Chapter Fourteen.

Alejandro and Kathleen had finished packing up their equipment and saddling the animals. They were preparing to leave their rocky camp. Kathleen had gotten nearly five hours of sleep when he had woken her. He had managed to sleep nearly an hour and a half after that and had awoken to her cooking breakfast.

He snorted. Breakfast was just supper at dawn. Sorrow washed over him.

In his family’s caravan, there had been two hens in coops on the outside running boards of every wagon. In the morning, there were eggs in each nest. They were used in the communal morning meal. He fought the feelings off. Those days were never coming back.

“... Hey! Alejandro!” Startled, he looked around. Kathleen was staring at him with a concerned look on her face. She waved her right hand in his direction, then pointed to the bowl of food on her left.

Oh. Taking the bowl, he said, “I is sorry. Was remembering how mi madre was making breakfast in the mornings.”

Kathleen gave him a long look. She was about to say something that was probably unkind when he continued.

“We had hens in the wagons. Breakfast was scrambled eggs with corn tortillas. With chili sauce and beans. Now all we have for breakfast, you and I, is supper.”

Kathleen nodded. “Mama would wake early and make breakfast for the people in the bunkhouses. Four days out of the week, she would make posóle with mutton, maize tortillas, and green chili. Every bowl for the workers had a hen’s egg cracked in the hot broth. On Sundays, she would make eggs for our family. And on special days there were flour tortillas.”

Alejandro queried, “Your mother is the Doña, the landowners’ wife?”

“Si.”

“And she fed the workers herself? That is rare.”

Kathleen shrugged. “Not by herself. There are five cooks and three youngsters that work in the dining hall kitchen. She says breakfast makes it possible for people to work hard. She makes breakfast, the Head Cook is in charge of lunch and I am in charge of supper, under directions from the Cook. It is Mamma's belief that our people deserve good treatment. Cooking for them shows we appreciate them. It also keeps anger and resentment away. They see what mama does for them every morning.”

Alejandro paused his eating and gave her an odd look.

“Some places we encountered in our travelings, the dons lived very well at the expenses of their working peoples. Those who complained were thrown out into the night. With only the clothes on the backsides of them.”

Kathleen laughed. “If anyone in Los Gatos tried to control their people and treat them like that. They would find their people working for another don. And they would find themselves tilling their own fields and cutting their own firewood.”

“Actually, that happened once. My papa told me about it. That idiota went two whole weeks before he tried to find his old workers and beg them to come back. They told him to fuck off. He had to hire unreliable people that no one else wanted. That fort is not prosperous anymore.”

Alejandro stopped eating. “I saw the fields and canals of Los Gatos. From the west side of the river. I saw forts lit up in the night, I could smelling the cooking food. If we had reached there, I wonder what our lives might have been like.”

Kathleen stared at him. She didn’t know what to say. Sympathy was clear on her face.

Alejandro started eating again. When he finished, he helped clean the dishes. It was still rather dark, so they had a sit-down and let their meal settle a bit. They would start off when the sun peeked over the hills.

Alejandro asked, “Did you doing anything besides supervise the evening meal for the workers?”

She laughed, “In the mornings I would eat leftover dinner at home with Papa and my little brother Josephe. The Foreman would join us for breakfast every day. My father and he would work out a plan for the week. Every morning they would go over what was taking too long or what was going right.”

“After they laid out the plan for the day, José would tell me what I needed to do and who was going to help me. Sometimes I was tending the flocks, other times I would make charcoal. I did whatever I was told to do. Sometimes I had one person to help me, other times I would have ten or more. It changed all the time. After completing my tasks and taking care of my people, I would make dinner for the bunkhouses.”

She smiled wistfully. “Before dinner, I would visit Josiah in his office and help him with the guard roster. I knew who was on lookout and who was on patrol. I got very good at sneaking. At the end of the workday, I would wait until mamma and papa went to sleep. Then I would sneak out and meet Michael at the river. We would spend an hour in the small fort he had on the edge of his land, and then I would sneak back. I never got caught.”

Alejandro took a drink from his water skin then said, “Tu madre, she was a good cook?”

“Si.”

He smirked, “So, you has been taking cooking lessons from the guard and sneaking lessons from your mother?”

“Fuck you!”

They both started laughing. It felt good. They had needed the rest. They needed more sleep but they had gotten enough to almost feel normal.

Almost.

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Well, not really. But they definitely felt better than they did yesterday.

Alejandro said, “Before we are start offing we should scouting from here.”

Kathleen gave him a flat look. She was pretty sure she knew what he meant. Pretty sure.

“From on the top of rocks, with the telescope, I mean.”

“Right. That’s a good idea.”

“Of course it is a good idea. I am the one having it.”

He got up and walked over to Manchado. He didn't acknowledge her expression. It was only after his horse was between them he cracked a smile and started shaking with silent laughter. Alejandro grabbed the telescope in its case and looped the strap around his neck.

He said, “Let’s go taking a good look around and making some plans to changing.”

Kathleen just laughed while shaking her head. They climbed to the top of the rock.The fort at the base of the eastern hills had a thin wisp of smoke rising from it. The sun hadn’t cleared the hills, but it was light enough to look around.

