Macho Caballo Page

MACHO CABALLO

PART I: CHAPTER NUEVE

FALSE TRAILS AND BAD ROADS



DISTRACTIONS:

“Where are you going?” demanded Estrellita.  Machita
realized that she had been dragging the blond girl along
with her toward the stairway.

“I saw the guy who had me chased at the marketplace,” said
Machita, “He was up at the head of the stairs, a bald guy
wearing a red and blue cloak.”

“There's no one there now,” said Estrellita, “He must have
seen you and left.”

Indeed, the landing at the top of the stairway was deserted.

“I think I am beginning to see things,” said Machita, “This
dress is cutting off my wind.”

“Don't start that again!” Estrellita said, “If you wouldn't
go around like a tornado, you wouldn't be out of breath all
the time.”

“This was not such a good idea,” muttered Machita as they
descended the stair, “My clothes are uncomfortable, my shoes
are killing me, I'm a guy in a dress at a *big* party, and
I'm seeing things.”  On the main floor, the party swirled
about them.  Clusters of girls and a few lone boys were
scattered throughout the house, but most of the guests were
parents and chaperones, while servants flowed between them.

“See anyone you want to talk to?” asked Machita.

“Naw.  Let's sneak outside again.”

“There is Señora de Muerte.  Maybe she has learned
something,” Machita turned to discover that she could not
find Estrellita.  She turned again and she was at a doorway
where she had seen the Doña.  “She must have gone through
here,” Machita said.


MESSAGES:

“Estrellita!” cried Maria, “I have something here for you.
It is from Alita!”

“For me?” wondered Estrellita.

“No, actually, it is addressed to Ramón.  Do you suppose you
could take it to him?”

“Sure.  But what would she want with Ramón?”

“Are you kidding?  She'd eat him up.  She has a big
simpatico for that boy!  By the way, what did you do to her?
She is *very* upset!”

“Alita got catty with my friend Machita and he... she
slapped her down, but good,” said Estrellita, searching the
room for her companion.  “I don't see Machita anywhere.  She
was with me just a moment ago.”

“She was that girl with the dark complexion, wasn't she?  I
haven't seen her either.  Maybe she went outside.”

“It's just like her to wander off, like that,” grumbled
Estrellita.



THE BEAT OF THE NIGHT:

The memories of how Ramón got into the corridor were vague.
He was pretending to be Machita, wearing a dress, looking
for Señora de Muerte, and he was no longer at the party.
The corridor opened into a small room.  On the other side,
it continued sharply to the right, with a lone candle on a
stand in the corner to light the way.

Looking back the way he had come, Ramón saw his shadow and
puzzled at its strange shape - the billows of the skirt
large at the bottom, tapering to a slim and shapely body at
the top - until he realized that he was looking at
himself... herself... The inside of her elbow brushed a
breast and Machita stopped in confusion.

Sounds of merriment echoed from behind, hushed in the
corridor.  The European orchestra had begun a fast-paced
dance.  Surely she must go there, but... to the right a
figure beckoned.  Doña Mercedes had appeared again, waving
her on.  Her heart thudded in her ears, making it difficult
to think.  Somewhere she heard the shuffle and grumble of a
badger.  Machita hurried on to the right after the Doña.



The dance was well under way, with older couples as well as
youths joining in the trot.  Estrellita had searched among
the party-goers until she despaired of finding anyone
familiar, then she left the ballroom and continued her
search in the back hallways.  Near the kitchen, she came
upon one of the vaqueros.

“Francisco, I cannot find Ramón,” she said, “He was looking
for Señora de Muerte.”

“The Señora is in here,” said Francisco, “But you must not
be seen with us.  It would be best if you returned to the
party.”

At that moment, Doña Mercedes appeared at the doorway.
“Francisco is correct, child,” she said, “We have found a
guarded building and our men will try to find out who is
within it.  You and 'Lucha' must go back inside.”

“But I can't find him!  He was beside me in the ballroom,
then he saw that man who tried to have him... her grabbed. I
got distracted, and the next thing I knew, he was gone!”

“While we are here, we must say 'she', Estrellita.  Always
think of Ramón as a girl.”

“Oooh!  I don't care about that!  *She* is missing, and I am
getting worried!  You didn't see the expression on her face
when she was trying to catch that man!”

“I will help you search, child,” said Doña Mercedes, closing
the kitchen door behind her.  She paused and added,
“Francisco, be careful.”

“Sin falta, Señora.”



