REBELS WITH A CAUSE
"Senor Marston, wake up. Senor Marston, come on, wake up!" A Mexican servant poked Jack as he slowly woke from his slumber. Groaning, Jack pushed the man's arm out of the way and sat up, glaring angrily at him for disturbing his sleep. The servant stood back quietly and Jack slowly climbed out of bed. Already dressed, Jack simply grabbed his hat, hooked his gun belt around his waist, and slid his rifle into the sling.
"I'm ready to go," he said.
"Alright, senor. Come, you have a long way to travel, but first you must get something to eat." The man led Jack out of his room and into the dining room. Jack marveled at the room's grand appearance; over a dozen large tables with fancy chairs filled one part of the room, and another part was occupied by a stage where entertainment performances could be held. Jack sat at the table closest to the stage and idly put his feet on the table, relaxing.
"Uh, you should not do that," the servant said.
"I'll do as I please," Jack said defiantly. The servant sighed and walked to the kitchen, returning twenty minutes later with Jack's food. On the plate were three large enchiladas and a side of well-cooked scrambled eggs. The servant also placed a glass of clear and clean water on the table. He pulled out a small handkerchief and tried to tuck it into the front of Jack's shirt. Jack stopped him by grabbing his arm and quickly snatching the handkerchief from his hand.
"I can do it myself," he said. "I ain't armless." The servant quickly left Jack alone, having finished his job and being somewhat annoyed with him. Jack smiled and rubbed his hands together, thankful for such a large meal. He wasn't used to dining accommodations like these, nor was he used to eating such substantially large meals, and to top it all off, the water was crystal clear! Starving, Jack quickly scarfed his entire meal down, leaving no time to savor the taste of the food. Just as he was finishing, a Mexican army man entered the dining room.
"Hola, Jack," he said, sitting across from Jack. "My name is Carlos Montino. President Reyes has told me to take you to Nosalida and to explain what you will be doing there. We will ride on horseback to Nosalida as soon as we are done talking. I will take you to the edge of the camp, but I will not go in myself. It is too dangerous. Once you are in the camp, act friendly and tell them that you are interested in helping the rebel cause. You will be our fly on the wall, in a way. Once you learn enough, return to the palacio and tell Reyes everything you have learned. Before we leave, do you have any questions?"
"No. Let's get going."
"Excelente! Come, I have prepared the horses." Carlos led Jack out of the grand palace to a large stable behind the palace. The stable sat on the north side of the backyard, which was several acres in size. Jack was amazed by the grandeur of the beautiful backyard; bushes and flowers lined the pathways, and a large fountain with a statue of Abraham Reyes sat in the center. The paths were of fine cobblestone, made up of smooth rocks taken from the San Luis River. A path led from the stable to the spot where Jack and Carlos were standing, and they followed this path and entered the stable.
Inside the stable were over a dozen of the finest horses in Mexico. Carlos led Jack to a deep brown (almost black) horse with a silvery mane and dazzling blue eyes and said, "This is your horse, senor. One of Reyes's finest horses for one of Reyes's finest friends." Jack grinned happily as he mounted his new steed, but wondered what had happened to his palomino. He figured it was probably still in Chuparosa, so he didn't worry. The horse nickered softly as a show of acceptance of Jack. Carlos hopped onto a light brown horse and slowly led Jack out of the stable.
Once they had left Mexico City, Carlos turned to Jack and said, "Nosalida is a day's ride from here, just on this road. We will camp once before we reach Nosalida, then you will ride into town in the morning."
"Sounds good to me," Jack said. The two of them rode toward Nosalida, neither saying a word to the other. Jack didn't feel like talking; he just wanted to get this over with so that he could get back to doing what he had been doing before. He wasn't looking forward to the task ahead, and he didn't know exactly how everything would go down, but he hoped it would all turn out alright. Or, at the very least, he hoped that if his death came in this rebellion, it would be as quick and painless a death as possible. Jack wanted to die, but he didn't want to suffer.
Neither of them spoke until the sun was about to set. After almost a day's worth of riding, Carlos finally spoke up. "Senor Marston, have you ever raced horses before?"
"No, but I think I could hold my own in a race?"
"The camp is already set up; there are several army men there already. You can't miss it. I say we race there and see who will win."
"If you really want to, I guess we could," Jack said. "But I ain't goin' easy on you, so get ready to lose."
"I am much older than you and have been riding horses since before you were born. I think I can win in a race against you. Now let's race! Rapido!" Carlos and Jack spurred their horses hard, and within a few seconds their horses were running full steam ahead. Jack's horse was somewhat faster than Carlos's, but Carlos had much more experience in horse racing. Unknown to Jack, Carlos had been a Mexican racing champion in his younger days, and had only lost a handful of races. While Jack spurred his horse like crazy, Carlos spurred his strategically, being careful so as not to hurt his horse.
Despite Carlos's skills advantage, Jack's horse was much faster, and he quickly caught up to Carlos. Jack smiled and tipped his hat as he passed Carlos and dashed ahead. After forty seconds, Jack and Carlos saw some lights up ahead. "That's the camp!" Carlos yelled as he started to catch up to Jack. "Seguir adelante!" Jack and Carlos both reached the camp at about the same time, and they dismounted their horses, giddy and laughing about the race.
"I won!" Carlos exclaimed. Your horse may have been faster, but I won."
"No, I won!" Jack said, chuckling. "I beat you fair and square!"
"Whatever you say, Senor Marston."
"So what kind of camp is this?" Jack asked curiously.
