CHAPTER SEVEN
The orange sun was low in the western sky as Maria and Jesus leaned back in their chairs at the table on the veranda of the big ranch house. The empty glasses, a half-filled pitcher of iced tea, and plate of cookies had been pushed to one side. In front of Maria was the parchment map and the gold Medallion of La Dura.
"That’s the story, Maria, the whole story. Your father told me to ride as hard as I could for the border and I never saw him again."
Maria held the Medallion up for a closer look. A dove was starting to soar toward the sun while below a rattlesnake was striking, trying to kill the dove before it could fly to safety. "It is so beautiful and, yet, I feel a chill running through me."
A frown clouded Jesus’ handsome face. "My people say that La Dura is cursed, t