Something gray and grumbly seemed to be constantly
underfoot, weaving between her ankles, interfering with her
progress.  The pulse in her ears was too loud to be her
heart - the sound was coming from somewhere beyond the Doña.
Machita stumbled over the badger and caught herself before
she fell, seeing the shape of the Señora dimly ahead.  There
was a lighted doorway beyond her.  When she passed the
opening, yellow candleflare made her cloak glow with blue
and red highlights.

“Señora?”  Machita called.


OPENINGS:

In the wan light of a gibbous moon, three men crept toward
the corner of a wellhouse.  One looked around the wall. “Two
guards,” whispered Pablo, who had been unanimously elected
to be the lookout because he was the oldest and the slowest.
Calpern and Francisco flattened themselves against the adobe
wall and advanced cautiously to peer across at the small
building and the men guarding its door.

From the great house a boy came running, spoke excitedly to
the guards, and hurried back.  The two men argued briefly,
then followed, leaving the door exposed.

“This is almost too easy,” complained Calpern.

“Nevertheless, it is our chance,” said Francisco, “We must
take it.  Pablo...”

“I will remain alert,” Pablo assured him as the cowboy and
the vaquero went ahead.

“Unlocked,” Calpern said, “Amigo, I don't like this.”

Francisco drew his pistol.  “Do you wish the honor?” he
asked as he drew the door open.

“Hell, no!” said Calpern, drawing his own weapon, “But it
looks like we got no choice.”  He slipped through the
doorway, avoiding bales and crates in the dim light thrown
off by a lantern.  The lantern sat on a table in the middle
of the one room building, and with it they could see a man
tied to a bunk at the back wall.  The man was Joaquim,
bleeding from a blow to the head.

“What the hell...?” Calpern asked, then turned at a noise
from the doorway.  There was Pablo, looking shamefaced, and
behind him were the two guards, brandishing weapons and
grinning victoriously.


FALSE TRAILS:

The air was close and still, and perspiration ran down
Machita's neck, staining the dress.  The vibration of the
drums made thought impossible, drawing her on.  The corridor
was endless, and she had walked for hours, it seemed, until
at last the figure of the Doña stopped at a portal and
beckoned her.

Machita’s way was blocked by the growling badger, now facing
her and barring the narrow entranceway.  It whistled and
grunted, stamping its feet as though warning her off.
Something about it filtered through the fog in her wavering
mind, like daylight filtering through heavy leaves... She
knew of a badger.  A badger with a name.  If only she could
remember... something.  Something about a badger...

“Come *on*, Lucha!” called Doña Mercedes, beckoning sharply.

The badger swapped ends suddenly, turning to face the woman
in the portal.  It growled now toward the Doña.  Suddenly it
launched into an attack, a leap which ended abruptly as the
Doña reached with apparent ease and swatted it out of the
air.  The badger thumped against the floor and skidded past
Machita, growling and working its short legs in an effort to
turn itself upright.  One leg appeared bent at an unnatural
angle.

“Papa?”  Machita looked closely at the injured animal.  It
turned knowing eyes to her and limped snarling toward the
figure in the doorway.

That figure spoke in a commanding voice, deeper than the
Señora's, “Come on, child!”

[She called me ‘Lucha’,] thought Machita, so she asked, “Who
am I?”

“I am Doña de Muerte,” said the figure, and again the cloak
reflected red and blue highlights, “Hurry, child, or that
beast will get you!”

“I'm not afraid of it,” said Machita, “Do not tell me who
you are!  Tell me... who am I?”

“You are Lucha, of course!  Now, COME ON!!”  the figure who
resembled Doña Mercedes, her face distorted with anger,
reached for Machita.

Machita scooped up the injured badger and ran for the open.
“I don't know who that was,” she panted, “But it was *not*
Doña Mercedes!”

Reversing the path she had taken into the corridor, she
found herself outside in a surprisingly short time, facing a
gate into the garden.  Beyond it she found Sinestro and
Alita.

“Is that a pet?”  Alita asked in alarm, as the badger
wriggled in Machita's arms, “Keep it away from me!”.  Her
two bodyguards tried to get behind her.

“Someone is chasing me,” puffed Machita, “I think it was the
man who tried to have me attacked at the marketplace.”

“What kind of an accusation is this?” demanded Sinestro,
“You'll have to come on inside so we can get to the bottom
of this.”

“Not a good idea,” said Machita, “He seems to know his way
around.  As soon as I find my friends I am going to get out
of here!”

“You'll be safer inside!  Sergeant!” called Sinestro.

“Oh, no, you don't!” Machita ran again.

Alita watched her go.  “What was *that* all about?” she
wondered.

