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

to the mean man. Maybe the woman with the yellow
hair was her mother. Probably not. She soon fell into a deep sleep.
     
    She awoke to find food next to her bed. Juana
was sitting nearby, puffing on a cigarette. “Feeling better?”
    “Yes.” She looked around and then heard a party
outside the room.
    “Go ahead and eat, but hurry. We’ve got to get
out of this room. It’s needed.”
    She complied and ate and enjoyed the food. She
could not understand why they were all so good to her. She regarded Juana and
regretted hitting her earlier in the day. She spoke without thinking. “I’m
sorry for making you bleed, Juana.”
    “Oh, that’s okay.” She smiled at her. Juana had
a pretty round face. “I deserved it. I shouldn’t have been so cross with you.”
She brightened. “Let’s go get your things.”
    “How?” She was confused. She didn’t even know
where her things were. If they were in Sanchez’s shop, it would not be possible
to get them. She needed to urinate again and asked Juana where to go. She
handed Maria a chamber pot and turned her back. She understood her new friend
required privacy.
    Maria urinated and it didn’t hurt anymore.
    “That medicine is a dream.”
    “The whores know.” She grinned. “They always
know and they are good. You’ll never go hungry when there are whores, Maria.
That’s why I’m so fat.” She grinned.
    They left and wandered through town. It was
getting busy because some men had come in from a mine and were letting off
steam. Maria saw the rurale from the other day but he paid her no mind, as he
did not remember her. She got Juana’s attention and pointed him out. “Who is
he?”
    “Pedro, the rurale. He’s a real pendejo.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Oh, Maria.” Juana bobbed her head from side to
side. “You are the most ignorant bumpkin I’ve ever known. I’ll tell you all the
words, but later.”
    They were interrupted by some excitement. A
little man had been drinking with some friends and now they were humiliating
him. They all took turns holding his head as the man swiped at them, flailing
about and falling to the ground. One man became angry at him and began kicking
him. The little man became enraged. He screamed at the top of his lungs and the
bully laughed at him. The bully spat on the little man and then pinned him to
the ground. He ground his face into a pile of horse manure and told the man to
go sleep it off.
    Maria watched the little man. He was not unlike
her, except that he was drunk and to an extent asking for it, but there was no
call for pushing him into feces or spitting on him. There was nothing he could
do because he was so small.
    This is what Maria was thinking about her own
situation. There was nothing she could do but take it. Take it and be quiet
because the more the little man squawked, the more the bully man mistreated
him.
    Finally, mercifully, the bully became tired and
relented. He was becoming a little embarrassed in front of his friends. They
all knew the little man well enough, knew that when he got drunk it was best to
just leave him alone. He’d be better when he’d sobered up. He never really
caused any harm.
    Juana wanted to move on, but Maria wanted to
see how this little drama played out. She watched the little man. No one seemed
to notice him, only Maria, as they were all too busy with other things. She
watched as the man brushed himself off, rubbed the feces from his ear and
cheek, then walked away to his mount, still saddled in front of the biggest
saloon. He pulled something from the saddle and walked up to the bully man, got
his attention and, when the bully man turned, the little one shot him through
the head. The bully man was dead.
    This is what Maria wanted to see. It was possible. She needed only to learn how.
    “Come on, there’ll be trouble when Pedro, the
pendejo gets here. He always makes trouble.”
    Juana grabbed Maria by the hand and pulled her
down the street. Soon they were at Sanchez’s store.