The House Of Crow Collection

12. Raul

The winded mare began to stagger. When she coughed, Raul, a boy of twelve, nearly fell off. In the bright moonlight, he saw some horses and pointed his mount toward them. Raul saw that one of the horses had a tether around its neck. He rode up, jumped from the unsaddled mare and ran to the other horse. Snatching the rope that was around the horse"s neck, the boy grabbed a handful of mane as the horse bolted forward. Using the momentum of the moving horse, he swung himself up and onto its bareback.

As soon as Raul was mounted, he knew he had picked a good one. Pounding his bare heels into the horse"s ribs, he yelled, “Hee-yah!” The small boy, on the large horse, raced across the shadowed, moonlit landscape. The pounding hooves muffled by the thick grass and the vast open space. The lights of the rancho were visible in the distance when the horse began to tire. Raul leaned forward onto the horse"s neck and spoke to it, “¡ Vamos muchacho, sólo un poco más lejos (Come on boy, just a little farther)!”

Carlos, Crow, and LeRue were crossing the yard to the hacienda. The sound of a running horse and someone yelling got their attention. Turning and looking for the rider, they saw a small boy clutching to the mane of a hard-ridden horse.

“Jefe, jefe, bandidos!” The boy cried, “Bandidos!”

Carlos, Crow, and LeRue ran alongside the horse, helping to stop the exhausted animal as LeRue lifted Raul from its back.

“Raul, what has happened?”

“It is my papa! He and José have been shot! José is dead, but my father is alive! He is too big for me to carry. He needs help, or he will die!”

“How far?” Carlos asked.

“I rode two horses to get here. I went looking for him when he did not come home. When I found him, he said a bandit had shot him and José. He knows because the man came to check on them after he shot them. Poppa pretended to be dead, and he saw him.”

A small crowd of workers began to gather around them. Then, pushing through the crowd, Hector joined them. “What has happened?”

Carlos replied, “It is Raul. His father and José were shot by bandidos. His father is alive. We must go to him as soon as possible.”

Crow, placing his hand on the boy"s shoulder asked, “Can you find this place in the dark? We have perhaps two more hours of moonlight left.”

“Si, I can find it easy!”

Crow turned to Carlos, “With your permission, I have medicines in my possibles bag. I will need six horses, three for me and three for the boy. We will find his father, and I"ll do the best I can to help him. If you get a cart and some men to follow us, they will be able to bring him here or to the hacienda.”

Carlos did not hesitate, “Hector, get men and a cart readied to go. I will see to the horses.”

LeRue, who was already moving, said, “I"ll get our kit. You ain"t leaving me behind.”

“I will need twelve horses then,” said Carlos, “I am going too. Hector, what are you waiting for?”

Hector, his deadpan face hiding his rage, stomped off.