Chula barked as the Border Patrol vehicle drove into the ranch yard. Sam finished repairing the top hinge on the corral gate as Hunter and Raymond got out and approached on foot. Hunter said, “Chula!” and the dog stopped barking and trotted to her for some petting.
Raymond said, “Hey, Sam,” and shook the rancher’s hand. Hunter walked to them and shook his hand as well. Raymond said, “We’ve been on a trail for a couple of days and lost it a few miles back, but it was coming this way.”
Sam said, “Let’s get out of the sun and I’ll fill you in.” They sat on the shaded porch and it was immediately cooler. He said, “A Mexican showed up around daybreak. I hardly ever get walkers out here; its just too tough for them to cross through the despoblado when there are so many places easier, but this one did. He’s come here occasionally, over a lot of years, but never stays long.”
Hunter asked, “Do you know his name?”
“Miguel.”
Hunter said, “He’s been walking our legs off. Covers ground like a Tarahumara.”
Sam said, “I don’t think he’s Tarahumara. Yaqui maybe, because he’s about six feet tall. But they can travel too, the mountain ones, anyway. He once told me he lived high up in the Sierra Madre near the head of the Rio Conchos, between there and the border with Sonora.” Sam paused and said, “He’d been shot.”
Hunter and Raymond glanced at each other. Raymond said, “We can call for the ambulance, Sam.”
“He asked me to doctor him up, but didn’t want to go to a hospital. He said there were men in a helicopter who shot him, then chased him until he got away. They landed in my yard this morning and asked about him.”
“Did you recognize them, or get a tail number on the
copter?” Raymond asked.
“Never saw them before, and I didn’t recognize the chopper. I didn’t think to look for a number.”
“What did you tell them?”
“That I hadn’t seen him.”
“What else did they say?”
“Oh, one of them thought he would come into my house and look around, but I told him that wasn’t a good idea.”
Hunter looked at Sam. “Were they armed?”
“The pistols were in their holsters.”
“And yours wasn’t.”
Sam said, “Anyhow, the bearded man said they would go back and look some more along the trail, and they flew off.”
Raymond said, “Would you describe them?”
“Sure, They looked fit, mid thirties, maybe five-ten, five-eleven. Brown hair, couldn’t see the eyes because of their sunglasses. One had a trimmed beard. They were dressed in store bought camo.”
“Were they Americans?”
“The bearded one was. The other one had a slight accent, so I’m not sure about him.”
Hunter said, “And they were the ones who shot our guy.”
“That’s what Miguel said. He saw them from my bedroom window.”
“Why did they shoot him?”
“Said he didn’t know, but thought it must have been because of him seeing the man who fell from the sky.”
“Yeah, we found tracks that showed your Miguel was there and that he buried the guy.”
They talked a few minutes more, and then Hunter said, “Which way did Miguel go when he took off from here?”