Maria's Trail (The Mule Tamer) Read Online Free

she’d be there or even
what she’d do after reacquiring her necklace.
    She had reached the area just outside of town
by dusk and decided to bed down in the desert. She felt safe in the desert and
vulnerable in the town. That puzzled her. She thought a lot about her short
time in the town and the shopkeeper and rurale who were not good to her. It
seemed that the desert was safer as it had no people in it.
    She made a fire and found water and filled her
gourd and settled down for the night. She’d made her camp in an arroyo so that
her fire would draw no attention. No one taught her this but it was reasonable
to think that it would be best to remain invisible. She found an armadillo and
killed it with a blow from a stick and ate it. At least she wasn’t hungry and
she was safe. She was alone and she missed the old woman, but the thought of
being alone did not bother her as much as she thought it might.
    Before going to sleep, she had to urinate. It
still hurt but not as bad as before and she no longer bled. Her wound was
healing. She went to sleep.
     

Chapter III:  Juana
     
    She made it to the corral and the water trough
and remembered the building well. She looked left and right; there was no one
around. She had begun to dig when a voice called out. She jumped and tried to
hide what she was doing.
    “What are you on about there?”
    She looked up and saw a child peering at her,
trying to see what she was digging at. The child was about the same age as the
little girl, no more than ten. She was about the same height but she was quite
round and the little girl thought that she must be from a wealthy family to be
so fat.
    “Nothing.”
    The fat child pushed her aside and began
looking at the spot. “Oh, you are looking for something. What is it?”
    The little girl pushed her back and placed her
body between the hole and the fat girl. And now the fat girl, with a good deal
more force than one would expect, struck the little girl along the side of her
face, knocking her to the ground.
    She was suddenly furious. Tired of so much
injustice, tired of being mistreated by so many and now this fat little girl,
someone akin to her size, had attacked her. The little girl jumped up and began
beating at her attacker, smacking her over and over, like a wild beast. The
chubby girl recoiled, not expecting such an attack. She retreated and held her
nose which was now freely spouting blood.
    “God damn you! You didn’t need to do that.”
    “I’m sorry.” She wasn’t really but knew that
she’d won. There was no reason to be cruel and she had a kind heart.
    “Jesus!” The girl pinched her nose to keep from
bleeding all over herself. She spit a gob of blood onto the ground. The two sat
together for a while and the little girl kept an eye on her buried treasure.
The fat one looked her attacker over. “What’s your name?”
    “Maria.”
    “Where’d you come from? I’ve never seen you
before.”
    The little girl pointed southeast. “Back
there.” She looked over at her nemesis who had by now staunched the bleeding.
“What’s your name?”
    “Juana.”
    “I’m sorry for making you bleed.” She regarded
the girl and thought that she might perhaps live with her. “Do you live in this
town?”
    “Yes.”
    “Where?”
    “Here, there, everywhere.” She shrugged and
smiled.
    “You have no home?”
    “No.” She grinned, she could read the girl’s
mind. “I know, I am too fat to be a vagrant.”
    She regarded the girl again. “Maria.”
    “What?”
    “Nothing. Just saying your name. Named for the
Virgin.”
    “Who’s that?” She suddenly had an urge to
urinate again and ran behind the trough as Juana looked on.
    “Oh, you’re in a state.” She watched the little
girl wince as she peed. “Let me have a look.”
    “Where?”
    “Down there.”
    “No!” She stood up and straightened her skirt.
The fat girl was appalling.
    “Who did that to you?” She suddenly had a
thought. “I know!” She grinned and