Fathers and Sons Chapter Ten: Business with the Alcalde
"Señores, the cattle are ready to be moved," Rodrigo announced after the shadows lengthened a little. The men rose and ambled toward the stable yard to collect their horses. Mano spoke to Ruiz for a few moments and then took Joe aside.
"Compadre, I have a favor to ask of you?"
"If it's cash Mano, I sure don't have any," Joe replied, cynical and unamused.
"Jose, how can you believe I would ask you for money, hombre? I am hurt." Mano tilted his chin down, but Joe could see he was trying not to laugh.
"Okay then, what do you want? I'm not working for free or getting involved in any more of your schemes, so you can forget that, too!"
"Joe, Buck and I have a little bit of business to do in Casa Cueva. Can you spare us as you gather the cattle and start the drive? We will catch up with you in a day or so."
"A day or so? You mean a week and we'll be back to Chaparral by then," Joe exclaimed, annoyed.
"No, Joe, really I don't. I mean a day or so and we will catch up with you, hombre, de verdad. I swear."
"Hmmm." Joe was not convinced. Mano had a habit of saying one thing and doing another. "Okay. Guess we don't really have a choice, do we?"
"Gracias!" Mano slapped him on the shoulder with a chuckle.
Joe just shook his head. He figured something bad, for him, was gonna come out of this "day or two," but he couldn't see what it was just yet. Probably find out down the trail a ways.
Buck and Mano rode into Casa Cueva just as the sun was setting, tinting the white adobes pink, orange, and gold. From the shade of the livery, Vaquero spied them and strode out to greet them.
"Mano, Buck, good to see you!" he called.
"Hey Vaquero, how you be doin'? Mr. Mayor, sir." Buck laughed at his own joke, while Vaquero just smiled in reply.
"How are our mares, amigo? And our partner?" Mano asked in a gentler tone than Vaquero remembered from their visit two weeks before.
"All are doing very well, Manolito. Roy and my Teresa have been working with the mares every day. They are becoming magnificent horses. If you had not already paid me, I would be thinking of increasing their price." And he laughed, so Mano laughed, too, and Buck laughed more.
The corral was cleaner, the fence posts straight and the rails smooth. Work had been accomplished here as well. Roy and Teresa were walking across the corral in the direction of the barn, when Roy looked up to see his friends approaching.
"Hey, Mano!" He ran to the fence just as Mano and Buck reached it. "Whatcha doing back here so soon?"
"We returned to arrange for the cattle drive." Mano said, regarding his young friend's face and that of Teresa, who did not rush over but who could not seem to stop looking at Roy.
"Oh. Well, things are fine here, as you can see. The mares are more gentle and we've got some of them working under saddle again. Exercise is good for 'em an' they seem to like to work."
"That's good, real good, Roy boy!" Buck said.
"I think so, Buck, I think they're gonna be great horses by the time Feb-uary comes around."
"Bueno! And then we shall come to take them to the Chaparral."
"Yeah," Roy's face fell. Muchacho, do not be so obvious, Mano thought, looking from Roy to Teresa, who still lingered some distance away but who had not yet taken her eyes off the young man.
"Muchacho, it seems you have found much to interest you here in two weeks besides the horses, eh?"
Roy looked down and kicked the dirt. "Aww. You know..."
"Whaaat?" Buck exclaimed, catching on. "You mean 'at little filly's caught the eye of our Roy boy?"
Roy smiled, face reddening.
"You are young, amigo. But she is very pretty, eh?"
"She shore is," Roy sputtered. "She knows all about horses an' she laughs so nice an' she's so sweet an' kind an' almos perfect."
"Hombre, to you she better be perfect, no?" Mano smiled.
"Or don't never let her know she ain't!" Buck chimed in, grinning.
"So Roy, what are you thinking, muchacho? Perhaps you want to marry this girl?"
Roy, panicked, looked at the men with wide eyes. "Yes. That's exactly whut I'm thinkin' but whut can I give her?"
"Amigo, you are a partner in a thriving business which has operations on both sides of the border, no?"
"No. I mean, yes."
"Well then you will have an income to offer. It will not be much, but perhaps you will stay here in Casa Cueva and work with Vaquero...and of course, you will continue to do work for Buck and me and the C-Bar-M."
"Gosh. Mebbe."
"Ain't no mebbe about it, Roy. If that little gal is willing."
"Buck, hombre, I know a few things about such matters. Look at her. She is willing," Mano said. "She is not what concerns me." Turning to Roy and raising a finger, he continued, "But look here, Roy. Are you ready? Marriage is a great responsibility."
"Yep, I only come close once," Buck mused.
"And I also. Only once," Mano said. "Roy, you must pledge your fidelity to this one woman until one of you shall die. Do you understand this?"
Roy nodded, mouth shut and eyes wide. What she sees in you, muchacho, I do not know, Mano thought. He clasped Roy by the shoulder.
"Her father and mother are dead, I am given to understand this?" Roy nodded yes. "Then you must ask the blessing of her uncle." Roy nodded again. "And hombre, let me tell you this, if you are not a good husband to her, Vaquero, he will kill you, do you understand this?"
"He shore will, amigo," Buck affirmed. "You'll be dead. Dead."
Roy's eyes narrowed. "I shore will be good to her, uncle or not. She deserves the best. An' I aim to give it to her." Such determination, Mano thought. Good, hombre, you will need it. He laughed.
"Have you, er, broached this subject with Teresa? Have you told her of your intentions?"
