The Nagyvradi Brothers

by Laszlo Endrody

“Hope he doesn’t hurt her too bad,” I told him.

  “She deserves what she gets,” he said.

  The captain stayed there the next day until evening. The maid was fretting and wanted to know what to do. We told her not to do anything or that captain might do something to her too. We gave her some food and she went back to the other room and stayed there.

  We spent most of our time fishing. We caught several tuna and I also caught a big dolphin. We cleaned the fish and the whole ship had a feast.

  The captain and mate finally made it back to their jobs. A couple days later we saw Her Highness too. She was a mess. We just ignored her.

  The captain was navigating again and we heard that it would be a fast crossing. It was exactly 18 days when they fired up the boilers and the captain inched her into a dock. Here too, the first thing they wanted to do was to offload the horses. When we had them on the dock we saddled them up.

  We said our goodbyes to the captain, the mate, and some of the crew. The ship’s agent was there and we talked to him about getting on a ship to New Orleans, but he didn’t know when they would have one.

  5

  We started towards town, stopping at every clump of grass to let the horses eat. People from town were going out to the ship to work cargo or to do business. We asked a person about a hotel and he pointed out a building in town, so we headed over to it.

  Luke did all of the talking in Spanish and he seemed to be communicating quite well. We planned on staying a couple of days and then starting our ride north to Texas.

  The fellow at the inn fixed us up with a room and a corral for the horses. We had to leave our packs and saddles in a shed at the corral. We asked the stableman to lock the shed for us. He locked it and gave us the key. This was good because we wanted to do some shopping and we could take things there.

  We ate at the hotel cantina. The owner’s wife cooked and his 13-year-old daughter served us. While we were eating, a big commotion broke out. A unit of the army had come into town, around 30 men. They were dragging ten Indians that they had tied up with them. The Indians were doing their best to run behind the soldiers’ horses. Everybody got excited. The owner sent his daughter out the backdoor. We had just finished our meal. It was very tasty but a little strange for us.

  The soldiers started to come into the cantina and ordered drinks. We were finished eating so we went out onto the street to see what was going on. Most of the soldiers were at the corrals. They were turning their horses in and tying up their prisoners to the corral bars. Their officer was looking at our horses, so we walked over to where he was. There was a younger officer with him and he asked us what we wanted. Luke told him that the horses they were looking at were ours.

  The young man just smiled and told us, “Not anymore. The colonel will buy them from you.”

  Luke said, “They are not for sale.”

  The colonel came over to us and explained that he had the right to buy whatever horses he needed for the army. He told us to come along and he would give us a paper that we needed to take to Monterey to get our money at the bank.

  We went with him to the cantina and he asked for a pen and some ink. He then wrote us a voucher for 100 pesos and handed it over to us. He then insisted that we have a drink with him. So we sat down at a table and ordered a beer. He was drinking some white drink they called tequila. He was acting like a gentleman. He wanted to know what we were doing there. We told him that we had just landed from a ship coming from Spain and we came to the United States to buy land.

  Our girlfriend from the ship came in dressed up nice. Two sailors were carrying her luggage. Her maid was with her. The colonel jumped up and he went over to her and introduced himself. He then kissed her hand and led her back to our table. He was speaking to her so rapidly in Spanish that Luke couldn’t follow what he was saying.

  We finished our beers and then excused ourselves. We then went up to our room to talk things over. We had to get our horses and ride out of there, and we had planned to do it after dark. Our room window was facing the corrals, so we were able to study the situation some. We planned to go out the window. Luckily it wasn’t too high, so we would be able to jump out. I suggested we walk up the street just to have a look at things from that perspective too, so we did.

  We went back to the hotel cantina and ordered two beers. We had a table back in the corner and we sat down. The colonel was drunk and pawing at the girl. The musicians were playing and everybody was nosily drinking. The maid was with some soldiers. Some of the soldiers dragged the owner’s wife out from the kitchen to dance with her. Luke said that he thought there was going to be a riot. The colonel got up and dragged the girl with him up to his room. Luke said, “It’s a good thing we don’t know her.”

  It was getting dark outside, so we went up to our room. We looked down from the stairs and someone had torn the blouse off of the owner’s wife. We went back to our room and I watched out the window while Luke lay down. Nobody could do much resting with all of the ruckus going on. Our lady friend next door was with the colonel and it sounded like she was going to have a busy night.

  After it was dark, we got ready and lowered ourselves down so that we only had to jump a short distance. A man dragging a girl was coming towards us, so we stepped back into the shadows. The lieutenant came by dragging the owner’s wife. He stepped by us and Luke’s gun crashed down on his head. The girl said, “Gracias” and ran off. Luke unbuckled the lieutenant’s belt that had his pistol in the holster and strapped it around him. I didn’t know why he wanted it.

  We then walked over to the shed where our things were. Luke whispered to me that the lieutenant had a six-shooter in his holster. I said, “Great.” I had seen a couple before, but they were impossible to get in Europe.

