Across the Border (12 page)

The people of Ocampo went about business as usual on the surface, but behind the bustle of activity lay a feeling of unrest. When Luke had left to escort the family out of the country, Chad expressed relief.

“I feel better knowing that they're on the way home,” he said. “Luke will look after things as well as I could. Now we need to settle up here and be on our way.”

“Settling up” wasn't as easy as he had hoped. There were many buyers ready to take advantage of the fact that the
Americanos
were being forced out of the country and were in no position to wait for the best offer.

“If I were you, I would deal directly with your American oil companies,” Reymundo advised him. “They will be required to leave, and the government will protect them. You should get a fair price.”

Chad didn't get the profit he had planned on, but he felt that the trip had been reasonably successful. “We'd have done better if we'd been allowed to stay the full year, but it happened to be the wrong time for this venture. At least we didn't lose everything, and we have something to go back to.”

The journey back to Galeana was uneventful for Chad and Reymundo. Carlotta had completed packing the things Manda wanted but couldn't take with her. And church friends had advice for the men.

“The northern mountain area isn't safe for travelers,” they told Chad. “The rebels are stopping wagons and searching them. Many things they take. You may not get to the border with your goods.”

“Have they harmed the people?”

“Not that we've heard. But it is a terrifying experience to be stopped on the road and surrounded by bandits.”

In spite of the reports, Chad was anxious to continue on to El Paso. Although he had given Luke instructions to take the family on home if he didn't appear, he was sure that Manda wouldn't want to go without him. It was decided that an old mule-driven wagon piled high with hay would be less likely to attract attention. If they were stopped, they would appear to be two farmers on the road to Juarez.

The wagon was loaded, and the church people prayed for their safety.

It was late afternoon before Reymundo and Chad left Galeana and headed north. Again, the road was deserted. Their progress was slow, since the elderly burro wasn't inclined to make the trip at all, let alone at a reasonable pace. The men resigned themselves to a long, plodding trek with very little change of scenery.

“We'd better stop for a few hours,” Reymundo suggested, “or this animal will refuse to move at all. We can go on after dark.”

They ate the food Carlotta had prepared for them, then rested until the sun was out of sight. In the distance the mountains loomed on their left, and the men watched them until darkness fell.

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the L
ORD
, which made heaven and earth.” Chad quoted the first two verses of Psalm 121 softly and was comforted by the thought that they were under God's protection.

“For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways,” Reymundo added, quoting Psalm 91. He, too, had evidently been thinking about the hours that lay ahead.

Nevertheless, when they were stopped by a group of soldiers the next morning as the sun came up, Chad's heart pounded with fear. Even though he looked as much like a farmer as Reymundo did, Chad knew that he couldn't pass as a Mexican citizen. He would have to admit that he was an American if they inquired. But the questions the men asked weren't what the travelers expected.

“Where are you going?”

“To Juárez,
Señor
,”
Reymundo replied.

“You will stay there?”

Reymundo paused. “No,
Señor
.
I will go on
with my friend to El Paso. Then I will return.”

The soldier looked sharply at Chad. “Where do you come from?”

“I have come today from Galeana,” he replied. “I will join my family in El Paso, then continue on to South Dakota.”

The man turned to one of his companions and said, “This is the one. He is here.”

Turning back to Reymundo, he gave him rapid directions, and Reymundo turned the wagon toward the mountains and followed the soldiers.

“What did he say? Where are we going? Was he talking about me?”

Reymundo nodded. “Yes. He says you are to see the general.”

The general? Chad's heart sank as he imagined what might happen to them. What had he done? Was there a problem about the money he was taking out of the country?

The small building before which they stopped seemed like a long way from the road, but they had reached it sooner than Chad was ready to see it. He was relieved to find that Reymundo would be going in with him. Two soldiers accompanied them, and they were escorted into a room furnished only with a desk and a chair. A dark-haired man with heavy eyebrows and a drooping mustache sat behind the desk. He regarded the two men silently for what seemed like a long time. Finally he spoke to Reymundo in Spanish.

“Was your work in Ocampo a success?”

“
Sí
,
General.”

“You are escorting your companion to the border?”

“
Sí
.”

The general nodded, then looked at Chad. Although Chad's knees were shaking, his eyes never left the general's face. Many thoughts crowded his mind as he stood there. It was possible that he would be taken captive. Many others had been. Undoubtedly they would take the money he carried. If he escaped with his life, Chad would be grateful.

Suddenly the general reached into his pocket, drew out a heavy object, and laid it on the desk.

“Ethan's key!” Chad exclaimed. “Where is he? Do you have Ethan here? Is my family—?”

“No,
Señor.
Your son is not here. Your family has had a safe passage to El Paso.” He looked at the object before him. “I am reluctant to let it go, but the key must be returned to Ethan. I have never received a greater token of friendship. I want him to know that it is being returned to him in the same spirit.” The big man stood. “Take care of that boy. You do not know what great fortune you had when he came into your life. You may go now.”

Chad and Reymundo were escorted back to the road, and the soldiers disappeared into the hills. As the little mule plodded along toward Juárez, Chad puzzled over the last hour's events.
Of all that has occurred during our stay in
Mexico
, he thought,
this was the strangest incident of all.

After several miles, Reymundo's voice broke into Chad's thoughts. “I think we have a problem. Hold the reins while I check.”

For the first time, Chad was aware that the wagon was tipping perilously. Reymundo jumped down from the slow-moving vehicle and inspected the rear wheel.

“It is coming off,” he informed Chad. “We will not make it to the border in this wagon. We wanted to look like poor farmers? We could not have done much better than this.”

