La Luna de Miel Chapter Nine: Hermosillo
After a quiet day of sleeping in, packing trunks, and playing cards, they bid farewell to Don Domingo the following morning after breakfast, bags loaded for Hermosillo and Rancho Navarro.
"Gracias, Tío, for everything," Mano said, embracing his uncle. He had grown fond of the old gambler, now no longer a ne-er do well, but the family patriarch. There is hope for us all, Mano mused. Tío may not love me as well as Papá, but he may understand me better. He regretted this thought as somehow disloyal to his father, but it was the truth nonetheless.
"My beautiful niece, you will take care of my nephew?" Domingo said with a smile, accepting a kiss and hug from Carmen.
"I think he will take care of me, Tío," she smiled.
Mano lifted Carmen into the covered carriage and they settled in the backseat, while Jorge drove. Jorge's brother Miguel, also a Montoya vaquero, rode along on his horse as added protection. After the fiasco in Nevermore two years before, Mano never again intended to leave on a trip without at least one man on horseback as a safeguard. Besides, Jorge would need some company coming back. The buggy jostled and rumbled along the Hermosillo road. Not many miles out, Carmen, lulled by the rocking of the carriage, leaned against Mano and fell asleep. He kept his arm around her as he watched the lofty saguaros and distant mountains give way to harsh rocky land and, finally, the flatlands of Hermosillo, nestled among granite and sandstone foothills. Carmen, who drifted in and out of sleep during the four hour ride, awoke in time to see Spanish churches and buildings loom into view as they reached the road into the city.
"Oh, Manolo, look at the fountain!" Carmen exclaimed as the carriage bumped along the brick drive encircling a massive stone fountain in front of the magnificent Hotel Nacional, Water spurted from the mouths of marble nymphs and a central stone swan crowned its elegance. Even Mano was impressed by the hotel's colonnaded stucco facade sporting polished brass gaslights and wrought iron ornamentation. Large carved stone steps led to gleaming wood and cut glass doors.
"Gracias," Mano said, nodding to both Montoya men and slipping Jorge two twenty peso notes as they unloaded the two trunks which hotel attendants scurried to carry inside. "Get yourselves something to eat before heading back, eh?" He knew that was enough for food, drink, and something to spare. Jorge acknowledged the gesture with a smile. "We shall see you in a month or two, sí? Keep yourselves out of trouble!" Mano exclaimed with a grin as he helped Carmen out of the carriage.
"Whoa, beloved, let me help you," he said, noticing that she seemed a bit unsteady as she stepped down. The journey has been a strain, he thought. We have traveled far and fast, without much sleep beforehand. "Are you all right, mi corazón?"
"Gracias, Manolo, I am fine. Just a bit tired," she replied. "Oh, Manolo, isn't this beautiful?" They proceeded up the steps, Carmen leaning against her husband's arm.
VKS & MJRod claim the creation of Carmen Navarro, although we took her first name from a David Dortort script proposal. We also are the creators of the Vargas clan , Rancho Navarro and its people including Delgado, and all of the characters in and around Hermosillo. We would have nothing to create were it not for our favorite western, "The High Chaparral," to which we pay tribute.