by Horst, John
She slept soundly, well into the morning and then prepared, making herself especially pretty for the dealer. When she arrived at the dining room for breakfast, he wasn’t there. She joined a couple, an older man and a woman in her early thirties. They were very friendly for gringos but Maria knew that there was something about them that was not quite right.
The man stood up and shook her hand gently. He sat down and introduced himself and his companion. “Name’s Hodgins, ma’am, and this is my daughter.” They nodded a greeting and Maria ordered something to eat.
“And what brings you to Flagstaff, ma’am?”
Maria hesitated a moment and pretended that she was having difficulty finding the English words, she played up her accent again. She thought that if she was going to make up a story, she’d make up a big one. She remembered Ulla telling her about Porfirio Díaz and how he was interested in foreign trade. It was a good story and she was going to have fun being a rich timber merchant’s daughter.
“My padre, eh, my father, he is coming to buy timber for the presidente, eh, Díaz, our presidente.” Their eyes widened. “And you, what is your business?”
“Oh, my daughter and I, we just travel, travel and do a little gaming for fun. Passes the time. We heard the fellow here, he’s pretty sharp, from San Francisco.”
“Ah, the cards. Sí, he told me about the cards. He says he will teach me.”
“Oh, you don’t know cards?”
“Oh, a leetle. We use to play at home, in the hacienda, with the servants. We’d play for beans and button.” Maria watched the woman eat and mimicked her actions. She had no use for fine dining or the implements or courtesies they entailed, but she was aping the lady’s actions well enough to get by.
“Oh, then you must try.”
Maria grinned and looked a little self-consciously at the table. “My padre, he say I can do as I will with my money, to buy things, or whatever make me happy. Maybe I can try this gambling.”
The woman smiled. “Just as long as it’s for fun.” She was very nice to Maria. “You never want to spend money that you need to live on for cards or gaming, that’s for certain, but if you have, say a few thousand…” her companion coughed and shuffled under the table. “Well, not so much really, a few hundred to spare, you can have a fair evening of entertainment.”
“Oh,” Maria brightened. “I have more than seven thousand, and in your American dollars, I don’ need that much for dresses or things.
The man choked a little and coughed. Maria leaned toward him, “Are you okay, Señor?”
“Oh, fine.” He was distracted by the dealer walking past the dining room. He looked at his companion and grinned. “Think his feelings are hurt?”
The woman smiled. “Oh, he’s gotten a little rusty since California. These rubes have dulled his mind.”
They got up and shook Maria by the hand. “We hope to see you at the table tonight, Miss. We won’t be too hard on you, but we give no quarter.”
Maria looked up at them. “Que?”
“We don’t give chances, Miss. You’re swimming with the sharks now, and we don’t give any breaks. Be warned.” The woman pulled her dress front straight, she smiled warmly at Maria.
“Ah, sí, I unerstan’, lady. It is all in fun. If I lose, I lose.” Maria blew through her lips as if the money was made of newspaper. It did not matter how much she won or, more likely, lost.
The dealer approached Maria and watched the couple leaving out of the corner of his eye. He looked hatefully at them, then smiled at Maria. “I missed you last night.” He held her hand and kissed it. He sat down and poured some of the coffee left by Maria and her companions. “What did they have to say?”
“Oh, they are very kind.” She looked on at him as he scowled.
“That’s not the word I’d use for them. Be careful with them, Maria. They cheat at cards. Knew them in San Francisco. They got run out of the whole state of California, and that’s a big state.”
Maria looked shocked. “I, they said they just play for fun, they say they are travelers. The man’s daughter seemed…”
“Daughter?” He scoffed. “So, that’s what he’s calling her these days. More like his whore.” He looked on at Maria, embarrassed. “I’m sorry for using such a term, ma’am.”
Maria looked a little embarrassed, afraid of the rough characters she had been with.
“Maybe you should stay in your room until your father arrives.” He looked concerned as Maria seemed to be ready to faint, seemed that the whole thing was overwhelming her to distraction.
“Oh, no. No.” She fanned herself a little with her hand. “It is all, very, how do I say, exciting.” She reached over and grabbed him by the hand. “If you will look out for me, I am sure to be save, eh, safe.”
They were all playing when Maria arrived. The dealer was tense, as Maria had expected, and the couple was very pleased to see her. Maria had, just that afternoon, been coached by the dealer and she at least held her cards properly, but had to be prompted to bet at the appropriate times. She suddenly remembered something, “Ah, I got the chips, but,” she dropped a wad of several thousand dollars on the table. “I can get more if I need them.”
They played a few hands and Maria watched them all. They were good, they were good cheats and pretty soon she was down by half of her fortune. She smiled, embarrassed. “I am not so good with this game, I think.” She took the next hand and fumbled with a card, dog-earing the corner badly. “Oh, I am sorry. It is a ace, now everyone know what it is.” She shrugged and the dealer took all the cards back a little perturbed at the pretty señorita. Maria grinned as if she did not know why.
He turned and retrieved a new deck, showed them all the seal was unbroken and opened the pack. He dealt the next hand.