"This is our base camp. Here is where we keep an eye on the rebels without them attacking us. We have much ammunition here just in case they want to attack. We can fight them off well here. You will be here for a short time. When you finish your day's work in Nosalida, you will come back here and tell us if they have told you anything. Comprende?"
"Yeah, I comprende," Jack said.
"Great! Now go to sleep. You have much to do tomorrow."
The next day, Jack entered Nosalida alone, as the army men didn't want to risk going in themselves. Jack looked around as many of the rebels huddled near buildings in blankets. One man with bloodshot eyes approached Jack and begged him in Spanish for something. Two young boys chased a small rodent around, and once they had caught it, they fought over who would get to eat it. Jack could see that this place was horribly stricken by poverty, and felt sorry for the poor little town.
One of the rebels approached Jack and asked, "Que estas hacienda aqui?"
"Uh…que?" Jack asked. "I'm sorry, I don't speak Spanish."
"I asked what you are doing here in Nosalida," the man said.
"I heard there was a group of rebels here. Where can I find them?"
"All over the place, senor. Sadly, we do not have much. We had much more once, but Cochino Reyes has taken most of what we have. There are more rebels scattered all over Nuevo Paraiso, but they are in hiding. We do not know what we are going to do."
"Well is there any way I can help?" Jack asked.
"I don't think so," the man said. "Who are you?"
"I'm Jack Marston. Son of John Marston. Who are you?"
"My name is Hernando. You are the son of John Marston? That is a name I have not heard in years. Are you much like your father?"
"What do you mean?" Jack asked.
"Well if you are, then maybe there is something you can do for us. I will take you to our leader, Jose Valentia. If there is something you can do, he will know." Hernando led Jack to the nicest-looking building in town, one that stood out in contrast to the more rotted buildings around it. This one was in good condition, made of adobe bricks with what appeared to be some kind of rebel symbol above the doorway. The floor was made of rotted wood, though, which creaked as Jack and Hernando walked on it.
Once the pair of men had reached Valentia's room, Hernando quickly left. Valentia stared Jack down with an intense gaze. He wore a fancy poncho, a typical Mexican sombrero, and dark work boots. His skin was a dark brown, somewhat darker than most other Mexicans. He had a mustache and very intense brown eyes which could pierce a man's very soul. His poncho was sleeveless, and Jack could see the raw power in the man's muscles. This man emanated power, and it was a mystery that such a man was in command of a relatively weak force of rebels.
"Who are you, gringo, and what are you doing here?" he asked, his voice echoing off the walls.
"I'm Jack Marston and I'm here to help you."
"Jack Marston? I have not heard of you, but I have heard of John Marston. Is he your hermano?"
"My what?"
"Your brother. Is John Marston your brother?"
"No, he's my father."
"Ah, I see. So did he send you down here, or is he here also?"
"He's dead. I came alone."
"Oh. Well, Jack, if you are half as good as I hear your father was, you will be of much benefit to us." Valentia stood up from his chair and paced around. "My forces have been exhausted over the last two years. Reyes has so much power that it is not easy to remove him from it. My sources tell me that the government is sending a wagon to Chuparosa to collect more tax money from the citizens. I want you to steal that wagon and bring it to me."
"What makes you think I'd steal it for you?" Jack asked.
"You asked how you could help. The government will suffer without that money. The government moves a lot of money and supplies. They are moving more money soon. You will be able to reach Chuparosa before they leave. I want you to take the wagon before they leave."
"But wouldn't that make the rebels look bad?" Jack asked.
"There is no way we could ever look worse than Abraham Reyes," Valentia stated. Jack knew that was correct, but was still skeptical about the whole thing. Nevertheless, he agreed to it.
"Alright, I'll do it," Jack said.
"Excellent!" Valentia said, excited. "The rebellion will live on thanks to you. Now go, the wagon should be there when the sun sets."
Back at the army camp, Jack told them about his first visit to Nosalida. After Jack explained everything to Carlos, he shook his head.
"That is not a government wagon," he said. "Valentia is just using that as an excuse to get money for his rebelion."
"So what should I do?" Jack asked.
Carlos thought for a moment. "This is not going to be easy," he said. "You've already agreed to the task of helping them, and it may raise their suspicions if you do not do as he asks. Do as he says, except make sure you only take a little bit to the rebels. He will not be able to use that money for his rebelion as long as it is a small amount of money."
"Makes sense to me," Jack said. "I should get going. He said the wagon will be there at sundown."
"Please discuss these things with us next time," Carlos said. "We won't compromise with the rebels on financial or other matters again. Good luck, Senor Marston."
As Jack started off toward Chuparosa, he began to think back on how poverty-stricken Nosalida was, and how that little town was the epitome of Mexico's poverty problem. And it wasn't just Nosalida; Jack remembered that most of the buildings in Chuparosa were dilapidated and the people looked poor. He remembered how happy everyone had been when he bought them tequila shots; it was probably the first time most of them had had tequila in a long time.
Jack suddenly grew angry at Reyes for causing all of this poverty. He had promised to make things better for Mexico, but he had only made them much worse. Jack almost decided then to just side with the rebels and give them the money they needed, but he remembered that Reyes had blackmailed him and told him that he would turn him in to the law back in the States if he failed to comply. And as much as he hated siding with the tyrant, Jack also hated the idea of being tried and hung by a jury. Jack groaned in frustration and decided that it would be better to just leave it alone for now. Having made this decision, Jack rode onward to Chuparosa.