The Neighbor

     Taylor woke and cautiously looked around the room. It was quiet and dark with no windows. The only light coming in was from a small skylight. He slowly stood and walked to the door and put his ear to it. He could hear faint noises.

     ‘How the hell did I get here?’ he thought. ‘Oh yeah I was trying to look in my neighbors back yard because I heard strange noises.’ Then everything went blank.

      The walls were covered with photos of wolves. He noticed the word ‘Run’ written in what looked like blood on one. He inspected it and decided it might be crayon instead of blood. The pictures resembled a group of family portraits, just not humans.

    Taylor hadn’t ever seen dogs at his neighbor’s house but the fence around the yard was quite tall, which is what he was trying to look through when someone must have hit him over the head.

     His neighbor was rangy with long shaggy dark hair but he didn’t look particularly scary. He’d moved in a month ago and never seemed to have any visitors. The two of them had never spoken. Taylor lived alone and didn’t really have much interest in his neighbor. Until now!

     Taylor slowly turned the door knob and opened it just enough to stick his head out. He heard what sounded like a television but all he could see was a hallway. He walked out and around the corner and suddenly he was in a living room.

     “There you are, how do you feel?” The neighbor was sitting on the couch staring at him. A wolf lay on the couch next to him and two more were sitting on the floor at his feet.

     “Like someone hit me over the head with a baseball bat.”

     “What did you think would happen when you trespassed on my property?”

     “I was just trying to find out what the noises I heard were. I wanted to see if everything was alright.”

     “Why didn’t you just knock on my door?” His dark eyes narrowed and kind of sneer formed on his lips.

     “I don’t know, I guess I wanted to see if there was really something wrong before I bothered you.”

    “Nice try. I think you are just nosy. I bought a lamb yesterday and it wasn’t happy I took it away from its mother. If you had come to the door I would have told you that was what you heard. My name is James. Who are you?”

     “Taylor. I heard the lamb making noises I guess, but I don’t know what that sounds like. I’m sorry I bothered you. ”

     “I bet you are. Are you scared?”

     “No, why would I be? Are you threatening me?”

     “What do you do for a living Taylor?”

     “I’m a writer, or at least I’m trying to be.”

     “That’s nice. Where’s your wife?”

     “I don’t have one. Where’s yours?” Taylor was annoyed at James line of questioning.

     “Now don’t get mad. I just wondered why no one has come looking for you. You have been out for a few hours.” James stood and strode over to Taylor and put his hand out, a gesture as if he were going to be friendly.

     “I’m not your friend. I’m going home now. I won’t press charges since I was trespassing, even if you didn’t have any cause to attack me.” Taylor pushed James’ arm away and started towards the door.

     “Tristan, get the door!” The large silver and black wolf stood and blocked the exit.

     “What the hell! You can’t stop me from leaving.” Taylor started to panic and his eyes showed fear.

      “We’re getting ready to eat dinner, why don’t you join us?” James had a fiery sparkle in his eyes and then he smiled.

        Taylor noticed his front teeth were large and his canines looked like fangs. “No thank you. I have dinner plans. They will come looking for me if I don’t show up.” He nervously started to back away.

     “Don’t lie to me. You don’t have any plans and no one is looking for you. Relax. You will enjoy dinner. Let me get you ready first.” James walked down the hall and motioned for Taylor to follow. Taylor looked towards the front door and the huge wolf was still standing in front of it.

     “Where are we going?” 

     “Back to the family room, the one you were in earlier.” James said and entered the wolf picture room. Taylor followed and noticed one of the other wolves trailed them down the hall.

     “Now what? You’re going to kill me?”

     “Of course not! I’m going to turn you!”

     “What do you mean…”  James was at Taylor’s neck before he could even move. It felt good when his teeth sunk into his jugular. He heard dying was peaceful.

      Taylor woke up on the floor like before, only this time he felt different. His head didn’t hurt anymore. He looked around, the pictures of the wolves were still there but the word ‘Run’ was gone. The door was open so he got up and warily walked down the hallway to the living room.

      James was sitting on the couch with a woman next to him this time. A boy and the large wolf were sitting at their feet.

     “Hi neighbor! Are you feeling better now?” His eyes were locked onto Taylor’s.

     “What happened?”  He had a vague memory but he was sure he must have been imagining things.

     “You passed out in our front yard so I brought you in the house. You came to for a minute and said you needed the pills you had in your pocket so I gave you one. You said you needed to sleep a little. You were breathing alright so I let you sleep. My wife said I should have called an ambulance but you seemed fine. We’re having fresh lamb for dinner would you like to stay?”

     James smiled and when Taylor saw his fangs he quickly ran out the front door.

Dealing With The Devil

     The day was beautiful and the sun was shining brightly with no clouds in the sky. I meandered on down the road as I was done with most of my chores and had time to kill. I kicked a rock and as it hip hopped around I ran up to boot it down the road again. I’d already walked up to the neighbor lady’s house, she kept frozen treats in the freezer to give to me when I brought the mail to her. Her driveway was long and she had trouble making it to the box.  

     Suddenly a beat up old pick up roared past me. I watched as it came to a screeching halt in front of me. It stopped so fast it was scary. Then it just sat there, like it was waiting. The truck was faded blue with spots of grayish bondo on the sides.

     I slowly walked up to the vehicle as it sat there beckoning me. The passenger door opened as I got closer. Should I walk up to it? Probably not. Yet I went there anyway. I was curious.

     I looked inside the truck when I got next to the door. A little old man sat inside and he stared at me. He had gray hair and a long beard. His eyes were dark and he looked annoyed.

    “Hurry up, I don’t have all day.” He said and then turned to look forward.

    “I’m not looking for a ride Mister.”

    “Are you getting in or not?”

     It seemed rude not to accept so I got in. “Thank you sir.”

    “Don’t call me that. Just shut the door and put your seat belt on.” He snapped at me and put the old beast in gear and continued on down the road.

    “Where are ye headed to?” He asked after a silent minute.

    “Home.”  My answer seemed to piss him off.

    “That ain’t tellin’ me much.” He glared at me with fire in his eyes.

    “Sorry. I live at the end of this road on the right.”

    “Do you know why you’re here?” It didn’t really sound like a question.

      I hesitated and then said, “Because I was walking on the road?”

     “What’s your name boy?” He looked at me like I was an idiot.

     “Jonas, sir.”

     “Well Jonas you have a lot to learn. You’re lucky I feel like teaching today.”

     “Yes sir, thank you.” I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to answer.

     “When I was a boy there weren’t these iron horses on the roads.”

     “I ‘spose not sir.” I assumed he was talking about cars. “Thanks for the ride.”

     “Shut the door boy. It’s time for me to go.”  He peered at me with his fiery black eyes and gave me a little nod.

      He was scary and I wondered why he stopped to pick me up since I wasn’t hitch-hiking. I watched as the truck went on down the road and then I walked up the driveway to my house. I could see my mother watching from the window. She wasn’t going to like me taking a ride from a stranger. She really wouldn’t like it when I told her I didn’t have a choice really.

    “Who was that you got a ride home with?”

    “I dunno.” I avoided her eyes and went out to the barn to do my chores.           

    “It’s dangerous to ride with strangers!” I could hear her yelling at me as I quickly scurried out to feed the horses and goats.

     We only had one old horse that had been my father’s when he was younger and a younger one that a neighbor gave us for me to ride. I ride her several times a week, usually down to the neighbor lady’s house I bring the mail to. She gives my horse apples when I eat the ice cream treats. She is very nice. I like to go there when my parents are fighting. I think she knows but she never asks me about what goes on at home.

     I felt lucky that night because at the dinner table mom didn’t tell dad about my getting a ride home with a stranger. If it had been one of our neighbor’s it wouldn’t have been an issue at all.