Machita had not taken many steps before she ran into a
familiar face.  Gordo staggered after the collision and
reached to keep her from falling down and dropping the
badger.  Finally, the burden of holding the wriggling badger
became too much and she sat it on the stone pathway.  It
immediately dragged itself into the shrubbery.

“Machita!  Señorita!” cried Gordo, “Is something wrong?
Wait!  Don't go!”  But she was already around the corner and
lost to his sight.

There were guests and servants everywhere, but no
Estrellita.  Finally, Machita spied her friend near the
great house, standing by an arbor.  About to run up to
Estrellita, she stopped in doubt.  The blond girl saw her
and hurried over.

“Ramón!” she cried, “Where have you been?”

“You called me Ramón!” cried Machita, “You know who I am!”

“Of course I know, silly.  After you told me, that is.  What
is wrong with you?”

“I'll tell you later.  Right now, someone is impersonating
Doña Mercedes.  And I think that creepy priest is trying to
trap me!”

“Are you feeling all right?”

“No!”

Together, they looked until they found their escort, and
Machita quizzed the older woman until she was satisfied that
she was the genuine, if puzzled, Doña Mercedes.

Almost simultaneously, two soldiers appeared from the great
house, heading for them, and another soldier appeared from
the stables, also moving in their direction.

“I forgot to mention,” said Machita, “I told Señor Sinestro
about the guy who tried to grab me.  Now, he is after me,
too.  I think he wants to lock me up for my own safety.”

“You just had to keep at it until you have them chasing you,
no matter what shape you are in!” complained Estrellita,
“Come on, we'll have to keep away from them.”

Dragging Doña Mercedes along with them, they tried to lose
themselves in the crowds of celebrants.  They made their way
through to the outside of the walls, then through the gate.

They had paused to catch their breath when the three women
were very nearly run down by a horse-drawn coach which
careened to a stop before them.

“Climb in!” cried Red Cloud, from the driver's perch, “There
are soldados after us!”  She cracked the whip and the coach
was bouncing down the graveled path before they could close
the doors.  Estrellita fell into the rear seat and caught
the Doña before she fell on top of her.


FREEING THE BULL:

“Hsssst!  Gordo!”  Gordo peered around for the speaker,
finally focusing on a small window in a nearby building.

“Hey! Francisco!  What's happening, man?”

“We're in a bit of a tight spot, Gordo.  Can you go get
help?”

“What are you doing in there, man?  That's Don Algrupa's
hoosegow!”

“It's a long story, compadre.  Can you go get help?  We've
got to get out.”

“I don't know if I should.  I mean, after all, if Senor
Algrupa had you put in there, I could get in trouble getting
you out.”

“Listen, chico!  We have to find the girls!  They may be in
trouble!”

“The girls?  Estrellita?  *Machita*?”

“Shhhh!  Not so loud!  You have to... where are you going?”

“Ahh, Migúel!  Jesús!  What's going on?”

“Nada, chico.  Just watching the henhouse,” said Jesús.

“Henhouse.  That's a good one.”

“Yeah.  We gotta hold these guys 'til morning.  Then we let
them go.”

Gordo leaned against the side of the building.  He pulled a
long leather scabbard from beneath his jacket and flipped it
idly from hand to hand.

“You know, you really ought to let them out, now,” he said,
“I mean, you could be real polite.”

“No way!” snorted Migúel, “We got orders!”

Gordo released a catch on the scabbard and one end slid off
revealing a blade that gleamed in the moonlight.

“That's quite a knife,” opined Migúel.

“My uncle gave it to me,” said Gordo, “You know, the one
who...”

“... was killed in the revolution.  Yes, you have told us
about him.”

Gordo released another catch and the scabbard fell off the
other end of the knife, revealing a double-bladed knife with
slightly curved blades on each end. He tossed it in his
hand, grasping it by the leather-wound handle in the middle.

“I didn't know your uncle had a 'Toro',”  gulped Migúel.

Again Gordo flipped the knife into the air, catching it
deftly mid-spin.  He continued the motion down and back up
again in a figure-eight past the noses of the two men.

“He don't, anymore,” he said, “I do.”

Migúel eyed the gleaming blades and the notch slashed into
the brim of his sombrero, and gulped,  “I guess they have
stayed inside long enough.”

“Yes, yes!” agreed Jesús, “We really ought to let them out,
now.”

Calpern saw the weapon as Gordo was fitting the scabbards
back onto it.  Cautiously reaching over to touch it, he
said, “Son, that thing is as dangerous to you as it is to
the other guy.”