  When we got to the shed, a soldier walked out from the darkness and wanted to know what we wanted. Luke told him that we needed a couple of our things out of the shed. As the soldier got closer, Luke turned and asked, “What is that?” The soldier looked where Luke was pointing and I pulled my gun and cracked him over the head. Luke dragged him to the side of the shack and then I opened the shack. Luke then tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to another soldier walking next to the corrals. Luke then took off toward the soldier.

  A while later I could see that a fire had been started at the other end of the corrals. The light from the fire threw a little light on the soldier for a moment and then I saw Luke hitting him over the head.

  I then started carrying all of the saddles over to the small coral where our horses were. It took me six trips. My stud came to me as soon as I slipped between the bars and I put the saddle on him. I then put the saddle on Luke’s horse.

  Unbeknownst to me, Luke had cut loose four of the Indian prisoners that were waiting for execution the following morning. The first one loose went to the fallen guard and got his machete. Then he went and helped cut the others loose. Luke gave his knife to the last prisoner that he cut loose. The man looked at Luke and Luke pointed at the two soldiers standing by the fire. Luke then came back through the big corral where he let the bars down. The colonel’s big black gelding nosed up to him, so he led the gelding over to our end and let the bars down there too. He gave me a low whistle letting me know that it was him.

  I was still putting the packs on the mares when he came over to me and told me that he needed some rope. I already had the pack on a mare that had a length of rope on the pack, so I pulled it free and handed the rope to Luke. Luke then tied the black horse to a pack and put the last pack on a mare. I undid the bars at the creek end of the corral, looked back towards the fire and saw the Indians hacking at the now dead soldiers with the machete. I saw all of the horses coming out of the corrals where Luke had turned them loose. I led our string into the creek and led them south. We stayed in the water with the horses.

  About four or five minutes later, we heard a shot and then some shouting.
We just kept on going south in the creek bed. We made some splashing noise, but we were also putting a little bit of distance between us too.

  A while later, the moon came out and we could see a little. We kept going. We ended up stopping for a while right before daylight. We were in a bunch of trees with the creek running through them. There was a small hill and I went on top of it to have a look around. I took my glasses with me and I could see the town in the distance. I could also see three horses that were tied up in front of the cantina. Look joined me on the hill and he took a look too. We decided to stay where we were for the day.

  I fixed us up some bread and some cold meats and took some over to Luke. We ate and talked a little about the horses and decided to take the packs off of them. One of us would have to walk them around so that they could graze a little. This consumed our whole morning. We tied up the horses and unsaddled the rest. We didn’t see anyone heading towards us. I took over the watch and let Luke sleep a little.

  Down below they were riding and catching horses. They had about seven. Of course, we had no idea if there were some more riding still. I saw some men digging some holes and some soldiers were picking up the dead. I didn’t see the colonel come out to the funeral. I counted five dead. Those Indians must have been busy.

  When Luke woke up, I lay down for a while and must have slept some. When I woke up, I asked Luke if anything was going on. He told me, “They have nine horses. They stopped riding out. The other horses must be traveling.”

  We ate and kept watching. We had already decided that we would stay where we were for another day. We slept close to the horses and at daybreak I went up the hill with my glasses. A little while later, I saw a group of soldiers fall in and leave with the lieutenant leading them on a horse heading north. Nothing went on the rest of the day. We led the horses to grass and we also ate. We spent another night in the trees.

  That next morning, we saw a small wagon in front of the cantina being loaded with the Spanish ladies’ luggage. The colonel then handed her up to the seat with her maid sitting in the back. A soldier then drove the wagon up the road and soon all of the horses were being saddled. The colonel mounted up and led the remainder of his troops north.

  That next evening we started north ourselves. We went wide of the town and kept off the road. Towards morning, we made camp in some trees and rested for a while. We went around several small villages. We passed up the soldiers walking. The lieutenant was with them still. One other was riding a horse. They were probably confiscating horses on the way home.

  After about a week, we came to a good size village and spotted the Spanish woman’s wagon. It was in front of a building that could pass for a hotel with maybe four rooms. Luke said, “I wonder if she is still a snob?”

  I figured, and Luke agreed, that if we were going past them we would have to get up in the high ground on the other side of the road. We waited till dark and then crossed over. Then we gave the town some distance before we made camp.

  That next morning, we looked the country over ahead and behind and spotted about 25 riders heading toward town. We then saw the colonel and his lady coming with the troops. Apparently, the riders saw them too, because they disappeared from our view. As the troops passed us, a volley of firing started. The bandits rode down on the soldiers and hacked them to pieces with their machetes. The colonel and all of his troops were dead in a matter of minutes. Our lady friend was dragged off the seat of the wagon and so was her maid. They were rushed around while the bandits stripped everything off the soldiers. All of the horses were caught and led off in the direction they had come from.

  After the bandits were finished with the dead, they mounted up and picked up the two women and rode off. As they went by the wagon, some of them picked up the luggage and carried everything off. I really felt sorry for those girls now, but we couldn’t fight those men.

  Later that day, we started riding again. We came to some open country and we stopped and rested for a while. We started back after dark. We rode down to the road and traveled. Around midnight, we took the loads and put them on the two studs and the black and we rode two mares.