     When I woke up the next morning, after I ate breakfast, I went out to the barn to feed the animals. While my horse was eating I brushed her. Then I saddled her and rode her out in the pasture for a while and then headed to the neighbor’s house to bring her the mail. It came early on Saturday. I asked the mailman once why it was so early on Saturday.

    “I get to go home and don’t have to go back to work until Monday,” he smiled at me when he said that and waved and went on to finish delivering letters.

     When I got to Mrs. Johnson’s house I noticed the blue truck that had picked me up the day before was in her driveway. I wasn’t sure if I should go up to the house. That man was pretty scary. I decided to be brave and walked up to the door with the mail and knocked.

    “Good morning Jonas. Tie your pony up and come in for a treat. I have a visitor I would like you to meet.”  She smiled broadly and walked away leaving the door open. I tied Trixie up to a post on the porch. I took off her bridle and tied her up by her halter so she could eat the grass while I went in the house. I wasn’t sure how long I would be in there.

     As I walked in the old man gave me a long hard stare. I could tell he remembered me and I sure knew who he was.

    “So this is the young man who has been helping you out. Nice to meet you son, my name is Daniel. Mary has been telling me good things about you.” He smiled and held out his hand.

     I knew this was the same man I met the day before but he was acting so different. I shook his hand and sat down at the table where Mrs. Webster had put a plate with a piece of pie or me on it. I warily ate the treat while Daniel and Mary watched me.

    “Daniel would like to hear you play the piano. I told him about the lessons I have been giving you and he thinks you have some real talent.”

     Mrs. Johnson taught how to play the piano and how to sing several songs to go along with the music. “You have an angelic voice young man. Some day you will be famous.” I really enjoyed her admiration. I didn’t get anything like that at home.

     I was hesitant to play in front of the man who had shown only disdain for me the day before but I really did love to perform and this was an opportunity and I took it. After I was done both of them were raving about my performance.

    “Young man, that was excellent. How would you like to go to work for me?” His black eyes piercingly stared into my soul.

    “Thank you sir, but I still have to finish school.” I lowered my head and avoided looking in his fiery eyes.

    “You’ll be sorry! I could make you famous!” Daniel railed at me all the while trying to scare me.

    “I’m sorry but I would rather be good than famous. If I am good I will get famous.” I answered and ran out of the house. I quickly untied Trixie and put her bridle back on. I rode her as fast as she could go back home. I said nothing to my parents about what happened.

     Monday when I was in English Literature class my teacher told us she had a special treat for us.

    “Today we have the author of a tale of a deal he says he made with the devil. His name is Daniel Webster.”

Cheesy Egg Benedict Casserole

4 whole English muffins, split in half and lightly toasted

8 poached eggs, poach to just barely desired doneness

8 muffin sized pieces of ham

2 cups cheese sauce:

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

1½ cup milk

½ cup cream

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

½ cup Parmesan cheese

1 ½ cup cheddar, Swiss or combination of both

Tablespoon parsley and green onion tops

Butter a large casserole dish and toast muffins and place in dish. Make cheese sauce by melting butter, stirring in flour until well mixed and add milk, cream, salt and pepper and stir until thickened. Add cheeses to sauce. Poach eggs your preferred method until almost your preferred doneness. Place ham on muffins and top with eggs. Spread sauce over all and top with parsley and onion. Broil for a couple of minutes to reheat everything and serve.

Mediterranean Potato Salad

4 medium potatoes, any kind, peeled or unpeeled, boiled whole and then diced

4 boiled eggs, boiled and finely chopped

4 tablespoons olive oil mayonnaise

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons capers

2 tablespoons Kalmata Olives, quartered

2 tablespoons Green Olives, quartered

4 whole green onions, minced

1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary or thyme, whichever you prefer

1 tablespoon hot sauce, any kind you prefer

1 pepper, any kind you prefer, hot or regular, minced

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons fresh ground pepper

1 teaspoon hot smoked paprika

Start eggs and potatoes and mix the rest of the ingredients and let set while cooking and chopping up the eggs and potatoes. Taste the sauce after it sets for about 10 minutes and add more of any of the ingredients you want to taste more. Remove hot eggs and potatoes and chop them and place in bowl. Add sauce and taste. Add more of any ingredient and adjust seasonings and serve warm or cold.

Suicide Isn’t Painless And Probably Not A Choice

 I read John Donne and I like the poem Death Be Not Proud. But what is a proud death exactly? My best friend for almost thirty five years was paralyzed in a motorcycle wreck when he was twenty five. Instead of killing himself he moved heaven and earth to live as much as possible and made it for thirty seven more years to the age of 61. He made sure he had enough pills around to kill himself just in case he got really bad off, he asked me not to tell anyone he had them and asked me if I would help him if he needed it. I said yes but he never used them and quietly went off into that good night without any help. He is my hero and I miss him every day and I would say he had a proud life but not everyone has the same strength.

“Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

What’s courage? Is it to keep on living when every fiber in your being questions why you are doing it? Or is it being able to let go? Being miserable doesn’t seem like a reason to kill yourself but it sure doesn’t sound like a reason to live either and if you feel like you are already dying then maybe it is.

When you think about it having a person die when they are youngish and not at an age one would naturally hope to live to is a tragedy. When someone dies at an age over what most of us can reasonably hope to achieve, no matter what the reason, it is much easier to accept when the death occurs no matter how it happens. When death comes from random incidents, whether it is a car accident or murder, it feels much more tragic when the same death happens to a young person than a seventy year old person. Think about it, it’s true. When someone who has cancer dies we feel it’s sad, because cancer is unfair but we understand they didn’t want to live in pain and suffering any more. That really isn’t any different that when a person who is suffering from extreme depression or mental problems kills themselves, they are already dying in a way that only they can understand. If they had cancer you would forgive them.

The first friend I had that killed themselves tried to first do it at the age of thirty by stabbing himself hari-kari style and he somehow lived through it. Russell was struck in the mouth with a baseball bat when he was a kid playing little league and it broke off his front teeth. His family was poor and couldn’t afford to fix his teeth. He grew up being teased about his broken teeth and was afraid to smile. He became a drug addict and eventually shook that and got a decent job. Russell was painfully shy and insecure and fifteen years after he stabbed himself in the stomach. Eventually he finally had a good enough job to afford to get his teeth fixed and he came by and showed them to me and told me how much better it made him feel. I was happy for him. A month later he hung himself, he couldn’t shake the feelings of being a worthless person after spending most of his life looking at a man in the mirror with broken teeth. It was too late to fix him.

The next friend that killed himself was a man who had cancer. He had successfully fought it off fifteen years earlier but when it came back he was tired of fighting and couldn’t do it a second time. He came to visit me a few days before to let me know it was his time. He was at peace with his decision and so was I.

The third person I knew that killed himself was a schizophrenic, when he was twenty one and in college he started believing that people were following him and watching him. He ended up moving back home with his parents. Roger told me he knew he was crazy and that he was making his parents miserable. A couple months later he lay down on his stomach on the back of their property and drowned himself in a foot of water.  It was a noble and sad thing as the medication he took never seemed to help him.

Just a few weeks ago a very outgoing and friendly girlfriend of mine hung herself. This was after trying carbon monoxide poisoning a year before and a friend found her and stopped her and six months ago she took a bunch of pills and someone else found her and stopped her. I suspect she was manic depressive but I guess it doesn’t matter, she finally picked a way to kill herself when no one was around to catch her in time. I hope she is finally at peace, whatever that is.

The first suicide I ever had to deal with was when I read that Pete Deuel shot himself. I was a young teenager and I couldn’t understand how a good looking young actor who was successful could be so miserable that he would kill himself. I had never been involved with the world of suicide before this and it totally blew me away. As I got older I grew to understand the fragile nature of life but I still struggle to understand giving it away willingly.

