Maria's Trail (The Mule Tamer)

by Horst, John

  “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.

  “I knew you weren’t tryin’ to save your own skin. It’s okay.” She put a hand on Maria’s shoulder and patted her. “It’s okay.”

  By late day they arrived at the ruins and Maria was mesmerized. The ruins were high up in the side of the mountain and here and there walls and buildings could be seen peeking out from the honeycombed face. It was as if the people had just walked out the day before. Maria stood, jaw hanging. “Where are they?”

  Juana chuckled. “Dead.”

  “How? Were they attacked? Did they get sick?”

  “No, Maria, they’ve been dead a long long time. Millennia.”

  “What’s that?”

  Juana shrugged. “I don’t know, the bad priest said it. It’s a long time.”

  They wandered about and found an entrance. A little further on, they discovered a box canyon which would be a good corral for the burros. Maria put them there and cut some mesquite to make a fence to insure they stayed. She hobbled them for good measure. They were content; there was much for them to graze on. She found Juana and they went to the nearest cave.

  “Whew. It stinks of bat shit in here.” Juana held her nose.

  “It’s not so bad.” Maria peered at the walls which were still good. This would be a perfect home for them. She sat down and made a fire and soon had a good blaze going. Juana dug through their kit and prepared a meal. She wasn’t much good at helping because she was used to talking and listening to the bad men at the brothel, she wasn’t used to doing chores. Maria didn’t mind. She liked working and she enjoyed Juana’s company and constant banter as she watched her new partner work. Maria was always working it seemed, it is what made her happy.

  They got their oil lamps and lit them. It was time to explore. Maria was enthralled and Juana bored. They found the place with the most guano and surmised that the bats used that part of the cave. The rest would be cleaner and smell better and it wouldn’t be bothersome when the bats flew in and out. This is where they’d make their home.

  Further up, they found by walking a steep incline of narrow steps, a beautiful high fortress-like structure. It offered a commanding view of the entire valley below. They would be able to see any intruder for at least a mile away. This is where they’d sleep.

  Next, they moved down another set of steps, a steep decline into a dark and narrow passage. Maria heard movement—water, and in short order they came upon a fairly swift moving stream, flowing from under a deep crevice in the rock. She tasted the water and it was good. It was clear and cold; they would be good here indefinitely as they’d never want for water.

  Before Juana could say anything Maria had dropped down into the swift current and was wading her way across to the other side. She held her lamp up high to illuminate her way. She eventually reached the far side and was soon perched on a narrow ledge, up high and invisible from Juana’s side.

  “What are you doing?”

  “We’ll hide our money here. No one can see it and they won’t think to wade and carry a light like this. They won’t ever think to look here.”

  She waded back and was shivering. They hurried back and sat close to the fire to warm up. Juana threw a blanket over Maria. They ate and stared into the fire.

  They soon fell asleep and stayed there until morning. Maria was up first and started the housekeeping. She moved their traps up to the fortress where she began kicking the debris away and, to her pleasant surprise, found a neatly laid stone floor. The people were very handy who lived here so long ago. Next, she hid their treasure and came back by the fire to dry off and get warm. Juana finally stirred.

  “Sleep good?”

  “Uh huh.” Juana stretched and ate a tortilla left from the night before.

  “Well, tonight we’re going to sleep better. We’re going to make pine needle beds up there and sleep in comfort.”

  Maria was happy and excited about her new home. It was safe and warm and had plenty of water and no one could bother them. She couldn’t wait to make it a proper home. Juana watched her and shook her head from side to side. “Bumpkin.”

  By afternoon, Maria had made a broom and a big bed. She had covered the bed with their blankets and fashioned pillows from some empty sacks. Everything smelled of fresh pine. She’d collected grasses and was working on a basket when Juana finally sauntered in. She sat and ate and watched Maria work.

  “You need to learn to make baskets too.” The old woman had taught Maria well and she could make many baskets in a day.

  “For what?”

  “To trade. At that little village we passed. The people will trade food for them. We can keep from spending our money that way and no one will wonder how we got money in the first place. They won’t care if we have baskets to trade. That’s expected.”