Now it was Maria’s turn and she played all the tricks the old man had taught her and a few more that she’d picked up over the years. Now that the marked deck was out of commission, the cheats had a bit more difficulty pulling off their shenanigans and this worked to Maria’s advantage.
She palmed cards, added ones she’d stolen from the previous deck, shorted the pot, and watched the dealer distribute cards from the middle and bottom of the deck. When this would happen, she’d knock a glass over and drench the table. The man was becoming very angry at the bumbling Mexicana.
And on top of this, Maria was counting cards. She could tell before the couple or the dealer really had any time to review, when she had a good hand and, more importantly, when they did not. They were careless. They were convinced that the pretty señorita had more money than brains. They could not imagine what was going on in her mind. They were becoming more frustrated by the minute when Maria suggested the other game, the veintiuno. They all agreed as the young woman was getting on their nerves.
“I don’ know about this game, you know what they say about Mexicans, we can’t count to more than ten.” She grinned sheepishly.
She smiled at them and looked at the pile of money. “I lost almost all my money and now look,” she dropped chips from a height and let them clatter all over the table in front of her. “I have the most now!”
She looked on. “I have a good idea. Let’s play with many deck.”
“Many deck?” The dealer was not laughing.
“Sí, you know, we put out five deck, that is what the old hand Pablo used to say. When you play veintiuno, you play with many deck. It is more fun.”
The dealer and the couple actually liked this idea. There’d be less chance of the hapless girl winning so easily. They soon had the five deck game going and within an hour Maria had most of the chips. She yawned and stood up. “This is very fun, but I am tired. I am going to go to bed.”
They stood up and wanted to make her stay but thought better of it. They nodded and bid her a good night.
Maria added three thousand to her bankroll and looked at a clock on the mantel. She could leave now, but eyed the bed. It was so soft and she was enjoying it. She decided to leave i
n the morning. She was just about to undress when she heard the knock on the door. She thought about not answering, knew who it was and didn’t want to deal with him this night.
He knocked again and tried the handle on the door. This made her angry and she pulled it open quickly, startling the dealer and making him jump a little. She smiled innocently. “Oh, hello.” She looked up and down the hall as it was not appropriate for men to visit a young lady at such an hour.
“Miss, I need to talk to you.” He looked back and forth as well and took the initiative, pushing his way, gently, but firmly, into her room.
She moved to the other side of the room and sat down at a writing desk full of her winnings. She’d made certain to change the chips to cash and there was a significant pile in front of her.
The dealer eyed it lovingly, like a dog after a new soup bone. He looked back at Maria.
“Miss, you’ve made a bit of a mess for me.”
“Que?”
“Oh, let’s stop this, the both of us. I know what you are, and now I’ll tell you what I am. I’m in with that lot. We were going to rob the house and take off, then you came in. We thought we’d get your money too.”
Maria reached over and pulled out a cigar. There was no reason to hide from him any longer. “So?”
“So…,” He looked her over. She was especially captivating now that she was working on the cigar. “Why don’t you throw in with me? How’d you like to live in the best hotels, we could go east, we could see the world. Ma’am, I’ve never seen anyone who could count cards like you, and with that dumb Mexican act, we could rule the damned gambling houses of the world.”
He was misty-eyed and Maria had him. She regarded him through the smoke. He was a good looking gringo, that was certain. She could get used to looking at him, and maybe even do some other things. She thought about him trying to cheat her. He couldn’t and that bothered her on two levels. First, she could never trust him and secondly, he was too stupid to pull it off. She was smarter, more talented than him. Why would she need him? He wasn’t really a very good player. She decided to keep these thoughts to herself.
“No, gringo. I am going back to Mexico.” She decided not to say any more. She didn’t want to waste time and he wouldn’t listen anyway. She watched him get angry and prepared herself for action. He did not disappoint.
“Well, what if I tell you I could have you arrested, locked up and thrown in jail? You’ll never see Mexico again.”
Maria stood up and got close to him. She looked into his eyes and reached out, squeezed his cheeks together gently. “You are a nice boy, but you are in, ah, over your eyes, ah, in too deep water. You are in too far and I’ll forget that threat, but you have to go now, gringo.”
He stood, not certain what to do. She wasn’t afraid and not in the least intimidated by him. In fact, it was the other way around. He put up his hands in surrender. “All right, but you’re missing a plum opportunity, a plum opportunity.” He turned to leave. “Just one kiss?” He gave a look more confident than he was.
Maria looked at him. He was bold and a little drunk. She decided to humor the poor fool and kissed him gently on the cheek.
He was on her and threw her at the bed, missed, and they both landed on the floor. Maria was angry and tore at his face with her nails. He recoiled and screamed like a child. He fell back on his backside and held his bleeding face. “Goddamn, why’d you do that?”
She got up and found a rag and fresh water. When she turned he was pointing a little gun at her, a two shot not unlike Maria’s own. She dropped her shoulders in disappointment. She was not in the mood for this nonsense.
“What now, gringo? Are you going to shoot me with that little gun?”
“No, eh,… yes, if you make me. You’re going with me. We’re going to become a team, like that old bastard and his whore. We’re going…”
Maria had her own gun out now and pointed at the gringo dealer’s head. She stared him down. “This is what is called a Mexicano standoff, gringo. You shoot me, I shoot you. We both go to hell together.”