Alejandro took out the telescope and studied the terrain to the north. He handed it off to Kathleen while he studied the lay of the land. She alternated between eyeballing the scenery and peering through the spyglass.

Kathleen stared out at the landscape. Memories from last night were pretty hazy. But she remembered being very concerned about something. Something to do with the lakes. Or just one of them, maybe?

Hah! The maps Papa and uncle Juan had made! She handed Alejandro his telescope back and said, “Stay here. I’ll be right back!”

She navigated to the bottom of the rock. This time, making sure she didn’t fall flat on her face. That crack he had made about taking sneaking lessons from her mamma had filled her with equal parts righteous anger and embarrassment. She had to admit; he was pretty funny. The jerk.

She reached Margarita and gave her a quick hug and a pat on the shoulder. Margarita whickered, saying good morning. Kathleen rummaged around in her saddlebag and brought out a clean sheet of willow bark and a stick of charcoal. She ran back to the rock and rejoined Alejandro at the top.

She prepared to mark up the sheet of willow bark, then stopped, knelt down and started drawing on the rock itself. “My papa and uncle Jaun made maps up river when they were young. They were not the best maps, but I remember looking at better maps in Los Gatos.” She kept drawing. “That lake up there is lake Caballo. Hundreds of years ago, there was a giant dam, but it’s gone now. Papa says you can still see what’s left of it. The lake is not deep and there is a marsh next to it on the eastern side. The marsh reaches the small mountains. That is very rough ground.”

She pointed to her rough map and said, “I hate to say it, but we need to cross back over to the western side. The farther lake, I don’t remember the name, has forts on the eastern bank. We will need to cross again to find someone who might have news.”

She continued,“There is a city on the northwest side of the lake.”

Alejandro studied the crude map. “That’s a lot of rivers to be acrossing. And look at the sky. I am positive it is going to raining soon. That will be making crossing the river dangerous for a few days at least.”

He stood up and examined the land at the base of the mountains. It looked like pretty rough going. They wouldn’t be moving quick over that shit.

Kathleen frowned and studied the sky. “The rains are light this time of year. And the lightning ain’t so bad. In the summer, the monsoons are dangerous. Flash floods will happen in arroyos, the river will rise very high and lightning will hit the ground every two minutes for the entire time it is raining.”

Alejandro looked at her. “I am believing you. Where did you seeing better maps?”

“My papa brought me with him to the city once. He and the Foreman, José , had a meeting with the Mayor of Los Gatos. While they were talking, I got bored and left. I went and found my friend Janice. She works in a room full of records and maps of Los Gatos. Anyway, I saw some maps and started looking at them while we were talking.”

Alejandro looked thoughtful.“ We should move as fast as we can, close to the river and see if we can find a ford. Does this sounding like a good plan?”

“Si. Let’s go. I say we ride northwest at a fast pace, then dismount and walk and jog when we reach the river so the horses can rest up before we cross.”

“This is being an excellent idea. Also, since you are being from here, keep watching the weather por favor. Vamanos!”

They climbed off the rock and mounted up.

“Kathleen, is your Henry going to keeping up with the horses?”

“Henry can keep up with them and outlast them. Henry, the hardy and unstoppable mule will run them both into the ground!” She laughed.

Henry was a very likable mule. Alejandro laughed. He liked that in a mule.

***

They rode at a rapid pace until they reached the river. Once there, they dismounted and alternated between jogging, riding, and then walking alongside the animals. They were making excellent time.

“Kathleen, can I asking a question?”

“What?”

“Why was your father and the foreman meeting with the leader of your city?”

“Fort Maclusky is prosperous. We grow more food than we need and we have a blacksmith. We provide a valuable service to the entire Los Gatos basin. Our lands are at the northern end the basin and we take care of the river entrance to the gates that bring water to the farmers. If not for our work, people couldn’t water their crops. We remove mud and sand from the entrance to the canals constantly. For doing this, the mayor of Los Gatos gives us payments in wheat and animal feed.”

“We also get metals and iron ore and charcoal for our blacksmith. So he can make gears, hinges, and brackets for the water gates and locks.”

“We have a lot of influence in the city, we been doin’ this for over a hundred years. But the city decides who gets the water. They also ensure that we don’t get too powerful and try to use our control of the water to our advantage.”

“How is the city are making sure you don’t take over?”

They would gather all the other forts and destroy us.”

“Meirda. You are joking?”

“Nope. We don't want to force them, so it works out for everyone.”

“Perhaps Los Gatos wasn’t the right place for my family.”

“There hasn’t been fighting over water in Los Gatos since my family started taking care of the irrigation head. There have been some water disputes that have gotten unpleasant. Especially in drier years. But most people just want to live their lives and be safe at night.”

“Why aren't there more of your people on the western bank of the river?”

“There are more Walkers over there. And even though there are lots of people in the Los Gatos basin, there are not so many that we need to settle there. The people on that side were mostly alone, and vulnerable.”

Abruptly, she stopped talking.

Alejandro glanced over at her and saw her wipe tears from her eyes. He looked away and studied the terrain in front of them. Meirda. They walked in silence for a while.