“This is true, Senor,” admitted Gordo, “But he don't know
that!”


AND BAD ROADS:

Machita held onto the door post and leaned out to shout at
Red Cloud.  “This is the wrong road!  We have to go the
other way to get home to the rancho!”

“It is patrolled,” said Red Cloud.  She dragged on the reins
as they rounded a curve and the horses pounded down a
straight stretch of road.  “This way there are no soldados,”
she said.  When she could, she threw a glance behind for
possible pursuers.  Wan moonlight cast a faint
phosphorescence over the white roadway as the coach barreled
along.

“I see a lantern ahead,” she warned, “I'm turning off onto
another road.”

“There's no road, here!” objected Machita as the coach
rocked over small boulders and large stones.

“It is an old one,” said the Indian maiden, “They won't look
this way.”

The coach creaked and complained as it encountered greater
obstacles and the road deteriorated into a frayed path.
Eventually, they reached a place in the road where they
could admit that it no longer existed. At this point, the
coach stopped.  The horses could pull it no farther.

“Thank God,” breathed the Doña.

“We're in a good hiding place,” said Red Cloud, “There are
plenty of boulders and obstructions.  No one can see us from
the road, here.”

Red Cloud descended from the driver's perch as the leather
suspension on the coach complained.  In the silence, an owl
called and beyond the ridge a coyote yipped.

“I saw something move,” shuddered Estrellita.

“Don't say that,” said Doña Mercedes, “Next thing you know,
I'll be seeing things, too.”

“It is not her imagination,” said Machita, “I think this was
a bad place to stop.  You'd better find a place to hide.”

A shadow detached itself from a high boulder perilously
nearby and moved into the moonlight.  The dark form resolved
itself into an Apache warrior who stepped closer and said,
“Get them!”


LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG:

Machita felt her hair yanked brutally as she was pulled from
the shelter of the coach.  Another brave caught her wrists
and yanked her along to a cave.

“I have found this one!” cried the youngest of the braves,
“This one will be a fine slave!”

“Better check to see if she is a maiden,” cautioned an older
brave, Bluenose, with a chuckle.

“How do I know if she is a maiden?  They do not wear their
hair in the proper styles.”

“All Mexican girls are virgins,” replied Selnik, another
veteran warrior, “Until we make them otherwise.”

“Selnik is missing his wives,” observed another.

“This is a good raid,” said the youngest, “We have meat, we
have gold, and we have three girls!”

“Heyo, small one!” cried Red Cloud, “You have been sampling
the pulque.  You do not have three girls!”

“This one likes to talk,” observed Bluenose.  He threw aside
the pemmican he had been sucking and drew his knife. Without
preamble, he removed their bonds.  “Help cook,” he
commanded.

“You should look closer,” said Red Cloud, “You have two
women and a man.”

“Huh?” Bluenose paused, puzzled.

“What are you saying?” cried Machita.

“Splash us all with cold water,” said Red Cloud, “See what
happens.”

“Don't do this!” Machita tried to get to her feet, but her
captor shoved her back to the ground.

“Perhaps we are magic,” suggested Red Cloud, “Perhaps you
have drunk too much.  Perhaps you have been poisoned by the
food you have stolen.”

“This one is delirious,” suggested Bluenose.

“One will change into a man with cold water,” insisted Red
Cloud, “And will change into a girl with hot water.”

Bluenose unstopped his canteen and poured a cupful over Red
Cloud.  “Nothing,” he observed.  He thought deeply, then
said, “It is a good joke.  Try the others.”

Splashing Estrellita resulted in an abusive torrent of
profanity which made Machita, despite her terror, regard the
young Spanish girl with surprise.

There was a collective gasp when the water hit Machita, and
Ramón felt the constriction of the dress making it difficult
to catch his breath.  The nearest brave raised his skull-
crusher to dispatch him.

“Don't harm him!” cried the Doña, leaping to her feet, “He
turns to a girl with hot water!”   She grabbed for the war
club, and the brave yanked it away from her, throwing the
old woman against the grotto wall.  Estrellita cried aloud
and gathered the old woman into her arms.

“This one talks too much,” said Bluenose, “We don't need
noisy women.”

“Lucha would silence her,” said the boy, “She would enjoy
this.”

“Boy, you think too much of that girl,” warned Bluenose,
“Don't kill him yet!” he commanded, by now thoroughly
intrigued with the process.  “They said hot water turns him
into a girl.”