I watched a television show about the band INXS and the suicide of the lead singer by hanging and after I found out that he had a traumatic brain injury that left him without a sense of smell or taste I thought that this would be a rather horrible fate to have. No matter how bad things in my life get I always loved to cook and eat and I am not sure how I would react if that was something I no longer had. No one knows of course what he was thinking in the end.

I don’t understand how someone with a nonfatal debilitating disease would kill themselves because I was born with one of those diseases 57 years ago and still choose life.

Suicide is a synonym for madness and maybe that’s exactly what it is. The people who are suffering from their madness don’t want to be and they are not intentionally trying to hurt you. Forgive them for wanting to leave their suffering and walk towards the light. You know not what they are going through. No one chooses the suffering they go through that leads them to kill themselves.

Walk into the light always and if it grows dark do everything you can to bring the light back.Suicide Isn’t Painless And Probably Not A Choice

 I read John Donne and I like the poem Death Be Not Proud. But what is a proud death exactly? My best friend for almost thirty five years was paralyzed in a motorcycle wreck when he was twenty five. Instead of killing himself he moved heaven and earth to live as much as possible and made it for thirty seven more years to the age of 61. He made sure he had enough pills around to kill himself just in case he got really bad off, he asked me not to tell anyone he had them and asked me if I would help him if he needed it. I said yes but he never used them and quietly went off into that good night without any help. He is my hero and I miss him every day and I would say he had a proud life but not everyone has the same strength.

“Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

What’s courage? Is it to keep on living when every fiber in your being questions why you are doing it? Or is it being able to let go? Being miserable doesn’t seem like a reason to kill yourself but it sure doesn’t sound like a reason to live either and if you feel like you are already dying then maybe it is.

When you think about it having a person die when they are youngish and not at an age one would naturally hope to live to is a tragedy. When someone dies at an age over what most of us can reasonably hope to achieve, no matter what the reason, it is much easier to accept when the death occurs no matter how it happens. When death comes from random incidents, whether it is a car accident or murder, it feels much more tragic when the same death happens to a young person than a seventy year old person. Think about it, it’s true. When someone who has cancer dies we feel it’s sad, because cancer is unfair but we understand they didn’t want to live in pain and suffering any more. That really isn’t any different that when a person who is suffering from extreme depression or mental problems kills themselves, they are already dying in a way that only they can understand. If they had cancer you would forgive them.

The first friend I had that killed themselves tried to first do it at the age of thirty by stabbing himself hari-kari style and he somehow lived through it. Russell was struck in the mouth with a baseball bat when he was a kid playing little league and it broke off his front teeth. His family was poor and couldn’t afford to fix his teeth. He grew up being teased about his broken teeth and was afraid to smile. He became a drug addict and eventually shook that and got a decent job. Russell was painfully shy and insecure and fifteen years after he stabbed himself in the stomach. Eventually he finally had a good enough job to afford to get his teeth fixed and he came by and showed them to me and told me how much better it made him feel. I was happy for him. A month later he hung himself, he couldn’t shake the feelings of being a worthless person after spending most of his life looking at a man in the mirror with broken teeth. It was too late to fix him.

The next friend that killed himself was a man who had cancer. He had successfully fought it off fifteen years earlier but when it came back he was tired of fighting and couldn’t do it a second time. He came to visit me a few days before to let me know it was his time. He was at peace with his decision and so was I.

The third person I knew that killed himself was a schizophrenic, when he was twenty one and in college he started believing that people were following him and watching him. He ended up moving back home with his parents. Roger told me he knew he was crazy and that he was making his parents miserable. A couple months later he lay down on his stomach on the back of their property and drowned himself in a foot of water.  It was a noble and sad thing as the medication he took never seemed to help him.

Just a few weeks ago a very outgoing and friendly girlfriend of mine hung herself. This was after trying carbon monoxide poisoning a year before and a friend found her and stopped her and six months ago she took a bunch of pills and someone else found her and stopped her. I suspect she was manic depressive but I guess it doesn’t matter, she finally picked a way to kill herself when no one was around to catch her in time. I hope she is finally at peace, whatever that is.

The first suicide I ever had to deal with was when I read that Pete Deuel shot himself. I was a young teenager and I couldn’t understand how a good looking young actor who was successful could be so miserable that he would kill himself. I had never been involved with the world of suicide before this and it totally blew me away. As I got older I grew to understand the fragile nature of life but I still struggle to understand giving it away willingly.

I watched a television show about the band INXS and the suicide of the lead singer by hanging and after I found out that he had a traumatic brain injury that left him without a sense of smell or taste I thought that this would be a rather horrible fate to have. No matter how bad things in my life get I always loved to cook and eat and I am not sure how I would react if that was something I no longer had. No one knows of course what he was thinking in the end.

I don’t understand how someone with a nonfatal debilitating disease would kill themselves because I was born with one of those diseases 57 years ago and still choose life.

Suicide is a synonym for madness and maybe that’s exactly what it is. The people who are suffering from their madness don’t want to be and they are not intentionally trying to hurt you. Forgive them for wanting to leave their suffering and walk towards the light. You know not what they are going through. No one chooses the suffering they go through that leads them to kill themselves.

Walk into the light always and if it grows dark do everything you can to bring the light back.

True Love

He loved me from the minute we met

He promised he would love me forever

And he did until the day he died.

His love was the truest I ever had

He didn’t care if I was happy or sad

He always loved me just the same.

He loved me more than any human

He loved me until the end

He was my dog. 

Manchego Scallops

Manchego Scallops with Pasta

1 ½ pounds scallops, sea or bay

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

½ cup onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small red pepper, diced

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

¼ pound prosciutto, minced

1 hardboiled egg, chopped

Salt and Pepper and Paprika

1 cup grated Manchego cheese

Package of fresh linguine pasta

½ cup grated Parmesan

2 tablespoons minced chives

Wash scallops, cut in half if using sea scallops, and season with salt, pepper and paprika. Heat olive oil with butter and sauté scallops briefly and remove. Add onion, garlic and pepper and sauté for a few minutes. Stir in flour and when blended with butter and oil stir in milk. When sauce has thickened stir in cheese, egg, and prosciutto. Taste sauce and add salt, pepper and paprika to taste. Pour sauce over pasta and arrange scallops on top. Sprinkle with Parmesan and chives. Broil for a minute or two and serve. This recipe is equally good with any shellfish, oysters, mussels, shrimp, etc.

Smoked Chicken and Cheese Maccaroni with Asparagus

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped up

½ teaspoon each salt and pepper

2 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup vinegar based hot sauce

2 cups dried macaroni

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1½ cups milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup grated pepper jack cheese

½ cup crumbled blue cheese

½ pound asparagus, broken into pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves minces garlic

½ teaspoon salt

1/2 cup water

½ cup grated Parmesan

 Melt butter in saute pan and add lightly salted and peppered chicken breasts chunks. Sauté for 10 minutes and add the hot sauce. After five more minutes remove from heat. Bring sauce pan of lightly salted water to a boil and add macaroni noodles. Cook according to directions and drain. Melt butter and stir in flour. When mixed together add milk and stir until sauce is thickened. Add pepper jack, blue cheese, salt and pepper. Pour into a casserole pan. Heat olive oil in a sauté pan and add garlic and asparagus. Sauté for five minutes and add water and salt and cover and steam or about ten minutes until asparagus is just tender. Pour chicken breasts with sauce over macaroni and cheese and then arrange asparagus pieces on top. Sprinkle with Parmesan and bake casserole for about 10 minutes at 350 and broil or about five minutes, or until the casserole is hot and the cheese just starts to brown. 

