STORIES FOR THE PEOPLE

The lone rider cast a long shadow in the setting sun. He whistled a melancholy tune that waltzed over the arid scrubland, off to the burnt horizon. From beneath the rim of his hat, he surveyed the landscape, eyes squinting against the dust.  In the distance, rising above a Spanish-white village was the church he was headed for. He looked furtively over his shoulder, then kicked his heels and set off at a trot.

He arrived at dusk, just as the shadows were folding into one another. The village was silent but for the rustle of the sand and the clack of his horse’s hooves. At the church, he dismounted, tied his horse by an old statue and made his way to the door. Doffing his hat, he knelt below the wooden effigy of Mary and began muttering prayers in earnest. The night wheeled overhead, stars glittering in the clear desert sky.  Eventually, the rising sun awoke him from his prayers and he rose, donned his hat, and remerged into the square.

Walking toward his horse, he frowned. 

“Hola, Señor!” the young boy feeding her smiled brightly, “your horse looked hungry!”. He pointed to a wooden bucket, now empty “and thirsty too!”

He grunted, ignoring the boy as he checked his saddle straps. The boy tapped his shoulder: “Señor, a coin for my trouble?”  He glared and said nothing.

“Please Señor, your horse is so well fed now, one coin?”

“No.”

“But, sir, you have so many, surely you can miss one?”

He paused, confused for a moment, then glanced down and saw the corner of his saddle bag lifted and the glitter of gold catching the sun. He grabbed the boy by the arm, who yelped as he sunk in his grip. “Why did you look?” he demanded, “you little thief!”

“Sir, I’m sorry, it was open already I swear! I only saw because it was open! Please sir!”

“You’re lucky I don’t kill you! Give me what you took!”

“Sir I took nothing I swear, honest!”

He lifted his hand ready to smack the boy. The boy yelped again, but this time pointing over his shoulder: “Sir, soldiers!”

He whirled around. Cantering up the street toward them were five uniformed cavalrymen. The foremost was lifting a revolver. He swore, grabbed the boy by the scruff of the neck and dived behind the statue. The shot rang out, followed by several rifle cracks. He grabbed his revolver and fired blindly in the soldiers’ direction.

“Shit, how the hell did they find me?” He muttered as he slotted new bullets in the barrel.

“No Sir, it is for me”, said the boy, opening his coat to reveal a small bag of coins, “I stole from them last night”.  He paused, looking at the boy for a moment, and grinned. The boy grinned back. Several more shots came whizzing in, blasting chunks out of the state as they cowered behind it.

“Here” he said, passing the boy his second pistol. “I hope you know how to use that.” The boy nodded. He peered around the corner of the statue. “Ok they’re directly behind us. When I say go, you shoot at them, try and hit one or two”.  He carefully took aim and shot through the rope tying his horse. “Go!” He leapt and swung himself onto the horse while the boy fired at the soldiers, who ran for cover.  He kicked his spurs in hard, lifted the boy, and galloped out of the square.  They tore down the streets while the soldiers yelled after them; but the company were too slow and soon enough the man and boy were out of the village and into the desert. 

**

They travelled all day, deep into the desert, and the setting sun watched as they huddled around a small fire.  The boy had the man’s big poncho wrapped about him like a blanket “You’ll be a very wealthy man now, won’t you?”

“No son, the gold’s not mine”.

“Not yours?”

“Yes, it’s for someone else”.

“What do you mean? We’re banditos! We take what we want and it’s ours!  You should take it East and buy a big house, that’s what I’m going to do!”

He chortled under his breath, “Son, you’ve barley enough there to buy a horse, never mind a house”.

The boy’s eyes narrowed, “well I’ll just steal more then; I’ll rob all the banks in Texas, all ‘cross America, I’ll start a gang and they’ll know my name from San Francisco to New York!”

He smiled, the fire flickering in his eyes. “You’ve got spirit kid, what’s your name?”

“Juan. And you?”

“Morris.”