They waited while the fire was built back up and water
heated in a pot.  Ramón gasped for air and gazed worriedly
at Red Cloud, but she seemed smugly unaware of his
misgiving.  Bluenose still held her wrist, so she could not
escape.

When hot water effected its change on Ramón, turning him
back into a girl, one of the braves chuckled, “This kind of
magic has advantages.  If all Mexican boys were like this,
we could have a worker by day and a bedmate by night!”

“What about the other two?” asked Bluenose.

Hot water elicited another stream of abuse from Estrellita.
“That one is not magic,” he decided, and indicated Red
Cloud, “How about this one?”

“I wouldn't do that,”  advised Machita, “She gets upset if
you splash her with hot water.”

Bluenose laughed and poured.

There was instant panic.

“Ach...ch...ch...ch...” sputtered Estrellita.  Her eyes were
wide, the pupils shrunk to tiny pinpoints as she stared and
stammered.

The warriors were scrambling over one another to get out of
the cave in one piece.  Several were moaning their death-
chants in terrified gasps.

  

Behind them, a deep guttering pounded, like rocks rolling
around in a drum.  After the growling ended there came a
scream, sounding like either the agonized shriek of a woman
in mortal terror... or the angry cry of a thoroughly pissed
jaguar.

“Ka... ca... ca...” continued Estrellita.  The hair behind
her ears was standing straight out.  “Cat!!!!”  she finally
pronounced, “She turned into a cc....c...c.c.cat!!!”

“Told 'em not to pick on her,” said Machita, as she slipped
out of the knots and began to work on Estrellita's bonds.

“But you said... When you said...”

“I *told* you I had a guide with me when I visited the hot
springs,” explained Machita.

“But I thought you meant you went with your father!” cried
Estrellita, flattening against the wall of the cave as
something padded back from the cave entrance in the dark.

The noise and pained cries of departing warriors vanished
into the distance.

Machita handed the canteen to Estrellita.  “You'd better
handle this,” she said.

“What am I going to do with *that*?”

“Pour it over Red Cloud,” said Machita, “I would do it
myself, but I don't think she would approve.”

“Hummmpphh!” said Estrellita shakily, “You're not very
brave.  What's so hard about pouring water?”  Nevertheless,
she approached the big cat gingerly as the jaguar bared it's
fangs at her.  “Nice kitty.  Ramón, what if she doesn't
recognize me?  I'm taking a big chance, here.”

“I'd be taking an even bigger chance,” Machita said as she
carefully faced the entrance to the cave, “Her clothes are
over there.”  Their captors had gathered just outside, but
were reluctant to come back in.  “Better hurry,” she added.

Estrellita swung the canteen so the water poured out in an
arc.  Some fell on the jaguar, which changed into a naked
Indian girl.

“I think I see what you mean!” said Estrellita, as she
hurried to help Red Cloud into her discarded garments.

“That bought us some time,” said Red Cloud, “But they will
be back.”

“Yes, I have been expecting them.  But they seem to be
waiting for us to come out,” said Machita, puzzled.

Estrellita held Doña Mercedes gently and used some of the
cool water to bath her forehead.

They heard a muffled shout.  “Let the boy go!”

“What boy?” asked Estrellita.

There was a groan from behind a pillar.

“*This* boy,” said Red Cloud, dragging the youngest warrior
into the dim light, “I must have knocked him around when I
first changed over.”

“She sometimes has a little trouble controlling her other
self,” explained Machita.

“No more trouble than you have running,” snapped the Indian
maiden.

“Release the boy and we will let you go,” shouted Bluenose,
“Do not harm him or we will wipe you out.”

“Let's let him go,” said Estrellita, “He sounds upset.”

Red Cloud was tying her mantilla in place.  She said, “Just
how long do you think we would last if they got the boy
back?”

“Father, I am unharmed!” called the boy.  He became silent
when he felt the fire-sharpened end of a stick prodding his
throat.

“His Papa?  Now we are *really* in trouble,” said Machita.

“Are you complaining again?” snarled Red Cloud, “Why aren't
you male, yet?  We could use a little muscle with our
captive.”

“I don't have any clothes,” said Machita, “This dress is too
tight when I change.”

“You are very strange women.  I have never seen three girls
argue so,” said the Apache boy.

Three sets of eyes turned as one toward their hostage.

“He is about your size,” noticed Estrellita.

“What!?”  the littlest Apache asked in alarm.

“And about as smart, too,” added Red Cloud.


_______________

Glossary:

Sin falta - Without fail.

simpatico - pleasant, nice. (usually)  The way it is used
here indicates that Alita feels *very* nice towards Ramon.
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