Dorado: The Beginning

[Crotobaltislavonia]

Maria was poor, dirt poor. But she got by. She couldn't farm the plot on her own. But she could make a living milking the cows, tending the chickens, keeping the garden, and weaving and selling the rugs her people had been making for as long as they could remember. And she waited for her beloved Jose to come back. The Army had taken him. But she knew he would come back, dead or alive.

Of course, it didn't have to be this way for Maria. She knew that also. Everytime she went into town and the men's gazes fell on her, she knew it. The native blood in her veins had been tempered by colono blood somewhere in her family history. The result was exquisite beauty and a fine, shapely body, made all the more attractive by her homespun clothing. If she wanted to, Maria could easily make ends meet working in the brothel. Or she could leave the farm entirely and go to live as the alcalde's kept woman; his offer was still open.

But her colono blood was evenly matched by her native blood. Her loyalty to Jose was as strong as she was beautiful. She just had to manage long enough, keep the men at arm's length long enough, and Jose would come home to her, one way or another.

-----

Jose marched in step behind the man in front of him, keeping his eyes on the man's back. The file of men were led by an officer with a shining saber. The file turned, took a few more steps and was ordered to a halt.

"Right face!"

Jose turned on his foot and saw them. He hadn't looked as he'd marched. But he couldn't help it now. They were people just like him, except he had a gun they didn't. Jose had no idea who they were or why their lives were coming to this end. They were native men, poor and hungry, desperate. Perhaps they were connected to the native rebels in Los Altos?

Jose's train of thought was interrupted by the officer. "Ready!"

The firing squad straightened up, moved their rifles to port, steeled themselves to the killing they were about to do.

"Aim!"

Jose lifted his rifle. It was old and worn, but still probably the most expensive thing he'd ever touched in his life. He sighted the rifle on the man in front of him. He was old and worn too, like the rifle.

"Fuego!"

The officer's saber swept down and the soldiers fired their rifles. Bullets tore into flesh and the line of peasants collapsed. Jose and his comrades automatically worked the bolts, sending empty brass flying and chambering another round before holding their rifles back at port. As they did so, the officer pulled out his sidearm, an old single-action revolver.

"Sergeant, make sure they are all dead."

Jose mentally swore at the officer, a pureblood colono to be sure, too clean to do this kind of dirty work himself. The sergeant handed his rifle to the man next to him, took the officer's revolver, and proceeded to shoot each of the dead peasants in the head.

 

[Crotobaltislavonia]

Raza and his men were on horseback, at the top of a ridge overlooking a green valley. Off in the distance was a village. Here and there were shacks belonging to share-croppers. And over there was a beautiful hacienda, marking the alcalde's plantation. But that the wealth was not the focus of attention. Raza held his field glasses to his eyes, looking at a plot of land at the bottom of the ridge, close enough that he could clearly see the plot's sole occupant, a woman, doing chores in the yard. The bandit chief lowered his glasses. Looking left and right at his men, he said, "vamonos," and spurred his horse down the hillside.

The thundering hooves was the first warning Maria had. She looked up, seeing nothing in path leading to the village. She realized the sound was coming from behind her and turned. The bandits were already at the bottom of the hill and racing towards her. Maria turned and ran for the shack. But a horse and its rider were right beside her now. The man slipped off his mount and grabbed Maria. She turned and kneed the man in the crotch. As he collapsed, more men had dismounted and grabbed Maria's arms. Maria tried to pull away, thrashing as hard as she could. She would not go down on her back without a fight! But the men held Maria fast as Raza, still mounted, rode up and smiled.

-----

Renato the boy had been spying on Maria when the bandits arrived. He watched as they'd tied her hands and put her on the jefe's horse. And then they'd ridden away back up the hill. When they were gone, Renato ran home to tell his father what he'd seen. He'd get a beating for spying on Maria again, but she needed his help. An hour later, the alcalde had been informed and had rounded up a posse, a few peasants with machetes led by the local sergeant armed with a new semi-auto pistol he cared for meticulously.

"Orders, Jefe," the sergeant asked?

The alcalde, tall and spare, a pureblood colono, looked down at the sergeant. "Catch up with the bandits if you can. Don't try anything. I mean that. The bandits are well armed, as you know. Just keep on their trail while I summon the Army."

The sergeant, swarthy and capable, stepped closer, dropped his voice. "Jefe, why are we going to all this trouble? The bandits have kidnapped from our valley before and we have done nothing."

The alcalde and the sergeant exchanged looks, saying nothing and everything. The sergeant nodded and turned to leave.

 

[Crotobaltislavonia]

Jose was cleaning his rifle. Across the fire, Paco strummed his guitar and hummed a tune. Urso was laying on his bedroll next to the fire, taking swigs from the bottle of tequila he always seemed to have. Chico was busy preparing the hares he'd caught for their dinner. Jose liked the quiet evenings in camp. They reminded him of home.

Just as Chico had positioned his makeshift spit over the fire, the sergeant came out of the darkness into the circle of firelight. "On your feet, muchachos. We ride in ten minutes."

Jose stopped his cleaning. Chico looked up, scandalized his dinner was being ruined. Urso took a mighty swig from his bottle and then replaced the cork. Paco stopped his strumming and asked, "where are we going, sergeant?"

The sergeant glanced at Jose and then looked away. "Some bigshot alcalde wants us to rundown some bandits. The rumor is he's the colonel's brother. I don't have time to explain. Just get ready to ride."

The sergeant stalked off into the darkness. The four men paused, looked at each other, and then got to business breaking their camp.

-----

Raza and his men had ridden hard all day and into the night before stopping. Maria had never been on horseback for so long in all her life and she was feeling it. Raza slipped off their shared horse, reached up and pulled Maria off the animal. Taking his skin from where it hung from his saddle, he pressed it to his lips and took a few gulps before handing it Maria. "Here, drink this."

Maria took the offered skin, sniffed the contents, just plain water. She satisfied her thirst and then handed the skin back to Raza. "Why have you taken me away from my home. I am poor. You will get no ransom for me."

Raza chuckled. "No ransom, eh. Even now, that stupid old alcalde has a posse on our trail. I'm sure he'd pay some mighty dinero for your hide. But I don't need his money. No, my interest in you is more personal." The bandit smiled lustily as he stroked Maria's cheek. Maria's anger swelled and she spat in his face.

Not bothering to wipe his face, Raza laughed. "You are beautiful like the colona women. But you still have the spirit of our people. I have chosen my bride wisely."

One of the bandits came close in the dark. "Raza, the posse is getting closer, for sure."

"Our rest is over. We ride!"