Juan gasped. “The Morris?  Morris the mad? The one they all talk about? The one who robbed all the gold from the San Francisco central bank?”

“The very same.”

Juan’s eyes alight with excitement and just a hint of fear. “But if you’re Morris, why isn’t that gold yours? Everyone’s afraid of you – who you got to give it to?”

“Never you mind kid, it’s late, get yourself some rest”

Juan could tell from the sharp reply that Morris wasn’t for talking any further; he wrapped himself in the poncho and fell quickly into a deep sleep. Morris lit his pipe and sat pensively gazing up at the stars that were flickering on as the night rolled in.  All was silence but for Juan’s quiet breaths, the rustling of the fire and the whisper of the desert wind.

“Morris”.

He whipped out his pistol in an instant. A man had appeared by the fire. He was smirking from under his dusty top hat, his hands rested on the lapels of a ragged suit. “Well, well, well, we do tend to meet in the most unexpected of places old friend”.

Morris kept his gun cocked. “And what in hell’s name do you want?”

“Well exactly”, replied the man, “in hell’s name, your debt is due Morris”. He looked down at the pistol “and you know that won’t help you”.

Morris reluctantly stowed his gun. “I’ve got what I owe” he said, “I was bringin’ it to ya”.

“Ah yes, an item of great value, it seems you do have it”.

Morris reached behind him, took the bag of gold and threw it at the man’s feet. “There” he said gruffly, “now leave me in peace.”

The man did not remove his hands from his lapels, but looked down and scoffed. “Gold? Really? You think I want gold Morris? No, no, no, you have something much more valuable here”, he turned to look at sleeping Juan.

Morris was surprised, “The boy?”

“Yes. A young soul, is so, so valuable to me”.

Morris scowled, but remained silent as the man gazed at Juan. Eventually, he said, “so, you take the boy, and I can go with the gold, and you’ll leave me alone?”

The man chuckled. “I was rather looking forward to seeing you again Morris. But if that’s what you want for him, then yes, I’ll leave you in peace”.

Morris grunted and looked down at his feet.

“Do we have an accord then Morris?”

Morris stood and spat in the ground at the man’s feet. “I’ll tell you what. Strike your accords an’ strike it all, I’ll be doin’ no more dealings with the Devil, whatever you do to me”.

“That’s unfortunate Morris. But I will take what’s mine and I’ll enjoy your company.”

“No, stop, it’s ok!” Juan was awake, “there’s no need, you can take my soul mister”.

The Devil was startled: “You’d give it to me freely?”

“For a wager, yes.”

“Juan, don’t!” cried Morris.

The Devil was smiling, he could rarely resist a wager “Quiet Morris! What are your terms boy?”

Juan stood up and pointed into the distance, “We came from a village, miles back. I’ll race you to see who can bring back a stone from the centre and place it at Morris’ feet where he sits here. If you win, you take my soul, if I win, you leave the both of us in peace forever”.

“Done.” As the Devil spoke the word, a great black steed appeared behind him, with glowing red eyes and snorting flames from its nostrils. “I hope you can ride fast boy”.

The smile never left Juan’s face as he swung himself onto Morris’ horse, “ready?” he said to the man, “go!”

In a fiery tempest, the black steed tore off into the desert at an impossible speed, leaving black smoke in its wake. Juan trotted a few yards, then dropped from the horse, strolled over to Morris and casually dropped a stone at Morris’ feet: the nose from the statue in the square, blown off by the soldiers’ guns. He shrugged “seemed a good souvenir” he said. Morris laughed.

When the Devil returned, he was furious. He cried it was impossible, unfair, a dirty trick. He beat the ground and roared with fire. But he was bound to his deal, and with Morris and Juan laughing at him, he stepped back into the fire and was gone. 

“You’re a clever kid, I’ll give ye that” laughed Morris with relief and joy.

“Will you go and buy that house in the East now then?” asked Juan.

“No, I have a better idea. Shall we form a gang, rob all the banks in Texas and make our names known from San Francisco to New York?”