"Not exactly, Mano. But sorta. She talks about it a lot." I bet she does, Mano thought. Yep, Buck thought, Roy boy's a goner.
"Well, then, allow me tonight, since you are in my custody, Roy, to have a talk with Vaquero on your behalf, eh?"
"Would you, Mano?" Roy smiled big. "Oh, thank you, Mano. Thank you."
"De nada, amigo," Mano laughed. He had not intended to become a matchmaker but this match had possibilities. Buck chuckled, thinking Roy boy don't waste much time, do he? Mano cuffed Roy on the cheek as his own father sometimes did to him, then turned to find the alcalde.
"Vaquero?"
"Sí, Manolito?"
"May we stay with you tonight, hombre?"
"But of course, Manolito."
"In the morning, Ruiz is to bring us a horse on loan and we must depart early to catch up with Joe and the boys and the herd."
"Bueno."
That evening, in the humble adobe of the alcalde of Casa Cueva, Teresa prepared a fine meal of carne asada, beans, rice, and corn tortillas for them. She looked beautiful, wavy black hair flowing and dark eyes dancing. A striped woven sash tied about her middle gave shape to a blousy peasant dress and accentuated her tiny waist. Guapa, thought Manolito. Too bad she is so young. Roy dressed in a clean shirt. Buck had even dusted off his black duds before they sat around the wooden table in the home shared by Vaquero and his niece.
"This shore is good, miss," Buck said, stuffing beans and tortillas in his mouth.
"Sí, muchas gracias, Teresa," Mano agreed.
"De nada," the girl smiled.
They lingered over dinner, reminiscing about Vaquero's years at the High Chaparral, catching him up on the ranch and the Cannons. Family business. They had all had a stake in building the largest spread in Arizona. Wine flowed...and after wine, mescal. Buck's eyes drooped and he stumbled off to bed in Vaquero's room. Roy headed out to the barn and Teresa to her bedroom.
"Mi casa es su casa, Manolito," Vaquero insisted, intending to give up his room to his guests.
"I shall sleep in the barn with Roy and will be most comfortable, amigo," Mano assured him. "You and Buck take your bed. But there is, cómo se dice, a matter of great importance that you and I must first discuss, eh? Shall we step outside?"
"Oh?" Vaquero, taciturn as ever, asked as they moved to the porch. "And what might this be, Manolito?"
"A real nice night, eh Vaquero?" Stars twinkled above and Mano raised a glass to them. He cleared his throat and looked at his old friend. "Our amigo Roy Lauder, Vaquero, it seems he is taken with your niece Teresa. You have noticed this, no?"
Vaquero smiled. He had noticed.
"Roy would be, ah, interested in becoming the husband of Teresa, with your permission, Vaquero." This news also came as no surprise.
"Tell me about this man, Manolito."
"Hombre, he is young and a hard worker. His parents are dead. I met him in less than auspicious circumstances some months ago."
"Oh?"
"Yes, I might as well tell you. It seems he had fallen in with a bad crowd and was robbing stages in New Mexico."
Vaquero laughed. This he had not expected.
"I convinced Roy of the error of his ways. He even ended up saving my life. To make a long story short, amigo, he was given a suspended sentence for his criminal activities and released into my custody."
"Custody? Your custody, Manolito?" Vaquero chuckled, his eyes twinkling.
"Yes, remarkable is it not? Well I brought him to the Chaparral to work and Buck and I discovered how good he is with horses."
"Your breeding operation."
"Sí."
"Mano, Teresa is the only family I have left since the death of my sister and her husband. I do not wish to lose her."
"Hombre, our breeding operations extend to both sides of the border, eh? They could stay here with you, amigo, if you will give your blessing."
"She seems fond of him. Of course it will be her decision. And her dowry will be most limited."
"Living with you should be enough of a dowry, amigo. And perhaps, with the sale of our horses, Roy will one day have enough money to build a little adobe here for his Teresa, eh?" Perhaps I shall even give them a sum toward this, thought Mano.
"Is he a good man, Manolito?
"Sí. He is loyal. But he is also, cómo se dice, naive…easily led. Horse sense he has; common sense, ah, quién sabe?"
"Teresa is strong willed. She will have no trouble leading him," Vaquero laughed.
"And this is probably just as well, amigo," Mano laughed also. "They can be young and stupid together, eh?" Then, in a serious tone, he added. "Eh, Vaquero, this Roy can use a father, entiendes? He will listen to you." And he will be in your custody then, amigo, Mano thought with a mixture of satisfaction and relief.
"Is he a Catholic, Mano?"
"No, I do not believe so. But I am pretty sure he will convert."
"He will have to talk to Father Ruffino or Padre Sanchez."
"Yes, yes, this he will do."
"He is a gringo."
"Sí, he is, Vaquero. But one cannot help one's birth, eh?"
Vaquero nodded and looked at the stars. After a minute he spoke.
"Manolito, when he comes to me, I shall give my blessing if this is what Teresa wishes...and if he will seek the counsel of the church."
"And I shall give them a handsome wedding present," Mano said, smiling. "Of course first I shall expect a kiss from the bride." The men laughed. "Perhaps when we return in February for the mares, it may be that we shall also attend a wedding, no? Or perhaps at a later date?"
"Perhaps. I hope he is as good a man as you say, Manolito."
"Hombre, I told him if he is not good to her, you will kill him."
"And you can believe I will," Vaquero smiled. "This you can believe."
They embraced as old friends should, and Mano, whistling "La Gallina," made for the barn, where he knew Roy would be sleepless and waiting.