Hot and Blue Meatloaf

1 pound ground meat of your choice

2 cloves minced garlic

1 ½ slices fresh sourdough bread crumbs

½ cup milk

½ cup crumbled blue cheese

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons buffalo sauce

1 teaspoon sriracha sauce

     Tear up bread and soak in milk for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and gently mix. I always make a test meatball and fry it and taste it to see if I want more spices, sauce or cheese. When it tastes perfect I mound in in the center of a pie pan and leave about an inch all around the meat. That way the fat can drain out around the edges of the loaf and brown a little bit which adds more flavor. I like to serve the meat loaf with sour cream, chive and bacon bit creamy mashed potatoes and a salad with blue cheese dressing.

Love, Lust And Revenge

The afternoon sun shining off the coat of the steel gray horse glistened like it was covered with pearls. As he galloped across the sandy desert his long white mane and tail floated in the wind. The man on his back was wearing a white hat and a black duster which flowed onto the hindquarters of the horse making them looked fused together. Horse and rider continued loping on the gritty dirt through the sagebrush until they arrived at the banks of a river. A silver and black wolf followed the horse closely like a shadow. At the rider’s urging the horse swiftly waded into the river and the water slowly wrapped around its slate black legs and hooves until it almost touched the stirrups of the saddle.

The trees along the sides of the river were green and leafy and the vegetation around the water’s edge was thick and lush. Through the wispy branches the horse took notice of a coyote nervously sniffing the ground and the horse immediately became wary about what had spooked the coyote.

The horse’s attentiveness to the coyote alarmed his rider and he pulled his mount’s head around and cautiously guided him out of the water to the side of the trail where he brought the horse to a halt. He sat there waiting to see what the horse and coyote were anxious about but when the coyote saw the man on top of the horse it took off, man is a much bigger threat than anything else in the wilderness.

The man looked around to see what might have startled the creatures and as he did the silver and grey wolf came trotting out of the brush and ran up to the duo. The horse acknowledged the animal’s presence with a snort but still cautiously gazed about. Something had spooked the coyote and it wasn’t likely that it was the wolf. A lone wolf rarely attacks anything other than a rabbit and never a coyote.

Gabriel got off the horse, crouched down and peered through some scrub trees as he surveyed the area ahead. As soon as he hit the ground the wolf came running up to him.

“Are you out here causing trouble Cody?” The tail wagged as the animal came up for a pet. When the man stood up the black duster spread out around him like a cape and spooked the creature.

“Really? What’s got the two of you so jumpy?” Gabriel said to the wolf as he got back on his horse and pressed it to gallop through the river with the wolf following closely on his heels.

They followed the bend in the trail ahead and they soon entered a shabby looking town on the other side of the river. It was composed of several crudely built structures, some looked like houses, some looked like temporary shelters and the large permanent appearing building had several horses tied up in front of it. There was a sign on the front that had Whiskey and Beer carved onto it. Gabriel rode up to the saloon and stopped his horse, dismounted and threw the reins over the hitching post.

“Stay here.” He told the silver gray shadow that had immediately lain at the horse’s feet after he got off. Gabriel confidently walked through the door and strode up to the bar. The patrons stared at him, it was partly because he wore his gun strapped to his leg like a gunfighter and also because he was a stranger in a small town.

Gabriel was tall, lean and muscular with thick long dark hair and dangerous flashing black eyes. He was wearing a tanned elk hide coat and his gaze quickly surveyed the room registering the glances the men and women gave him which made him cautious. Neither the men nor the women seemed to be able to take their eyes off him. He knew he hadn’t ever been in this odd little place before so he was unsure as to why everyone was watching him so attentively.

He had been in a lot of small towns and he remembered them all and many of them were quite similar to this one. Most of them had a store, a saloon, a few house’s for the important people and assorted housing for everyone else along. The larger towns usually had a bank, a church and some kind of lawman, but there were a lot more small settlements than large ones in the territories he had been traveling through and they were usually pretty lawless.

Behind the bar the old man sized him up as he walked up to the counter. The bartender’s grizzled appearance was in stark contrast to the young man who had just walked in. His skin was taut, weathered and wrinkled, his hair was grey and his beard was white whereas the stranger was sleek, dark and moved with the grace of youth. The bartender was strong and sturdy and had no problem keeping the young cowhands in line but he had seen many more years pass by than the stranger standing before him had.

“Give me a whiskey please.” Gabriel politely asked.

“Sure thing, I haven’t seen you in here before.” He was trying to gauge the young man’s attitude.

“That’s true.” Was the terse reply

“What’s your name?” The bartender inquired.

“Do you need my name before I can drink?” Gabriel quipped.

“No sir, I don’t. Settle down now.” He didn’t want to rile the man up.

“I am settled, how about less talking and more drinking. My name is Gabriel.”  He responded with a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Why is everyone staring at me?”

“Don’t mind them, you’re new in town and there’s not much else to do round here. Most people call me Boss.” The old man was feeling at ease around the stranger.

Gabriel drank his whiskey and watched the men sitting at the corner table playing cards out of the corner of his eye. They nervously glanced over at him and whispered to each other. He could hear pieces of their conversation.

“Isn’t that the man that killed old Pete Wilson in Tucson last month?”

“It sure looks like him.”

“He shot Pete before he even got a hand on his gun.”

Gabriel ignored the gossip and finished his drink just as a cocky young man walked up to the bar.

“Can I buy you a drink?” The young man asked him.

“No thanks.” Gabriel answered.

“Are you too good to have a drink with me?” The young man became agitated.

“I already had one but if you’re gonna cause trouble you can buy me another one.” Gabriel quietly remarked.

The bartender cautiously approached the two men and poured a couple shots of whiskey and set them on the counter.

“I knew he wouldn’t pass up a free drink.” The young man smiled as he made this announcement to the saloon. Everyone nervously watched the two men.

“I let you buy me a drink so how about quit talking?” Gabriel was getting annoyed.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing but what I said. I’m minding my own business so why don’t you do the same?” Just as Gabriel said that the young man reached for his gun and a second later he was lying on the floor with a bullet in his leg.

The young man cried out in pain. Comments quickly came from the men sitting around the saloon.

“It was a fair fight mister. He drew first.” Numerous men quickly chimed in their affirmation.

Gabriel looked around the room. “Alright then everyone stay where you are and I’m gonna leave. I had to shoot after he pulled his gun on me but he won’t die from his wound.” Gabriel put money on the bar for his whiskey and warily walked out of the saloon watching the men while he did so.

Gabriel mounted his horse and quickly rode out of town watching behind him for the men he was sure would follow. He rode to a nearby stand of trees next to a large outcropping of rocks by a watering hole after he was clear of the town. He got off and motioned to the wolf to leave and he tied his horse to a tree behind the rocks. He found a location on top that provided cover and waited for the men to come after him.

It wasn’t long before four men arrived, dismounted and allowed their horses to drink water while they studied the ground to determine which way the man they were tracking had gone. As they trying to figure out which way the most recent tracks went they heard the sound of a gun being cocked. They looked around and saw Gabriel standing on the rocks overhead holding a rifle on the man leading the group. That man was burly and had the look of a lawman.

“Put up your hands and drop your guns unless any of you think I can miss at this distance?” Gabriel fiercely stared at all of the men but he kept his gun focused on the leader of the bunch. The men slowly dropped their weapons to the ground.

“So what do we do now Hank?” A skinny nervous man wearing a gaudy leather fringed jacket addressed the man who was their leader. Before he could answer Gabriel did.

“If I were any of you I would get on my horse and ride out of here. You only have a couple of minutes to decide what you’re gonna do before I start shooting. It’s your choice which way this goes.” Gabriel kept his gun steadily trained on its original target as the men all pulled their horses heads away from the water and mounted up.

“If this little posse came after me because of the man I just shot you ought to go back and ask what really happened. It was a fight I couldn’t get out of. He drew first and I only shot him in the leg to keep from either one of us from gettin’ killed.”

Just then a man at the back of the pack went for his gun and Gabriel quickly shot it out of his hand and just as fast the gun was retrained on their leader.

“Okay, we get the message. We’re gonna leave.” Hank said and the men turned their horses around and galloped off.