It was now the middle of the morning, and clouds were gathering over the foothills. There was a storm approaching, and a glance in both directions revealed no other conveyance or person on the road.

“We cannot just stand here and soak up the rain,” Reymundo said. “I will load the burro with as much as he will take, and we will carry what we can. I would rather be walking than wasting time alongside the road.”

It was soon apparent that the burro didn't share his preference. He dug in his heels and refused to move. Pulling and pushing had very little effect.

“This doesn't look too promising,” Chad said. “We'll have to leave what we can't carry and go on without him, unless the Lord sees fit to move him.”

At that moment lightning struck the earth near them. A clap of thunder shook the ground. Chad and Reymundo dived under the wagon. The sky opened up as rain and hail pelted the earth. Reymundo watched the burro hightail it down the road, his ears back and his hooves flying.

“I guess we had better chase him before he is out of sight,” Reymundo grumbled. “When the Lord moves something, He does not waste any motion.”

By the time the men caught up with the burro, the animal was winded and willing to be led slowly toward Juárez.

The border crossing between El Paso, Texas, and Juárez, Mexico, was forbidden territory to the younger children. Manda refused to heed their protests.

“We didn't leave Mexico to be shot in Texas,” she said. “Those bullets have no idea which side of the border you're on. You may play in the park when Frances has time to go with you, or you can go walking with Luke. I'm not going to turn you loose and risk having to look for you when your papa gets here.”

“When is he coming?”

Manda sighed. “Just as soon as he can. You're no more anxious than I am to get on the train for home.”

Polly looked out the hotel window at the busy street below. “We been here three days. If
Chad and Reymundo started soon after Luke left, they should be here by the first of the week. You plannin' to wait for 'em?”

Manda nodded. “I don't want to go back to South Dakota without Chad. I suppose I could send Luke and Frances on ahead with the children, but I'd feel better if we're all together.”

Ethan was free to come and go as he pleased, and the border guards were soon familiar with the boy who stood and watched the road that led to Juárez. Although the fighting had ceased, military units were still in evidence.

“Them rebels over there is staying holed up in the mountains,” one of the men told Ethan. “Their general is a smart one. No one ever sees him, but he knows just what's going on over here. We'll never catch him if he don't want us to.”

Ethan was thankful for that, but he didn't say so. He just listened and watched.

Dinner at the hotel the following noon was a quiet and sober meal. Manda and Luke had agreed that they shouldn't wait any longer for Chad but take the late-afternoon train north.

“If you all want to stay in Willow Creek until he comes, Ethan and I can go on by train,” Luke suggested. “I'd like to be home to help Henry with the planting. The rest of you can come on in the wagon when Chad arrives.”

Thus it was decided, and a letter was left at the hotel desk for Chad, outlining the plan. Polly was overjoyed at the thought of being on the way home.

“I hope this trip's taken all the wanderin' out of Chad,” she declared. “I'll be happy to spend the rest of my days on the plains lookin' at the cottonwood trees and cookin' for my family.”

“You woulda felt terrible if you'd missed this trip, Polly, and you know it,” Luke told her.

Polly admitted it. “Yep, I reckon I would've. Nobody could ever have told us about the things we saw and tasted and smelled so's we could've really known what it was like. And imagine not knowing Carlotta and the other people at the church.”

“We all made good friends there,” Manda said, “but I'm glad to be going home. I just wish Chad had gotten here in time to go with us. What if he doesn't get to the border? What if they're stopped by the soldiers and not allowed to leave the country?”

Will had left the table and was standing by the big front window. Now he called out, “He's here, Mama!”

Ethan stood up to look. “No, Will, that's not him. He and Reymundo are coming in a wagon. Those men just have an old burro.”

Luke walked to the window. “Chad wouldn't come into town with a week's beard and clothes like that. Them fellows look like they was caught in a—” His eyes widened. “Well, what do you know? It
is
Chad!”

The next day Reymundo hired a wagon and prepared to head back to Mexico.

“I will miss you,
mi amigo
,” he said to Chad.

“And I, you,” Chad replied. “I couldn't have successfully completed my business without your help. It's easy to make mistakes in another country and offend the people, and without your help, I would have done so. The Lord be with you as you travel back to Galeana.”

At breakfast, Chad pulled the key from his pocket and handed it to Ethan. “A friend of yours gave this to me.”

Then the whole story had to be told all over again, and Chad relayed his adventure too.

“I never expected to get the key back,” Ethan said. “How did he know you were the one to give it to?”

“The soldiers said they questioned everyone who passed there in the days after you went by. That's the reason General Villa has remained safe—he knows what's going on around him. He also has a good place to stay. I don't think I could find my way back to his hideout even if I wanted to.”

“I don't reckon I'd want to,” Luke said. “I'm glad to be on this side of the border.”

When the train left El Paso that evening, the whole family was glad to leave their adventures behind them and head back to the plains.

“Amelia will have the garden in, and we'll be just in time to can the early beans and peas,” Polly said. “Won't that kitchen look good?”

“I'll be tending my flowers.” Manda sighed happily. “I know I'll miss the cactuses, but I can't wait to see the lilacs and roses.”

Polly reached under the seat and pulled out a cloth bag. “You won't miss the cactuses. I brought some along. I figured since they grow like weeds, nobody would miss a few.”

“I brought something too.” Frances smiled. “Carlotta gave me a lace
mantilla.
I don't know where I'll wear it, but I can show it to the children at school in the fall.”

“I've got my
sombrero
,” Will announced, “and I'm going to wear it!”

It seemed that everyone had brought something home to remind them of Mexico, except Luke.

“I couldn't carry what I wanted to bring,” Luke said glumly.

“What was that, Luke?”

“An oil well.”