Rancho Navarro
by VKS & MJRod
In this season 4 finale, the action picks up after "La Luna de Miel," Mano & Carmen's honeymoon to Hermosillo. Old friends return; new friends emerge. And the ending offers a surprise befitting a season finale.
Rancho Navarro Chapter One: Leaving Hermosillo
From beneath the shaded canopy of the carriage, Manolito Montoya peered out, his eyes scanning the horizon and stopping to rest upon the sweating back of Jorge, the Montoya vaquero driving the rig. Not one breeze, Mano thought as the buggy jostled and rumbled along the road from Hermosillo on its return to Rancho Montoya. He glanced to his right, noting Jorge's brother, Miguel, on horseback, riding alongside, a protective escort. Then Mano looked down and smiled at his new wife, Carmen de Navarro de Montoya, her coal black curls resting against his chest as she dozed, leaning against him. One of his arms enfolded her; his other arm rested against the open side window of the carriage. His brow glistened with perspiration, and he could imagine how uncomfortable Jorge must be, the sun blazing into his face. Sonora was, if anything, hot.
Carmen stirred, fitful, yet her eyes remained closed. Mano could not reach his pocket watch without disturbing her, but the sun showed ten o'clock. They should be home in two hours or so. Home. That thought still surprised him. But Rancho Montoya had become again his home. And his Uncle Domingo, if not quite like his father, was a welcome part of his life, a man who needed his help but asked very little of him. A man who got what he wanted by wits and guile. A gambler used to manipulating situations to his advantage. This was how Mano had found Carmen. Tío had arranged it all...nudging him rather than forcing him into her path. Ay, Tío. I owe you a lot, hombre, for this. Mano smiled. For her. They had been married less than two weeks, and each day, each hour, he loved her more. I do not deserve her, he thought again. This had become a recurring sentiment.
Such a pleasant luna de miel in Hermosillo it had been. What had Carmen said? "Marvelous." He touched the bandage over his left eye and laughed. Marvelous? They had been kidnapped and robbed. This woman should prove easy to please, he chuckled again, if this is her idea of marvelous. With satisfaction he recalled the astonished look on the gang ringleader's face as he, Manolito, had pulled the thief from his horse before the man could escape. Only he, Manolito, had risked pursuing the rogues who had held a dozen or more couples-guests who had attended the governor's ball-in a filthy warehouse where they had been relieved of their valuables, including his Carmen's jewelry. It had not been much of a risk really. The thief had underestimated the resolve of his quarry. Or at least one of them.
The truth was, the thief had rightly estimated the lack of resolve of the aristocratic class of Hermosillo who made up the bulk of the victims. No doubt he thought them all soft, Mano mused. So had Santa Anna thought the aristocracy soft...when the Polkos rebellion had sapped money and energy from the effort to fight the Norteamericanos in the Mexican American War, or whatever they called it now. Mano had been but a little boy then, but he remembered his father's outrage at the jellied backbones of the effete upper classes. Not so Don Sebastian de Montoya. His father, who defined the aristocracy, also defined courage and boldness. But then one does not carve out a living from the unforgiving desert if one lacks courage and boldness. Mira his brother in law, John Cannon. Mira his Papá. Mano knew he was considered an aristocrat but never would he be identified with inaction when his family was threatened.
This time it was his great grandmother's tiara that the thieves, who had the temerity to claim that their actions would benefit the poor, had tried to take. Oh no. He could not let that happen. So what if in reclaiming his family property, he also stopped the escape of the jefe of the banditos? A slick con artist...a confidence man who had wormed his way into the governor's ball. The man's name again? Valadez? Mano wondered if Tío Domingo knew this man. It would not be a surprise if he did. Tío, like his nephew, had sometimes walked on the dark side.
"Oh my husband, how long have I been asleep?" Carmen asked, stretching and moving from under his arm.
"An hour or so, mi preciosa. We have about two hours to go. Would you care for some water?" he offered her a sip from a canteen which she took with a smile.
"Gracias. And my love, how is your head? Does it still hurt?"
"No. I told you. It is nothing more than a scratch."
"I still cannot believe you pursued that bandito by yourself. Such a risk."
"Carmenita. you do not know your husband. I do not take foolish risks. I merely sought and found an opportunity. I acted. There was very little risk involved, querida."
"No one else stepped forward."
