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Margarita L
Contributed by
ramfire
on
Wednesday, 30th March 2005 @ 11:08:00 PM in AEST
Topic:
fictional
|
I
Miguel spoke to his guests in the library. The fandango was
over. Families had returned to the pueblo. Men drank promised tequila from peon cups. The tequila was very strong; Segundo was getting drunk. First rays of dawn came through the windows.
" Senores, the fence with strands of little sharp points is called barbed wire. Senor Copeland
has put up such fencing along his Rancho Arroyo Seco and it is hurting my cattle. He won't remove it."
Jose, spoke. " If he won't listen to you, Miguel, he won't listen to Arracho or me. Maybe we can get someone else to arbitrate this problem, someone like Father Cheliso."
Huerra disagreed. " I doubt if Father Cheliso would be acceptable, Excellency. Does habit and cross make him any less a Californian? Senor Copeland is a very prejudicial man."
Jose continued." We're under Mexican civil law. My friend, Governor Alvarado, will give me the necessary authority to have it pulled down."
Pedro gave the group strong words. " I'll pull it down myself, papa, with a reata and horse."
" No Pedro. That would only lead to bloodshed."
Huerra spoke. " I have an idea, Miguel. Perhaps it is good, perhaps not."
" What is that, Arracho?"
" If we agree to reopen the cantina and agree to keep all the cattle away from Arroyo Seco, perhaps he will agree to take his fence down."
" Such a guarantee is hard to keep. It means driving several thousand head ten miles south making certain they don't return."
" You could do it. The result would be worth the effort."
" I don't like to think he's getting the best of me. My choice fields would have to be abandoned."
" Temporarily, Miguel."
" What do you mean?"
" I could make him an offer to sell. It would be a good offer he couldn't refuse. I would deed the property back to you taking your note at a low rate of interest. In a year at most, Arroyo Seco could be yours again."
Jose gave a big smile and words. " It's a good idea, Miguel."
Miguel chewed on the idea for a while and then spoke. " Yes, Jose. It's a good idea. I like it."
Huerra gave a little cough. He spoke words again to remind Miguel of an earlier promise made to him. "Yes, I could do such a thing, but it would be easier for me to do it if Margarita were my wife."
Miguel acknowledge the promise. " You get Senor Copeland to sell the land and you will have Margarita."
Such renewed promise made Huerra bold.. Smiling, he said, " I have several beautiful horses Segundo's been training, Miguel. My heart would take pleasure if they could graze here. Your west lands are the best in the state."
" I could let you do that."
" I would need to stay to supervise their care."
" That land is for Margarita after she's married."
" Is three months too soon for the wedding, Miguel?"
" Six months is better."
" As you wish."
" What will happen to the horses?"
" They will be yours. There's no need for interest on the note either."
" Good."
" Can we shake hands?"
" I've one condition, Senor Huerra."
" What is that?"
" If you can't persuade Senor Copeland to sell his land, I can't promise you Margarita."
Such a condition seemed trivial. " Senor Copeland will sell his land. It will be a beautiful wedding."
Segundo offered a toast to the wedding. " May my patron and the beautiful Senorita Margarita be ever happy and have many sons."
Jose was surprised by the suddenness of Miguel and Huerra's understanding. Things were not moving in the direction Father Cheliso suggested. If Senor Copeland were the father of Edwardo, he should be the one engaged to Margarita, not Arracho. If this yanqui was not father, then -----? The twisted puzzle was complicated. He brought the cup to his lips but he didn't drink. Since Lapa's "campanario" conversation with Father Cheliso, his conscience had gnawed at him like an aching tooth. Did moral rightness outweigh family loyalty?
Pedro spoke. " Don Huerra, I know where we can have some fun with a bear."
" Where is that, Pedro?"
" Across the river below Mount San Laurius' north spur. I saw him there yesterday."
" He has seen `El Vicioso'," Miguel clarified. " The Grizzly bear likes to go where he pleases. Sometimes it doesn't please my bulls. Bulls are foolish; they try to stop him. Already Vicioso's killed three of them this summer. For a man, it's never safe to be without a horse. If you would like, we could search for him later. With luck we might find him then we would have an hour's good entertainment."
" Do we kill him, papa?" " Yes. He's a danger to man and horse."
" We can give his skin to Arracho and Margarita for a wedding present, papa."
" A good idea, Pedro. Bear skins make excellent rugs. How does that sound to you Arracho?"
" I've never known such generosity, Miguel"
" But first we must find him. Vicioso thinks he is king of everything. That is his weakness. He is overconfident. He doesn't fear man. We must teach him a lesson, eh amigos."
Arracho smiled at Miguel's cruel intent. " You're right Miguel," he said. " Perhaps a little suffering will make him more respectful."
Segundo, finishing a fifth cup of tequila juice, entered the conversation. " Senores, I beg your pardon if I speak out of turn."
" Speak Segundo," Miguel said pouring him another cup of the agavi drink. " What you say is always important."
" Thank you, Patron. Thank you for wanting to hear me. What I have to say is not too important though, if you'll forgive me. What I have to say is this. We should notch Vicioso's ear before we kill him." He cut the air as if he were holding a naked blade emphasizing the act.
Arracho laughed out loud. " You hear that, Miguel? Segundo thinks a notched ear would make him more respectful before death. What do you think, Pedro? Would such a thing make El Vicioso humble?"