Gabriel waited until the men were out of sight and picked up their guns. He retrieved his horse from where he tied it and then headed in the opposite direction at a rapid pace. He didn’t think the men were going to come back without their guns but he saw no reason to take any chance because they probably were going to want to come and pick up their guns. No man likes to lose his gun.

He took the bullets out of the guns and put them in his saddlebag and then tossed the empty guns out into the dirt. That way if they did come back they couldn’t accuse him of stealing their guns.

The afternoon sun was blazing hot and he was looking for a place to escape from the heat when he noticed a wagon up ahead on the horizon. He approached it cautiously and saw that the wagon was being hauled by four mules with two handsome sorrel horses tied to the back. As he got closer he could see a husky looking young man manning the reins with a beautiful woman sitting by his side and on the tail end of the wagon sat a teenage boy. The wagon was sagging low on its axles seemingly carrying a heavy load.

Gabriel saw an even odder collection of structures coming up than the last little settlement he was in. When .he got closer he could see several horses were tied up in front of the largest building just like at the previous location. The wagon arrived there first and stopped in front. There was a sign hanging out in front of it which said “Whiskey Stop”.  The saloons were by far the most popular places in any town he ran across no matter what the size.

While the man with the wagon was tying up the mules and gathering his family together Gabriel left his horse, with the wolf guarding it, behind the saloon. He walked around front to the swinging doors and entered. There were five men sitting around a table drinking whiskey and playing cards and another one wearing a black hat standing next to the bar.

“Hi stranger. What can I do you for?” The man by the bar asked him while sizing him up.

“I’m thirsty, hungry and lookin’ for a place to get some food and water for my horse.” Gabriel answered.

“You come to the right place. There’s a man at the stable next door that will feed and water your horse for two bits while you eat here.”

“That’s what I’m lookin’ for.”  Gabriel replied. Before he could say anything else the family came walking in from the wagon. The men looked up from their game and stared at the attractive woman.

“Can you tell me if there is a place to buy supplies around here?” The man asked the barman.

“Don’t you and your misses want to order a drink first?” The man in the black hat asked.

“Umm, sure. Water, we’ll pay for it.” The man nervously replied.

“I don’t serve water here. I got beer and whiskey.” The man poured two whiskies and a beer set them on the counter. “What brings you to Whiskey Stop?”

“We’re looking to buy some supplies and spend the night where we don’t have to worry about getting attacked by Indians.” The man nervously responded as he gave the beer to the boy and motioned to the woman to take one of the whiskies.

The men in the bar gazed lustfully at the beautiful woman as she took the shot of whiskey and drank it.

“You can camp next to town tonight. There’s a place across from this here saloon that stocks some supplies.”  The barman said as he looked out past the swinging doors at the fancy horses tied to the wagon.

“Thanks. How much do I owe you?” The man wanted to get out of there fast. The way the men were looking at the woman was making him nervous.

Just then the man behind the bar turned his attention back to Gabriel. “This is turning out to be a right busy day here. What did you say you wanted?”

“Whiskey and water.” Gabriel was thirsty after riding all day.

“We don’t serve water here.”

“Then give me whiskey and beer.”  Gabriel wasn’t surprised but he had to check.

As the man got Gabriel’s drinks the other man put money on the bar and quickly left with the woman and boy.

Gabriel drank the whisky and savored the beer as it flowed down his throat, it was refreshing. He paid and went to get his horse fed and watered. He was ready to leave this strange little settlement already. The men seemed treacherous and he had already dealt with enough of that for one day. Getting his horse cared for was the only important thing he wanted to do.

The family was still out front when Gabriel walked out of the saloon. “Howdy folks.”

The man looked at Gabriel and deduced that he wasn’t a threat. “Hi stranger, this is an odd little place here.”

“Yeah I suppose it is though there are lots of places out here that are all about the same. Where are you folks headed to?” Gabriel replied.

“A place called Los Angeles, California. We came out from Denver but we parted company with the wagons we were traveling with after some of the families got sick. We decided it was best if we headed out on our own. Now I’m not so sure it was a good idea.”

“I know what you mean but most of those men are harmless. You do have a fine lookin’ wife. My name’s Gabriel.”

“I’m Jake. This is my sister Anna and her son Jesse. Anna’s husband died in an accident on the trail about a month ago.”

“Sorry to hear that mam. I’m headed to California myself and then down to Mexico.”

“We’re going to get some supplies and camp here tonight and then head out in the morning. Would you like to join us for dinner?” Jake asked.

“That’s a mighty fine offer and I haven’t had a good meal in a long time. I’ve been livin’ on jerky, biscuits and venison. I’m gonna see about gettin’ my horse fed right now but then I’d be right pleased to have dinner with you folks.”

“I wanted to sleep in this place tonight because I knew we were entering Indian Territory and wanted to have a safe place to spend the night but those men in the saloon looked more dangerous than any of the Indians I’ve seen.” Jake commented.

“I saw the way they were lookin’ at your sister but the Indians I’ve met are kind of like rattlesnakes, if you don’t bother them they won’t bother you. The men in this town remind me of vultures, just waitin’ around to prey on the sick and the weak. With me and you around I don’t think they’ll bother you any.”

“I’d sure appreciate your help. You look a lot more capable than I do. I know I’m not much of a gunfighter and so does everyone else.”

“That’s nothing to be ashamed of. I’ll come by your camp after I get my horse taken care of.”

Gabriel and the family went about their business. He took his horse and saw the man at the stable. “For two bits I’ll feed, water and brush down yer horse and if you want to you can leave him here overnight.” The old man told him.

“I don’t need that, I’ll be back to get him in a couple of hours. I’m gonna leave my dog here with my horse but he won’t bother you if you don’t bother him.” Gabriel could sense the man’s nervousness but he didn’t care. The wolf and the horse were both safer if they were there together.

The man looked at the wolf with suspicion but didn’t object to its presence. Gabriel thought the men in this town seemed shady just like Jake had. Gabriel went to the building that was selling supplies next to the stable. He bought a few things for himself and a couple items to give to the family he had been invited to have dinner with. He bought bacon and eggs for the breakfast he hoped to be invited to the next morning. He still had some meat left in his saddle bags from the deer he killed for him and Cody as well as some flour, salt and sourdough.

While he was waiting he went back to the saloon and had another whiskey and beer. He got a few odd looks from the men still playing cards but they left him alone and that suited him just fine. He retrieved his horse and went to find the family.

They were set up just outside of the makeshift town in the westerly direction they were all headed in. Gabriel had been traveling for a long time and he was starting to miss the home and family he left behind. He was also looking forward to good food and decent company.

Anna was tending the fire when Gabriel walked into camp. She was a beautiful woman and he couldn’t help but stare at her. She had a sturdy build with fine features and beautiful golden hair tied neatly up on her head.

“Howdy mam, where’s Jake and Jesse?” He greeted her.

“They’re out gathering more wood for the fire.” She pointed behind the wagon. “What’s that following you?”

“That’s Cody. He and my horse, Diablo, have been on the trail with me for a long time.” Gabriel answered.

“He looks like a wolf.” She looked a bit concerned.

“That he is. I came across his mother dead in a trap when he was just a pup and I saved him and he’s been with me ever since. He watches over my stuff and helps me hunt deer. Diablo and Cody are my friends and we all watch out for each other.” He watched closely to see if she thought he was crazy. Most people didn’t call their animals their friends.

“What part of the country do you come from?” She changed the subject.

“I grew up in New Mexico. My mother is still there, I think.” He told her.

“You think? I’m sorry. You must think I’m nosy.” She said.

“That’s alright mam. I haven’t been back there for some time.” He didn’t mind. He hadn’t had a conversation with a beautiful woman for quite some time. “I brought some things for dinner, or breakfast.”