  Juana picked up some grass and half-heartedly mimicked Maria’s actions. She soon sliced her hand and stopped. “That hurts.”

 
; “You get used to it.”

  Juana began fidgeting around.

  “Is there anything you know how to do, Juana?” Maria wasn’t cross with her friend. She was just teasing her a little.

  “Oh, sure. I can sing.” She began singing very badly and Maria stopped her.

  “You sound like a trampled puppy.”

  “Hmm!” She thought for a moment. “I can burp words.”

  “That’s handy.”

  “Oh, it’s funny.” She took in a deep breath and burped. “Ma-ri-a.” And smiled. “I can burp a lot better with beer. I wish we had some right now.”

  “What else can you do?” Maria liked the sound of her name burped.

  “Well, I can make farting noises with my hand and my armpit.” She reached under her arm with her hand and began flopping it at the elbow, emitting fart-like sounds. Maria smiled and held her nose.

  “You’re stinking up the place.”

  They giggled. It was the first time the walls had echoed giggles in many years. It sounded happy in there.

  Juana stood up and surveyed the place. “Poor pagans.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Pagans. People who didn’t know Jesus. They’re pagans. All the savages, like you, who don’t know of God and Jesus. You’re called pagans.”

  Maria kept working and wondered if Juana wasn’t making such words up in her head.

  “How do you know?”

  “A priest. He was a drunk and took up with the whores. He used to talk a lot when he was only half drunk.”

  “What did he do when he was all drunk?”

  “Fall on his face.”

  They both giggled at that.

  “And he told you about the people here?”

  “Oh, sure. That’s how I knew about it, about the caves and the people. But I thought he was lying. I didn’t know we’d really find it.” She looked around and regarded their handiwork. “Too bad they all went to hell.” She sighed and regarded Maria. She liked to hold court and leak out little bits of information to her friend. It made her feel very intelligent.

  Maria was intrigued. She’d heard of heaven and hell, certainly, but never gave it much thought. She figured hell was for very bad people like bandits and cutthroats and that everyone else just automatically went to heaven when they died. She didn’t know that one must know of and believe in Jesus to avoid hell. This didn’t make much sense to her and she figured she’d probe Juana a little. She liked Juana and was entertained by her, but was not completely certain that Juana knew as much as she let on. She’d probably gotten much of this information wrong from this priest, or maybe the priest was wrong or addle-brained or drunk when he was telling it and told Juana a lot of bad stories. She decided to get her new friend to talk.

  “So, what is this priest, then?”

  “Oh, he’s the man of God. He usually wears all black and he lives in a church and performs the miracle at mass.”

  “What’s mass and what’s a miracle?” Every new concept made Maria even more confused and Juana sensed this. She huffed and sat down.

  “Okay, let’s start at the beginning.”

  Maria put her partially completed basket down and looked Juana in the eye.

  “Okay, Maria. Many years ago an angel came down from heaven and found the Virgin Maria. The angel told the Virgin she was going to have a baby, but she wasn’t going to have relations with a man. You now, they wouldn’t do it.”

  “Yes.”

  “So, then Jesus was born. He had the Virgin for a mother and God was his father. But he was God too.”

  “I see.”

  “So, in order to go to heaven, you have to know Jesus and go to church whenever you can and eat his body.”

  “What?” Maria looked, confused. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, it’s not really his body. Well, it is, but its bread, and the priest does a magic trick and turns bread into his body and wine into his blood.”

  “Now you’re just being silly.” Maria started to resume work on her basket, then thought of something. “So why did these people have to go to hell?” She looked around as if she could see them peeking out from the various crevices in the rock.

  “Because they didn’t know Jesus.”

  “Well, where was he?”

  “He lived many years ago in another land, longer ago than even these people, and there were no priests then. No one could tell them of Jesus.”

  Maria shrugged. This was ridiculous. How could anyone be sent to hell when they couldn’t know about Jesus which was required in order to go to heaven and not be sent to hell? It was stupid. She looked at Juana who seemed just as confused. Maria decided to change the subject.

  “Tomorrow we take stock of the land around us and see what there is to get us through winter.” Juana nodded and finished a tortilla. She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her lap. She was ready for bed.

