He caught Ellis looking at him in the rearview mirror. Ellis drove beside a long arroyo and without warning turned and drove into the bottom where muddy brown water ran in a frothy current.
Dario yelled, but the vehicle splashed and the wheels hit bottom only a foot down. Ellis laughed, “It’s an old crossing place, even during rains up in the mountains. I just know where it is.” He drove across the river at a slow five miles per hour, and went up the far bank where it sloped down into the water.
“I didn’t know that was there,” Dario said.
“Unless you were an Apache from a hundred years ago, or a few Yaquis smuggling things through here in the twenties, there’s only a few of us today that knows of it. RL and I are the only gringos that know.” Ellis drove deeper into Mexico on a dirt road that was little more than two ruts pointing into the desert and toward some low foothills to the west.
Behind the foothills and in the distance, rose the looming, forested heights of the Maderas Del Carmen. Ellis said, “I know this isn’t going straight to where you need, but I’ve got a little quick business to do first, then we’ll go; buy you two some ice cream when we get there, how’s that?” Dario said, “Thank you,” and he looked at Adan and both boys knew they didn’t have a choice in the matter. Ellis hummed to himself as he drove. Adan recognized the song, a Mexican corrida. El Lobo y la Tejana. Ellis occasionally glanced at Dario in the backseat and in the rearview mirror at Adan.
The boys watched the land change, becoming rougher and higher as Ellis drove on a barely-there ghost of a road into the beginning low hills dotted in Ocotillo and cactus, with here and there a small patch of needle grass or buffalo grass. The plants changed as they gained altitude, and soon Ellis drove through patches of juniper and an occasional piñon tree. When they leveled out on a long bench that almost abutted into the first real mountain, Adan saw an almost hidden small shed made of rusted tin, and in it he saw the blackness of a mine.
Parking in front of it with a flourish, the man said to the boys, “Let me show you two this baby.” RL, you can stay here.” He exited the vehicle and the two boys followed, although reluctantly.
Dario asked, “When are we going to our home?”
Ellis smiled, “Thirty minutes here, give or take, then we’ll be off.” Adan noticed that the man’s smile did not reach his eyes, and he stayed a step farther back as they walked into the shed. Sunlight sent gold beams through nail holes and torn places in the tin as dust motes floated in the long room. A half-rotted wooden door stood open at the far end, propped open with a single small, dried juniper branch wedged against the floor and below the door knob.
Through it beckoned a round darkness. Ellis walked to the back of the shed and stepped into the gloaming of the mine shaft. “Come on, I’ve got a light right here.” He flicked on a strong flashlight beam and it pierced the darkness, showing a patchwork of glistening spider webs reaching from wall to wall in the mine. Ellis pulled them down as he advanced, stopping once to smile over his shoulder at the boys.
The mine made a shallow curve to the right and they walked another twenty feet before the floor disappeared and a perpendicular hole the size of a Volkswagen van opened, going straight down. Ellis motioned them up beside him, and Dario came forward, while Adan remained a foot behind his friend. Ellis pointed the flashlight into the hole and used the beam to point out things, “Look at these colors in the wall, like looking at a melted box of crayons with all the colors. It’s from the minerals around here.”
Dario stepped forward to look into the hole, while Adan craned his neck to see, but stepped no closer
. He saw the hole had scrapes along the wall from being hand-dug, and twenty feet down, almost out of the light, was an old iron ladder anchored against one side, with it partially rusted away and gone. The other part had one piece of the rail, the left side, sticking up like a ragged iron rod for a foot above the rung below it. Further below, Adan couldn’t tell if the ladder was there or not in the darkness.
Ellis said, “So Adan, you daddy is a Hart, that right?”
Adan felt a cold chill, like ice water poured down his back, and before he spoke, Dario said, “That’s right. He’s heir to that family’s fortune.”
Ellis smiled and shined the flashlight full into Adan’s face, “So you’re the next billionaire, huh?”
Adan squinted, averting his eyes, and Ellis grabbed for his arm.
Dario said, “Hey!” He jostled the tall man so that he missed the grab. Adan stepped back and saw Ellis move with scary speed to push Dario into the mine shaft. Dario fell, yelling, but the yell abruptly cut off so fast that Adan felt his heart racing in fear for his friend.
He turned and ran as Ellis gave chase.
The man yelled, “Don’t run!”
Adan raced out of the mine and into the shed, kicking the cedar stick as he went. The stick broke with a small, sharp crack and the old door closed on its own weight. The door clicked shut, and Adan was out the front shed door in a rush. RL stood nearby, urinating by a cactus. He yelled and fumbled with his zipper as Adan cut immediately to the left, then left again, racing up the hillside behind the shed. He scrambled behind junipers and rocks, all while trying to move in silence to escape Ellis and RL.
A loud bang caused Adan to start, and he glanced down at the shed where an angry, red-faced Ellis emerged in a trot, looking for him. He caught sight of Adan on the hill behind the shed and started up the incline after him. His eyes looked hard, then changed. He smiled, “Adan, you little rascal, come on down here and help us get Dario! He’s fine. I was just funning around.” RL was twenty feet behind him, and climbing the mountain on hands and feet.
Adan felt fear almost close his throat, but he remained silent. He hurried his pace and was almost to another flat area when he saw how fast Ellis gained on him. The man loped up the rise in an animal-like motion, and RL wasn’t far behind, breathing hard with his hands on his hips. Adan thought of Ellis, the man moves like one of the long-tailed lions in the mountains. Adan didn’t follow the game trail that crossed the flat, but instead cut hard left and went over a rock-and-boulder ledge of gray limestone, dropping five feet down into a brushy draw that slanted at a steep angle. He would double back on his trail, that’s what he would do. And, as soon as he could, cross the Rio Grande to Texas.