She smiled at him appreciatively. ”It’s been a while since we’ve had any company. We don’t need anything for dinner but you are welcome to come back for breakfast.” She turned away to tend to the food she had cooking.

Jake and Jesse walked up with their arms full of small branches.

“Welcome to our camp.” Jake commented.

“Thanks. I’m lookin’ forward to havin’ a good meal. It’s been a while.” That was no lie.

“Anna is a good cook and she has made a fine stew for dinner.”  Jake smiled.

“Gabriel brought us some bacon and eggs for breakfast.” Anna offered.

“Well it sounds like we invited the right man to dinner. This almost reminds me of how it used to be when we were back home.” Jake replied

“Can I pet your dog Mister?” Jesse asked.

“Sure. He’s kind of shy but he don’t bite.” Gabriel told the boy.

Just then Anna interrupted them. “Dinner is ready so get a plate.”

The four of them quietly ate as they appreciated the meal.

“Can I give the dog some food?” Jesse asked his mother.

“You should ask Gabriel.” She answered.

“I had to leave my dog at home.” The boy looked at the wolf sadly when he said that.

“Sure you can feed him. His name is Cody.” Gabriel called the wolf over and the boy offered him a plate with a small amount of stew in it. The wolf cautiously ate as the boy rubbed his head.

Jake looked at the scene and smiled. “We had to leave Jesse’s dog behind when we set out for California. He misses him a lot.”

“I understand. Cody is better company than most people I meet.” Gabriel sincerely added.

“I can relate to that.” Jake laughed.

When dinner was over Anna sent Jesse to bed and the three of them sat by the fire and enjoyed the last of the hot coffee.

“I’ll take the first half of the night and then I’ll wake you.” Gabriel told Jake.

“That’s nice of you. I was getting kind of nervous about being here after we went in the saloon. I feel much safer now. I’ll leave the place next to Jesse for when you come to bed Anna.” Jake responded and went to  in the back of the wagon.

“Why are you folks headin’ to California?” Gabriel asked Anna after Jake went to bed.

“Five years ago Jake and I lived in Kansas City with our parents. I met my husband, Eric, and after he asked me to marry him we planned to move to Denver where his parents lived. My father was a school teacher and he wanted to see the ocean so when I was getting ready to leave my mother and father decided to take the train out to California. They asked Jake if he wanted to go with them or stay with me until they got settled in and he chose to stay with me. After Eric and I moved to Denver we started a clothing store with the help of his parents. Six months ago my parents wrote us that Los Angeles was growing fast and that if we moved there we could open an emporium there and do even better than we had in Denver so we decided to leave our store with Eric’s parents and move to California to start a new one. The things they wrote us about California sounded amazing. They said it was warm and sunny all the time and father said the ocean was the most impressive thing he had ever seen. Eric, Jake, Jesse and I left Denver a couple of months ago. We decided to come by wagon because there were lots of things we wanted to bring with us that we couldn’t bring on the train, things we need for our store and some of the things my parents left behind. Now I wish we had taken the train too. We can’t go back now.” Anna looked sad.

“I haven’t been to California but I heard it’s a beautiful place. I hear they don’t have to worry much about Indians out there. The place I am headed to is south of there. I know what you mean about wanting to do things differently. Sometimes I wish I had done that too, mam.”  Gabriel told Anna.

“Quit calling me mam, my name is Anna.” She looked at him willfully.

“Yes ma…I mean Anna.” She was such a beautiful woman she was making him feel like a boy again. It was like back when he used to live with his mother in New Mexico.

“Thank you. You make me feel like an old lady when you say mam.”  She smiled.

“You are certainly not old and you are very pretty.” He nervously told her.

“Thank you and you are a very polite man.” She coyly looked at him.

“Not too many people would agree with you about that.” He was becoming tongue tied. He hadn’t flirted with a woman for a very long time.

“I find that hard to believe.” She stared at him.

“Believe it.” He got up and put some more wood on the fire. He smiled at her and sat back down. They quietly sat and watched the fire rise and fall and when it died down he put a little more wood on it and Anna got in the back of the wagon with her brother and son. Gabriel stood watch until the middle of the night when he woke up Jake to relieve him. Gabriel laid on his bedroll next to the low burning fire and slept for a few hours while Jake stood watch.

In the morning Anna cooked the bacon and eggs along with sourdough pancakes for breakfast.

“This is the best breakfast I’ve had in years.” Gabriel complimented Anna.

“Oh I doubt that. Besides it’s the food you brought for us to eat.” She smiled and looked down. “And I’m grateful you did. This is definitely the best breakfast we’ve had since we left Denver.”

“You’re a good man to know!” Jake slapped him on the back.

“I’m glad you all enjoyed it.” Gabriel replied.

“How long have you been away from your home?” Anna inquired.

“It’s been ten years. I was pushed into a gunfight with a man who was in love with the same woman as I was and I lost. Rafael, Victoria and I lived together on the same ranch. His mother was Victoria’s father’s cook after her mother died when she was a little girl and my mother became her father’s wife after my father was killed in an accident. Victoria and I were thirteen when my mother married Victoria’s father. Rafael was two years older than us and he was already in love with Victoria but she had grown up with him and thought of him as a brother. Rafael was determined to have Victoria and he had been practiced with guns ever since he was old enough to shoot a gun. One day when I was seventeen he made me draw on him. He shot me and left me for dead and took Victoria and left the ranch. I have been searching for the two of them ever since then. I also worked on becoming fast enough with a gun to beat him if I ever do find him.” Gabriel finished his story and became silent.

“That’s a sad story. Do you know where they are?”  Anna was touched by his tale.

“I have recently heard of a gunfighter with the same name of Rafael and he fits the description and he is with a woman who is beautiful with long dark hair. It may not be him but I need to find out. Once I find him I am going to quit searching whether or not he is the one I am looking for. I was told they live in Mexico, just across the border from California.”

“You said you have been looking for a long time?” She seemed amazed.

“Yes. It seems kind of stupid now but I can’t stop now. Meeting a woman like you makes me think I should a quit a long time ago.” Gabriel answered sincerely.

“That’s sweet of you to say, and that woman is lucky to be the object of your affection.” She smiled at him.

“I don’t know if that’s true or if she even cares anymore. She thinks I’m dead.”

Jake and Jesse came walking up. “We have the wagon packed up and ready to go. Do you want to travel along with us to California?” Jake looked at Gabriel.

“Sure, your sister is too good of a cook for me to say no. It’s safer to have two guns than one anyway.” Gabriel was interested for more reasons than that even if he wasn’t going to admit it.

“That’s a good point. I look forward to your company on the trail.” Jake responded.

Gabriel and the family headed on through Arizona on their way to California. The landscape went from brush and creeks to desert and then to lush grass and trees. By the time they got closer to Los Angeles they were back to desert again. In the evenings they made camp and while Jake, Gabriel and Anna visited around the fire Jesse and Cody played games together. Usually it was a fight over a stick.

They encountered several more odd little towns much like the one they all met at but they seemed to draw less attention with the four of them traveling together than they had as a threesome or a solitary man with a gun. Anna and Gabriel were becoming increasingly attracted to each other. Gabriel was beginning to wonder if there was any point in pursuing the man and woman he started out looking for but he felt driven to finish his search. Jesse and Cody had become inseparable buddies and Gabriel felt that when he needed to leave the family Cody might be better off staying with his new friend because if Rafael was as good as his reputation Gabriel might not be back.

Despite all of the dire warnings about Indians they very rarely saw any and when they did there were no confrontations. They only ventured into town when they really needed supplies. Gabriel and Cody were good at keeping them in meat. The four of them were resolute in their mission to reach Los Angeles.