"They did after I had secured the man. Not until then did I need their assistance. They would have been in the way before. I was not sure any would come. This is why I called for you." Mano laughed. "I knew you would at least run out of the warehouse and hit him on the head."
"And so I would, but I am glad I did not have to do this thing. And the people were so grateful."
"I know, querida. Can you believe what they did for us?"
"It was generous. But given what you did, it was the least they could do."
"Still…" Mano smiled as he recalled the manager's comment when he had gone to check out and settle their bill at Hermosillo's Hotel Nacional, where they had stayed for their luna de miel.
"Señor Montoya, there is no charge. Your bill has been taken care of."
"What, Señor Garza? Por qué? What is this?"
"You have the gratitude of the governor and his guests that you helped. A grateful city. They would have held a special dinner for you both, with you the guest of honor, except that they knew it was your honeymoon and assumed you would rather have the time to yourselves."
"This is very generous."
"Not at all, Don Manolo. Not at all."
So he was now Don Manolo even in Hermosillo. Mano frowned at the title but reached into his wallet, peeling off a fifty peso note which he slipped to the manager. "Well, Señor Garza, you will accept this for your troubles, yes? The hotel has been exceptional: the room comfortable, and the service and food quite fine. We shall always have fond memories of this luna de miel." Garza had nodded and accepted the tip. He, unlike the wealthy benefactors who had paid the couple's bill, needed the money.
"Your carriage awaits, señor," Garza replied, indicating the buggy from Rancho Montoya parked by the curb. The doormen carried out two trunks, one of which they would ship to Rancho Navarro before leaving the city. Carmen had already wired the foreman of her family's rancho near Cajeme to expect the trunk in two days, and to expect the new Sr. & Sra. Montoya within a fortnight. The other, smaller trunk would come with them to Rancho Montoya. They had not intended to return to the rancho so soon, but circumstances being what they were, it seemed advisable. Mano turned again to Carmen.
"What do you have on the seat beside you, querida? Copies of the newspaper?"
"Yes, six of them from the Friday evening edition in Hermosillo. The headlines are about your heroics: 'Sonoran rancher foils kidnap and robbery scheme.' Allow me to read: 'Don Manolo de Montoya, of the Rancho Montoya….'" Mano stopped her with a sideways nod of the head and a wave of his right hand in a gesture of dismissal.
"I don't even know how that reporter discovered my name. I talked only to the policía. I gave no statements to the press. Ridiculous."
"Nevertheless, the whole city knows. I am taking a copy to give to Tío Domingo, and one for Victoria...and one for Mamá and Hector!"
"And the others?"
"I shall save them for the children we hope one day to have."
"It will be some time before these imagined children learn how to read, querida."
"I do not care. I want them to know of the bravery of their papá, although, if you do such a thing again, I will never forgive you," she said, her smile belying her tone, which she tried to make sober and firm.
"Well, they will forget about it soon enough in Hermosillo, and at least the news is confined there."
"Manolo, this was significant. The governor's guests robbed as they left the ball? Why, I am sure the news has preceded us to Mexico City. There is such a thing as the wire, you know. Reporters transmit stories with the telegraph."
"Ay Bendita," Mano groaned. Now his name would be a topic of conversation...the notoriety unwelcome, given the fact that Montoyas tended to attract attention and even enemies. "Wonderful. Not only does this Valadez know my name, but every criminal..." his voice trailed off. And some will get a huge laugh out of the idea that I assisted in the apprehension of a gang of cutthroats, he reflected. Well, it was done and he would do it again. "Carmen, Tío will probably not be as pleased as you might think, mi corazón. This draws unnecessary attention to the name of Montoya."
"Nonsense, mi vida! I cannot wait to show this to him!" she exclaimed while Mano rolled his eyes, surmising what his uncle's response would be. He smiled and kissed her, enjoying her excitement although he did not share it. Both husband and wife settled back in comfortable silence to watch the landscape shift from sandy coastal soil and grassy meadow to the higher elevations of Rancho Montoya, with its cloudless blue sky and its rocky outcroppings in the foothills of the mountains of Sonora. Within a few hours, the carriage rumbled past the large bronze lions marking the boundary of Casa Montoya and through the grand stucco arches of the hacienda courtyard.
VKS & MJRod pay tribute to the actors, creator, and writers of "The High Chaparral" with our season 4 continuation. We do claim the creation of Carmen, although we borrowed her name from a David Dortort script proposal. Delgado and the entirety of Rancho Navarro are our creations as well.