" I think a notched ear is just right for him, Don Huerra."
Bald vaquero spoke to his foreman.
" Segundo, could you notch his ear if you are drunk?"
" I could do it."
" I think you could, Segundo. Miguel, would you allow Segundo to notch Vicioso's ear?"
Miguel, smiling broadly at the humor of Segundo's sadistic suggestion, answered pitilessly. " If Vicioso doesn't like our friendship, Segundo can notch his other ear too."
Pedro nodded head in agreement. " I could pull his big tooth too," he joked.
" Senores," Miguel apologized." I must ask that you'll excuse me now for a short time.
Luisa's told me earlier she has something very important to say and you know how angry she gets if she is kept waiting too long. While I am gone, I leave another bottle of tequila for you. I will only be gone a short time then we will see about Vicioso."
Jose answered his brother. " Vicioso will wait, Miguel. Luisa won't. We will be here when
you return."
11
Jose spoke to his wife. " Don Huerra has asked for Margarita's hand in marriage."
Luisa's round eyes lit up with pleasure. " How soon, Miguel?"
" In six months."
" Too long!"
" Why?"
" Margarita still loves the yanqui and is unrepentant."
" How do you know such a thing?"
" Theresa told me. She said Margarita confessed that bad thing in the carriage on the way home from church last Sunday. Theresa said that Margarita will use first opportunity to run off with her
unknown gringo lover."
Miguel pulled up a chair and sat; news was upsetting. " Perhaps she misunderstood. Perhaps
Margarita said that at first opportunity she'd identify the gringo."
" Oh no Miguel. She was definite about what Margarita said. Theresa said that Don Huerra's foreman must have overheard conversation because he was the driver. She said if we didn't believe her ask him."
Miguel rose from chair in agitation. He fingered the long scare on the right side of his face. The scar extended from his eye to his chin over the cheekbone. Whenever he was upset, the scar became red and inflamed. It was a result of a bull hooking him at slaughter time twenty years before. The wound had been serious; he was lucky his eye was left undamaged.
" We are going after Vicioso this morning, Luisa. I'll ask Don Huerra's foreman about
Margarita's words as we ride. If he acknowledges the conversation, marriage will be much sooner. This time I'll get the yanqui's name from her. I've always thought it was Senor Copeland but haven't had proof. If it is, I shall castrate the gringo before I kill him."
Luisa's round eyes glowed with excitement. She liked the way Miguel talked. She liked looking at his savage scar. She liked thinking about the gringo retribution.
III
Mount San Laurius's north spur was considerably lower than its major peak. The pines and cedars, growing so densely at an higher altitude, didn't extended their growth to include these serrated escarpments. Chaparral and Yucca whipplei grew here; it was the home for small game and rattlesnakes. At the hill's base, cottonwoods lined the river's edge. The area was overgrown with grass, a good place for cattle grazing. In the Spring, fields were embroidered with stitch work of beautiful light-blue and violet Hyacinth blossoms. Poppies grew here. Firecracker Flower and Golden Brodiea bloomed too. During summer flowers were few.
Vicioso was interested in the trees for bees stored honey in the hollow limbs and trunks. Bulls didn't like bear's presence. Vicioso didn't care; he happily ate the bee's honey welcoming bull fights.
Sun was over the eastern range when riders left Rancho San Laurius. Miguel rode beside Segundo.
" Is it true Segundo?"
" What's that, Patron?"
" You drove Jose's carriage Sunday?"
Segundo was plenty drunk and had to make a great effort to pronounce his words right. His speech was slow because the tequila juice had made his tongue thick. His eyes too wouldn't really focus right either, but he rode his horse as if all things were right with him and the juice didn't affect him. After a minute to get his mind right, he spoke back to Miguel.
" I am ashamed, Patron."
" It's all right Diego. Tell me if it is true."
" It is true."
" Did you hear Margarita's conversation with her aunt Theresa?"
" Patron, I never listen to women talk. It is always so stupid."
" Segundo, don't lie to me. If you listened to their talk tell me. It is very important!"
" I listened, Patron. Forgive me."
" Good! What did you hear?"
" Foolish talk. Always it was foolish talk."
" Did Margarita say she still loved gringo?"
" Yes."
" Did she say she's going to run away with him?"
" Yes."
" Did she say when?"
" No, Patron. She said it would be a long time from now, I think."
" Did you tell this to Don Huerra?"
" Yes."
" What did he say?"
" Nothing. He thinks he can make Margarita love him."
Don Huerra's attitude was good; gringo complication didn't seem to bother him. Miguel was
satisfied. What Huerra didn't know about Edwardo, Margarita's infant son in Mexico, would not hurt him. There was no sense in mentioning that entanglement. " Thank you vaquero. Thank you for being honest."
Segundo felt uneasy. Had he betrayed some confidence? Maybe the tequila had made him admit too much. Arracho would tell him later. He brought his hand up to his sombrero in a half-salute. " It is nothing, Patron. I don't know anything else."
Miguel smiled. " We go catch Vicioso now, eh vaquero?"
" Yes, Patron. Vicioso needs his ear notched." Again, with a quick gesture, he cut the air with an imaginary knife.
Miguel laughed. " We will have some fun, eh Diego."
" I think so."
.
Copyright ©
ramfire
... [
2005-03-30 23:08:00]
(Date/Time posted on
site)
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