    Gabriel had been on his quest to find Rafael and Victoria for so long he had almost forgotten what it was like to have a good time. He was even having trouble remembering how his life had been like when he lived in the small town in New Mexico with his mother after his father had died. He had only slept on a bed a few times in a motel since he had left and he had almost forgotten what living in a home was like. He missed his mother and even though he occasionally sent a letter to her he hadn’t received one back because he hadn’t stayed in one location long to get one. He was beginning to think his mission of revenge was ill fated but he felt like he couldn’t turn back now. He was even having trouble picturing Victoria but he was positive he would recognize Rafael, his memory was kept alive by hatred. Victoria was the daughter of a wealthy Mexican rancher who had owned the ranch next to his family and after his father died suddenly after an accident Victoria’s father helped his mother take care of the ranch and eventually when Victoria’s mother died his mother moved in with her father when Gabriel was thirteen and so was Victoria. His mother helped raise Victoria and Fernando helped raise Gabriel. Rafael was the son of Fernando’s cook and he grew up on the ranch alongside Victoria since he was a young boy and he was in love with her, he didn’t think of her as a sister although she thought of him as a brother. When Gabriel and his mother moved to the ranch Victoria was very enamored of the cute young son of her father’s new wife. Rafael was two years older than Gabriel and was not pleased with Victoria’s relationship with Gabriel. Rafael was already working as a cowboy on the ranch and was out on the range all day which left Gabriel and Victoria alone around the house and corrals where Gabriel helped with the horses her father raised. He had some beautiful horses and Gabriel had proved himself a natural when it came to handling them. Rafael was also good with the horses but he didn’t get to hang out on the ranch all day like Gabriel did. Gabriel thought Victoria was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen, but he hadn’t been around very many girls. The small school he and Victoria went to only had ten kids in it and they ranged in age from eight to fourteen, after that age most kids had already started to work on their parent’s ranches and farms. Eventually Fernando married Gabriel’s mother and Rafael was really jealous of Gabriel. Competing with Gabriel for Victoria’s attention made Rafael come to hate Gabriel and Rafael practiced to become fast with a gun hoping someday he would have a chance to challenge him to a gun fight and win Victoria for his own. He knew he would need to make it a justified shooting or Victoria wouldn’t forgive him. Gabriel was aware that Rafael hated him, although when he first moved to the ranch they had been friends, bonding over being two young men riding, roping and shooing jack rabbits. After Rafael saw how much Victoria and Gabriel shared from their time in school together, as well as the way they started to look at each other he began to get really jealous of Gabriel. Their rivalry came to a head when Rafael caught Victoria and Gabriel kissing each other in the stable. That was when he decided to goad Gabriel into a gunfight with him.

   After many fist fights one day Rafael suggested to Gabriel that they have gunfight. Gabriel accepted and unknown to their mothers they picked a time to meet out behind the barn when they both knew everyone would be preoccupied. Neither one of them told Victoria about the fight but she had been suspicious when she saw them whispering. She watched them both walk out to the horse corrals behind the barn and followed them. She watched as they faced each other and turned and walked away. She figured out what they were doing and ran out into the corral.

    “What are you doing?” She yelled at them as they went their twenty paces from each other.

    “Get out of here.” Gabriel said.

     “Why? So you can shoot each other?” She was frantic.

     “Don’t worry I will win.” Rafael said.

     “I don’t want anyone to win.” She said.

     “It’s too late for that. I met you first.” Rafael replied.

     “What difference does that make?”

     “I loved you first. He can’t have you.” Rafael told her.

     “Who said either one of you could have me?” She told him.

     “You should get out of here. This is between Rafael and me.” Gabriel told her.

     “No it’s not. It’s between all of us. I don’t want you to fight for me.” She was pleading for them to stop.

      Gabriel looked at her. “I am not fighting because of you. I am fighting because he is disrespectful.”

      Victoria could see she couldn’t stop the fight and ran off to get the help of her father. As soon as she ran around the barn she heard a gun go off and ran back. She saw Gabriel lying on the ground and Rafael walking up to him.

     “I’m sorry. He drew on me as soon as you ran off.”

     Victoria turned and ran to get her father, “Help! Rafael and Gabriel are trying to kill each other. By the time she got around the barn her father, and Gabriel and Rafael’s mothers were already headed to the corral and they all went back to where the gun shot come from.

     Rafael was standing over Gabriel and he looked at everyone running towards him. “He pushed me into drawing on him, I didn’t want to.”

     “Get out of here. I can’t believe I took you into my home.” Victoria’s father said to him.

     Rafael looked around at everyone who was staring at him. “Believe me Victoria, I didn’t want to fight him.”

     Victoria didn’t know what to believe. They were friends. She just stood there frozen. Rafael walked over to her and hugged her. He pulled her towards him. She started crying and held on to him. He took advantage of her weakness and guided her towards two horses that were saddled and tied in front of the house.

     “Come with me querida and I will take care of you.” Rafael put her on the horse and rode off with her before anyone could get to them as they were all gathered around the fallen Gabriel.

      Rafael left with Victoria as the family was carrying the wounded Gabriel to the house someone went to bring the doctor back. Several hours later Gabriel came to consciousness and after several weeks of mending he was furious about what happened and that the family had allowed Rafael to leave with Victoria.

     No one had any idea where Rafael had taken Victoria. Since Rafael had fancied himself a great gunfighter Gabriel hoped that one day he would hear of him shooting someone and find him.

     Gabriel had worked his way through New Mexico and Arizona and recently someone told him they saw a man called Rafael in a gunfight in Sedona and that he had come from a little town just the other side of the Mexican border. Gabriel was determined to find Rafael and end his search, no matter what the outcome.

Gabriel and Jake rode down the Mexican desert for a very long time. They went prepared with lots of dried meat because they weren’t sure they were going to encounter anywhere to hunt or buy supplies since they had never been to this land or met these people. They were pleasantly surprised to find the people they met along the way were very friendly and offered to share their meals with them and they ate some interesting new foods they had never had before. Hot, spicy and very flavorful.

After a couple of weeks they were riding into the place they were looking for. It was getting dark and they noticed an unusual pattern of light up ahead. As they rode closer they could see a cross was lit up ahead.  That’s when they realized they had discovered La Cruz because the candles burning up ahead were in the sign of the cross. They made their camp for the evening outside the shrine of candles.

They rode ahead and made their way on to the pristine beach which stretched for miles with no visible life anywhere on it. Gabriel and Jake made their way down the shoreline until they got near an old hotel they could see from the beach. It looked like the one they had been told about.

They started towards it on the path through the jungle which intruded upon the sand with large coconut trees and dense foliage. As the trail got closer to the large overbearing building there were several small trails that led off towards the freshwater inlet that flowed into the ocean. This led them up the river to an estuary with a crocodile sunning himself on a log on the bank of the river along with Iguanas, turtles and snowy egrets. Gabriel and Jake had never seen anything like this.

They turned back and took the other trail and they walked their horses through the mangroves and other assorted jungle plants they suddenly came across large mounds of carcasses of strange large creatures. The horses were spooked at these mounds of rotting flesh. Neither Gabriel nor Jake had ever seen anything like this before and they resembled something out of a bad dream. The giant bodies were six feet wide they were stacked about ten deep in each in several locations off to the side of the path they had been walking their horses through. The horses were nervously reacting to the smell of death. They looked like fish but were large winged looking creatures with tails that resembled a scorpion.

“What the hell!” Jake involuntarily exclaimed.

“Look at the backs of these creatures, just the part right on top has been carved out and the rest of it has been left to rot.” Gabriel observed.

“Why would they do that?” Jake responded.

“I don’t know why anyone would want any part of a creature like this.” Gabriel answered.

“This is pretty strange. Maybe we should leave.” Jake said.

“Why? I still need to find out if Rafael and Victoria are here. You are welcome to go back. I am too close to finding what I have been looking for, at least I hope so.” Gabriel was determined to keep on going.

“I suppose you’re right. Just the same I would like to get out of here.” Jake answered.

“I need to get to the hotel.” Gabriel said and spurred his horse on.