  The next morning Luke saw a deer and shot it with his new pistol. It was a small deer, but it was fresh meat. Luke sure liked his six-shooter. We made camp in some brush. There were no trees around. We boiled some of the meat for breakfast. Then we took out a pot and made some goulash. We couldn’t buy any tea in Tampico, though we did get some coffee, so we made some of that.

  After we ate our fill on goulash, we saddled up again because there was not enough grass to satisfy our horses. We rode a ways and saw some grass and let the horses graze it clean. Then we went on doing that until dark.

  We went out on the road and traveled until after midnight. We pulled off the road and rode into some trees. We noticed a Mexican picking up some sticks. We saw his saddle and a carbine leaning on it. We startled him; he dropped his sticks and raised his hands. He had gotten caught away from his rifle. Luke spoke to him telling him that we were bandits. He started to relax a bit and then Luke asked him if we could make camp with him. He said that he would make a fire and told us that he had a rabbit. We told him that we had some deer meat.

  We all relaxed and made some coffee and the Mexican started cooking. He had some herbs and pretty soon it smelled real good around the camp. As soon as the coffee was ready, we handed him a cup. He said that it had been a long time since he had had any coffee. He told us that he was a vaquero from Texas. He had just gone to see his grandfather and was headed back to work with cattle. He said that it was a man’s job and it paid well. He was almost in rags, so he must not have had the job for long.

  I told him, “We are going to Texas too. You can ride with us.”

  He replied, “I don’t have a horse.” He had lost his horse when it broke its leg, but he still had the saddle.

  Luke said, “You can ride the black” and the Mexican’s face lit up.

  We bedded down after our meal and that next morning we ate a little more deer and then threw the rest away. I noticed that night the Mexican hung several strips of meat on a stick and hung it over the fire, and then that morning he wrapped the meat in a cloth and put it away in his saddlebag. He then saddled up the black and helped us with the packs. We then rode out of there making sure to stay off the road, but still keeping it in sight.

  The Mexican wanted to know where we were going and I told him, “Monterey and then Texas.”

  Luke asked me, “Why Monterey?”

  I told him, “We have a voucher for two horses that we need to collect 1,000 pesos on.”

  He said, “I don’t understand.”

  “You will as soon as I get a pen and ink. You and our new friend will ride in and get a couple of things at the store.” I explained.

  “All right,” Luke answered.

  Luke then asked the Mexican what his name was. He replied, “Diego Porras.” We then told him our names. We noticed right away that he was an excellent rider.

  We stopped that afternoon and had some ham and potatoes that we needed to use up and we made some coffee. We tried to find some grass for the horses. We walked them around and then rested for about four hours until it started to get dark. We saddled up again and drank the last of the coffee. We got out on the road and tried to make good time.

  At around 2:00 a.m. we found a place to rest. When we saw Monterey, we were out in some brush resting from the night’s ride. It looked like a good size town from far off. It had a church that had two steeples.

  After we had rested up some, we started to ride a little closer to town. Around noon, I spotted a little farm with a man and young woman working out in a field. What interested me was they had two mules in a corral. I told the boys that we needed to go and pay them a visit. We rode up to them and asked the man if he had some corn for the horses and told him we were willing to pay. He had some and wanted one peso for i
t. I asked Luke to have Diego talk to the farmer and see if he would let us borrow the two mules to ride into town on and we would also pay him for that. Diego arranged it and I told Luke that I needed a pen and some ink. I showed Luke our voucher from the colonel and told him to add another zero to the end of the 100 pesos so that it read 1,000 pesos. Luckily the colonel had left enough room.

  Luke and Diego saddled up the mules while I tied up the horses and fed them some grain.

  Luke and Diego then went into town. Luke went to the store and bought some bacon, beans, a pen and ink. After that, they stopped at the park and fixed the voucher. Then they went to the bank.

  Luke handed the voucher to the banker and the banker said, “That is a lot of money.”

  Luke replied, “That was a lot of horses.”

  The banker then asked Luke how he wanted his money and he told him he wanted it in gold. They left the bank and went straight to the bakery and bought four loaves of fresh bread and a bunch of rolls, and then headed back to the farm.

  I saw them coming and saddled everything and filled the canteens and Diego’s water bag. Luke told me everything had gone perfect in town. I gave the farmer five pesos and he ran and got me another half a sack of corn. We thanked them and rode off.

  We headed for Texas. Diego told us the place we needed to cross at with horses was west of Laredo. He said that the river there was wide and not too deep, so that’s where we headed. Luke asked Diego where he was from.

  Diego said, “Texas. In Texas we have freedom.”

  “We want freedom too,” Luke exclaimed.

  We stopped and rested for a while and then rode again for half the night. I figured we would stop in Texas and rest up. I wanted to get out of Mexico. I had a bad feeling about Mexico, especially after seeing how poorly that farmer lived. No one in my village at home lived that poorly. No one ever went hungry. Nobody’s property was ever messed with by another Hungarian. Mexico was sick somehow. No wonder they had so many bandits.