“If that’s how it’s got to be.” He fired and Maria obliged, her bullet passing through the man’s left eye, dropping him like a ragdoll.
His bullet was small, a little thirty one and Maria took the shot just above the nipple of her left breast. It felt like a bee sting and she sat down for a moment to think things through. People would be beating on the door soon and she had to decide what course of action she would take.
She pulled her dress down and looked at her back through a mirror. The bullet had not gone through. She breathed deeply and it was difficult to get her breath and this made her cough. She tasted blood. She was lung shot and knew it. She looked down and watched the blood seep out from the hole. She packed it with a washcloth and put her dress back on. She had to get to Alanza and out of there.
She gathered her things and barred the door with a chair. She stepped over the gringo dealer, looked him in his good but lifeless eye and grinned. “See you in hell, my gringo friend.” She opened the window and was gone.
She woke up the liveryman and his wife to fetch Alanza and her traps. The old man tacked Alanza up and worried over Maria. He could she was in no fit state to ride and her dress was now quite wet with blood. She ignored his protests and the man’s wife resolved to at least clean and dress Maria’s wound as best she could. She did a capable job.
“Adios, people. Thank you for your help.” She rode off, swaying a little in her saddle and the man was certain she’d fall before getting to the edge of town. They were good people and not used to patching up bullet holes in Mexicanas, but did not want to cause the girl any more trouble so they closed up and extinguished all the lights as soon as she was out of sight. They waited and watched, and sure enough, two riders came through, stopped momentarily at the stable and looked around. They continued in the direction Maria had ridden. The man’s wife gave his arm a squeeze. She’d been with him more than thirty years and could read his mind. He wanted to help the señorita. “It’s not for us, Dad, it’s not for us.”
Alanza galloped south as Maria went in and out of consciousness. By daylight they were at the edge of the red rocks, near her Indios, when she finally fell off. She slept heavily in the desert and began to dream of the couple she’d beaten at cards the evening before. The dream was vivid. She could hear them talking but she could not move or even wake up.
“She dead?”
“Not yet. Lost a lot of blood. I’ve got it.”
“Should we take her traps?”
“No. Someone could make a connection, just get the cash.”
“It’s, it’s a lot.”
“How much?”
“More than we lost, a lot more.”
“I pity her. Look at her. She was a card playin’ little bitch.”
Maria dreamed of the Indios and the red rocks and of Alanza whinnying at her. She dreamed that a dog was pushing her with its nose and then the dog became Alanza. She was hot and soaking wet with sweat and blood. At one point she felt beneath her head and thought she was resting on a comfortable pillow like at the lady fence’s house. It was a big goose down pillow and she put her hands up to feel it, fluff it a little, enjoy the coolness of the underside with her hot hands and her pillow was now little Rosario and her baby was hungry. She put her to her breast, the one that was shot and it hurt, ached all around her breast like when the German infant was nursing on it.
Then she sat up, too close to a fire ring. Juana and Ulla and Bronagh were all at the fire, but Juana was ten years old again. She was eating and Ulla pointed at Maria, signaling to everyone that she was finally awake. Bronagh chastised them, “Now, don’t be gettin’ on your high horse. She needed to go a wanderin’, it was in her blood.”
Juana pointed at Maria with a drumstick. “Look at the state of her. She’ll surely die, then where will we be?”
Ulla reached out with an ointment and now she was the yellow-haired whore from Nuevo Casas Grandes, “
Put this on your nipples, Maria, it soothes them.”
She sat up, leaning on an elbow and looked at the fire. She was too sleepy to speak or take the ointment and soon dropped back down. She could no longer find the pillow or Rosario but she was just too tired to care. She turned to face away from the fire and felt liquid hitting her face. The man, the shop owner, the dirty bastard Sanchez was there with the coal oil and was splashing her all over with it. He’d come back to burn her up. She sat up sputtering and felt the coolness of the rain. She was awake now and getting cold; the rain was coming down hard and lightning bolts were illuminating the sky. She had to get off the mesa.
Alanza knew it, too and was not far away. She’d been trying to wake Maria for most of the day and steadfastly waited nearby for her mistress to stir. She walked over and pushed her with her muzzle, as if to force her to mount up.
Maria did and they rode to an arroyo and waited at the edge, out of lightning strikes and away from the impending flood of water. She felt better now, drank some and ate a little dried beef. This she immediately vomited and resolved to drink only sips of water. She’d worry over food later as vomiting pained her in the breast terribly.
She was tired again and leaned back into the muddy bank, drifting between wakefulness and sleep. A thunderclap woke her and she looked around. Every time the lightning flashed, it illuminated a face in the bushes. Over there, the old man and old woman who raised her at the church, at another spot the old padre, looking as glum as ever, then the lady fence and her companion, and finally, all the Germans. They were in a group, the Germans, as if they’d formed a choir, were planning to sing at a Mass, but they never did. They just stood there, silently, watching her, waiting.
She shook herself and finally came fully awake. She was freezing cold and knew that she had a fever. She needed to find shelter fast.