They kept walking the horses down the beach until they got to the old and seemingly abandoned hotel. From the beach it had looked marvelous. It was huge, white and it resembled a giant mansion. It didn’t look like it was in ruins from there as they had been told.

They stopped their horses in front and a a young boy came running up. “Are you here to spend the night?” The boy asked them.

“No. We are looking for a man and a woman that are supposed to be living here.”

“What man and woman?” The boy looked at them curiously.

“Is there more than one man and woman living here?” Jake asked.

“Yes.” The boy replied.

“I am looking for a man named Rafael and a woman named Victoria.” Gabriel told the boy.

“They are here. You need to get off the beach. It is time for the jejenes to come.” The boy looked distressed.

“Time for what to come?” Jake asked.

“The jejenes. The meat eating sand flies. They don’t like smoke so we light fires and stand inside them until they leave the beach.” The boy looked sincerely worried.

“Lead us where we need to be then. We will follow.” As Gabriel said this the boy took them behind the hotel into a courtyard. There were several boys like him lighting piles of brush on fire that formed a semi-circle around the building. The boy motioned them to follow him and he walked through the smoky circle to a large enclosure covered with some kind of material with an entryway that the boy disappeared through.

Gabriel and Jake dismounted and were quickly surrounded by a cloud of biting insects. The horses started to jump all around and the men quickly led them in past the smoke that was beginning to swirl around them as they followed the boy. Once through the smoke the insects were no longer there and the horses calmed down. The boy motioned them to keep moving forward and he led them into another structure inside of the large hotel. Inside of it there were stalls with other horses and the boy led them to a stall.

“Put the horses in there, they will be safe. Follow me.” Gabriel and Jake did as they were told. They had never seen any place like this before. After the horses were safely inside the boy led them to the center of the hotel. As they entered the building they were amazed at how large the enclosed courtyard was. The rock walls were twenty feet tall with small covered openings to let in the light.

“Hello my old friend. I was wondering when you would show up.”  A deep voice said and Gabriel looked around to see a dark figure in an entryway. It had to be Rafael. He wondered if he would recognize him. The man stepped into the light. He was dressed in black and wearing pearl handled revolvers on his hips. Rafael looked a lot older than the last he time he saw him but Gabriel probably did too.

“I’ve been looking for you for a long time. You’ve been hard to find.” Gabriel stared intensely at Rafael.

Jake stood there quietly watching. He had heard the story and wasn’t sure what was going to occur.

“I’ve been here ever since we left New Mexico. You aren’t really looking for me are you?” Rafael glared at him.

“Yes I am. You shot me and left me for dead and I owe you for not finishing the job.”

Gabriel responded.

“Does that mean you wanted to die? I wasn’t trying to kill you, just to make Victoria think you were dead so she would leave with me.” Rafael’s lips curled to form a small smile.

“Do you really expect me to believe that? I didn’t want to die either but if you had killed me I wouldn’t have had to waste the last ten years looking for you!” Gabriel started to walk towards Rafael. Jake looked at him for instructions as to what to do. Gabriel motioned for him to stay out of it.

“Believe what you want. I knew Victoria first and she was mine. I didn’t tell you to come looking for us. We’ve been very happy here.” Rafael kept his eyes on Gabriel and started walking a large circle around him while keeping his eyes on Jake eyes.

“Shouldn’t she have had a say in what happened?” Gabriel asked as he slightly turned his body to keep Rafael in his direct line of site.

“She did, I asked if she wanted to leave with me.” He replied.

“You mean after she thought I was dead? Some choice.”  Gabriel took a couple of steps forward. Jake nervously backed up.

“It doesn’t matter now, she made the choice. I don’t want to fight you again. I won and it’s over as far as I’m concerned. Would you like to see Victoria or did you just come here to shoot me?” Rafael looked at him and turned and walked over to the doorway he just came through. He looked at Jake. “What would you like to do?”

“I’ll just stay here with the horses.” He replied to Rafael and looked at Gabriel.

“I am not sure what I want anymore. Victoria is here?” Gabriel followed Rafael towards the exit from the courtyard.

“Of course she’s here. She’s always been here with me. I know she would like to see you.” Rafael continued walking.

Gabriel followed Rafael as he walked out of the courtyard and into a hallway that led to the rooms in the large stone building.

“This old building was built by the Spanish after they built their fort on the cliffs and wanted a place they could easily access from the ships they came and left here from. No one was living here when Victoria and I arrived so with the help of some of the local fisherman who also needed a place to live we rebuilt it to keep the biting bugs away and out of the rooms. There are many people who live here now. Most of the men fish, which is what I do also.”

Rafael turned to look at Gabriel when he told him that. “You are a fisherman? I thought you were going to be a wild horse tamer?”

“I only did that because you were so good at it. I wanted Victoria to look at me the way she looked at you.” Rafael led the way to a room and opened the door.

Gabriel cautiously followed him into the room. It was very large and looked out over the beach and jungle he had ridden through to get there. “You have a nice view here.”

“Yes I do. I saw you and your friend ride in from the beach. It is a beautiful place, yes?” He looked to Gabriel for an affirmative answer.

“Yes it is. I thought you were bringing me to Victoria.” Gabriel answered.

“I am, she is in one of the other rooms. I will go get her.” Rafael walked over to one of the many doors in the large room. He opened that door and stood there and two children came running through the door, a boy about seven and a girl about five. Rafael disappeared through the door and Victoria followed the children into the room.

“Gabriel, how wonderful to see you.”  She was still a beautiful woman and she looked very happy.

Gabriel was speechless. He had been on this journey of revenge so long he never stopped to think what the new reality might be. “You look beautiful. I wasn’t sure I would ever see you again.”

“I thought I would see you. Rafael confessed that he made you fight him after we got here. At first I was really mad but he told me he did it because he had always been in love with me and he was afraid you were the one I loved and that he would lose me. Then he told me he only wounded you and he felt that you would be alright, although he told me you were dead when he convinced me to leave with him. I wrote my father a letter and asked him what happened to you after we arrived here. He wrote me back and said that you had survived and took off looking for Rafael and I.  I knew you would find us here someday. Especially since my father and your mother write us letters. I expected them to tell you where we were.”

“The joke is on me. I write letters to my mother as well but I never stay in one place long enough for her to write me back. I’m glad you’re doing well. Your children are beautiful.” Gabriel was beginning to feel very foolish.

“Are you going to fight Rafael?” She asked him with a worried look.

“That’s what I came here to do.” That was the truth though it didn’t seem to matter anymore. Why fight for a woman who didn’t want him.

“I don’t want to lose either one of you. Is there anything I can say to stop you from fighting him?” She looked worried.

“No. You don’t need to say anything. It’s over. I’ve wasted too many years chasing after you two and it’s time to quit.” Gabriel had a feeling of contentment wash over him. He had a good friend waiting to accompany him back to California where a beautiful woman and a young boy who needed a father were waiting for both of them.

“Why don’t you bring your friend up here so we can have dinner?” Rafael said from the door he was watching the reunion from.

“We can’t stay very long but I suppose we can stay for dinner and leave in the morning. Since you are now a fisherman what are all those strange dead creatures that we passed on the way here, the ones that look like huge scorpions?” Gabriel asked.

“They are called Manta Rays and only a small portion of them is good to eat. The fishermen take out that part and stack the rest of them in a pile. Then they take them and use them for bait to catch better things, there are many creatures that are good to eat on the bottom of the ocean. We never had this many kinds of fish to eat in New Mexico. We live on the things we get out of the ocean here. It is an amazing place.” Rafael was quite animated.

“Yeah I have already heard that.” Gabriel was being honest as Anna and Jake’s father had also been very excited about the things that the ocean had to offer when he had met him. Things seemed to be coming full circle. It was time for him to pay a visit to see his mother, after he and Jake returned to California and to Anna and Jesse.