The Maldonado Miracle Read Online Free Page B

occasionally looking back, he moved in a straight line through the knee-high weeds. Sanchez bounded almost soundlessly beside him.
    When they reached the road, Jose stopped and squatted in the weeds that flanked it. The lights of Tecate were over his shoulders to the left. Now and then, faint sounds drifted through. Music and the honk of horns.
    After he'd, caught his breath, he whispered, "Okay, Sanchez," and they were off again.
    In a moment, Jose could see the high fence and said, "Stop, Sanchez." He made out the dark mass of reeds against the bottom of the fence. That had to be the spot.
    "Come," he whispered and began to crawl. Sanchez seemed puzzled that Jose was traveling on all fours and kept bumping him. It took less than two minutes to reach the fence. He started to touch it but then remembered hearing that sometimes the fences were wired for alarm.
    On his knees in the damp earth of the drainway, he carefully parted the reeds and saw the open space, about two square feet beneath the fence. He whispered to Sanchez, "Go through."
    The dog stared at him, stumpy tail flagging.
    "Go through," Jose repeated.
    Sanchez sat down, panting heavily, his tongue out and dripping. He looked at Jose as if this were a rest time during a game.
    Jose snorted with frustration and decided he'd have to go under first. He started through but found himself almost crushed in the narrow entry when Sanchez piled in beside him, like a playful hippo.
    And then they were in the
Estados Unidos.
    It was all so simple.
    The American road was less than a kilometer away, and Jose stayed on his knees to look and listen. His dark face glistened with sweat. He made the sign of the cross and rose to a crouch, whispering, "Okay, Sanchez."
    They plunged on toward the road, stopping only when the headlights of a car lifted to spray the whole area with light. Jose flattened to the ground.
    Before going on again, Jose straightened up and looked both ways. Then he nodded off to the left. They angled that way, and Jose soon saw Gutierrez standing out in front of the raised hood, as if the Chevy were in trouble. The lights were on.
    A truck roared by, stirring the warm air, trailing exhaust.
    Jose stopped and crouched again. As the diesel noise subsided, he said softly, "
Señor
Gutierrez."
    The
pocho
did not even look up. His hands were down in the engine. But Jose heard his voice. "Move quickly. The trunk is open. Get in it."
    They raced for the back of the car. Jose whipped the lid up and crawled in, kneeling on the blanket Gutierrez had put down. Then he sprawled out on his side. There was plenty of room.
    Sanchez hesitated, puzzled. He was standing by the bumper looking suspicious. Suddenly he began yelping.
    "Shut him up," Gutierrez snarled.
    "Get in," Jose told the dog.
    Sanchez finally leaped up, and Jose pulled the lid down, closing out the stars.
    Sanchez was still confused and frightened. He began to thump around like a calf in a stock run, banging against Jose; trying to stand up. Enrique was right. Sanchez was insane. Punching him hard on a flank, Jose said, angrily, "Settle down."
    Up front, Gutierrez slammed the hood. He walked to the back, lifted the trunk lid, looked in, and banged it shut, saying nothing.
    Jose heard the car start and put his arm around Sanchez's neck. His throat felt as dry as the dust on the road to Enrique's.

6
    T HE INSIDE OF THE TRUNK smelled of exhaust fumes and rubber and metal. And, more and more, of Sanchez.
    The wheel by Jose's ear whined, and there was a steady roar from the tailpipe beneath him. He felt like an eel stuffed into a dark bottle. He was curled up against the right-hand side of the car, his head on the shelf-like base that usually held the spare tire.
    Sanchez was cramped against the other side, his paws extending to Jose's belly. He seemed resigned now and had stopped moving around.
    The old car roared on, slowing now and then for curves. There was plenty of air in the trunk when it moved fast but