  In another week they were settled in and preparing for winter. Maria knew what winter was like in the country and she was resolved to have a good one in the cave. She poked and prodded and got Juana to store wood every day. She’d made many baskets and visited the people in the village to trade. They now had enough for all the tortillas Juana could eat through winter. Maria also hunted and made snares like one of the old men in her village had taught her before he died. They worked and she felt confident that she’d be able to get enough meat for them. She surveyed her little settlement and was pleased until she looked on at the distracted and sour-faced Juana.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Bored.”

  “Why?” Maria genuinely did not understand. There was plenty of work to fill the day and it was good work and made Maria happy.

  “I don’t like this bumpkin living.”

  Maria shrugged. She knew what Juana was thinking and realized she wanted to go to the brothel. Juana grew up there. It wasn’t reasonable to expect her to like the country, just as it was unreasonable for Maria to like the brothel. She thought hard about this.

  “Maybe we could go there before the weather is bad. We need an axe.”

  Juana brightened, then thought of all Maria had done. She looked around doubtfully. “I don’t think we should leave everything. Someone might come in and take it. Or move in and we’d be out of luck.”

  She sat resting her head in her hands, poking every now and again at the fire. She suddenly brightened. “I’ll go!”

  Maria thought about it. Juana was right. Someone had to stay behind. They couldn’t just leave everything, and their fortune needed guarding. They did need an axe and more coal oil for the lanterns. They needed some extra blankets as well. And candy.

  Juana was excited now. She skipped around the cave and thought about the fun she’d have. She’d take some money and spend it. She’d visit the whores and they’d be happy to see her. They’d probably given her up for dead by now. She was ready before sunrise and sat on her burro as Maria worried over her.

  “Stay out of sight. Spend the night in an arroyo, don’t let anyone see you.” Juana nodded and waved her off.

  “It’s only a day and a half. I’ll be fine.” She smiled and rode off. “See you in five days.” She was gone.

  Maria was alone now, really for the first time in her life. She was always with the old woman and then she immediately met Juana. She thought about this as she worked. She used to work constantly with the old woman but now it felt different. She used to work, really, for the old woman. The old woman would tell her what to do and when to do it and for how long. The old woman ran their little household and she decided when things were to be done and it seemed, somehow, more like drudgery then. Now it was fun. She decided what needed to be done and for how long and when. It made her very happy.

  Before she realized it, dusk had fallen and she had let the fire burn down. She’d fashioned coverings for the old windows, but decided not to use them. It was a bright night and the light from the stars and moon poured in through the windows. Slits of silvery l
ight illuminated her bedchamber. She rested and thought about Juana not being in the bed with her and it didn’t bother her too much. Juana had a habit of snoring and flopping about quite a bit and this night Maria would likely sleep all the way through until morning. She turned onto her back and looked at the silver slivers of light. Soon she fell asleep.

  Next morning she got cleaned up, ate breakfast and made three baskets. She wandered up to the high place, the lookout, and gazed out over the land as she had her midday meal. It was bright and clear and she thought about Juana’s progress. She’d nearly be there by now. She’d taken a lot of money with her and she imagined Juana would come back with fancy clothes and lots of candy. She’d probably forget the coal oil and axe and blankets, but that didn’t bother Maria. Nothing Juana did really bothered her. She was a free spirit and did not take much in life very seriously. That was okay with Maria. She resolved that someday she would be more like that; be more happy go lucky. But, then again, it probably wouldn’t work. Maria had to always be thinking and working and planning.

  She was just about to get down when something moving off in the northwest caught her eye. She stared and then realized it was some creature. It was Juana’s burro and it slowly plodded along, back to the cave dwelling and its sibling, Maria’s donkey. Juana was not with it. It still had on its bridle and blanket. Maria ran down to intercept it.

  The creature was a little skittish and Maria had to talk softly to calm it down. Its mane was covered with dried blood and there were scrapes, long narrow slashes on its rump. She led the animal back to the box canyon and quickly prepared her own burro. Within an hour she was gone, on the trail to find Juana.

  She hadn’t gone far before she found some of Juana’s clothes, also covered in blood. Further down the trail was one of her blankets. It was here she found the remains of a camp. The fire was out and the ashes were cold.