Read El Paso Way for Free Online

“Maize
.
See it?”
    â€œYes,” Enrique said, drooping his head. “My mother grew it, too.”
    The priest continued pointing. “And there are melons . . . squash there, and dragon’s claw. As you can see, I irrigate from the Santa Cruz. One of the things I liked about this mission. One could survive here
and
serve God.”
    A rustling noise came from a creosote bush behind them. They both turned and looked, Enrique a bit startled.
    â€œIs that you, Sereno?” the priest said.
    A small boy, with long black hair and a red headband, and eyes darker than Enrique’s, peered around the bush.
    â€œWho is he?” Enrique said.
    â€œHe’s an orphan of a Tohono O’odham family, who I feed, and then he leaves. He must be hungry. I call him Sereno because he is always watching.”
    â€œWill he come and talk to us?”
    â€œI’m not sure he can, even if he wanted to. He’s been coming around here for over a year. His family was killed in an Apache raid and his throat was cut. But it wasn’t a lethal wound. I’m certain it affected his voice.”
    â€œHow do you know all this?” Enrique asked.
    I found him in the desert shortly after the attack. I could see the blood on his neck. He wouldn’t let me get close to him. So I left him some bread. I tended to the dead, and then took food to him each day. One day I decided to quit spoiling him and see if I could lure him here. It wasn’t long before he started coming here for the food.”
    â€œWhere does he eat now?”
    The priest pointed to the other side of the garden.
    â€œI leave the food in the stable behind the mission, but only after the stable has been cleaned.”
    â€œWho cleans it?”
    The priest grinned. “Sereno, of course.”
    Enrique thought for a moment. “But how did he know?”
    â€œHe may not speak, but he hears, and he understands. He came one day and expected food but found a pitchfork instead. That’s when he realized that he must earn his keep. I came back later and the stable was clean, and I left him bread, a plate of stew, and a cup of milk. Ever since then he has come in and cleans the stable, then I leave his supper.”
    Enrique looked back and forth, at the dark-eyed boy peeking out at them and at the stable.
    â€œI could offer you the same, you know,” the priest said.
    Enrique looked up at him.
    â€œYou could stay here,” said the priest, “help out in the garden, with the goats, and tend to the burros and chickens. Does that interest you?”
    Enrique shrugged, thinking of his home, now in shambles. “I don’t know.”
    â€œIn return I will give you a place to sleep, feed you, and teach you to read, write, and do arithmetic. What do you say?”
    â€œI don’t want those things. I have to go to El Paso.”
    â€œWhat is in El Paso?”
    â€œMy grandfather. He went there two years ago. Said his brother was sick and needed him. Well I need him now. With his help I will find Amelia, and together we can find and kill those men.”
    â€œDo you not know who those men are, Enrique?”
    â€œTwo Apache and one a mixed gringo. I thought I killed one, but I am not sure now.”
    â€œI see. Well, my son, I’m certain the men that raided your home are the gang of Antonio Valdar. They will not go down easy. So you must be stronger and wiser, which means nutrition, and an education.”
    â€œThat will help?”
    The priest sighed. “It would be a beginning.”
    â€œThen you will help me?”
    â€œI will help you be a better man, Enrique.”
    Enrique’s yearning to leave for El Paso was paramount, but for some reason the boy felt the need to stick around the mission for a while. Maybe it was the priest’s promises of helping him become a better man. The boy liked being called a man.
    â€œOkay. I will stay awhile.”
    Father Gaeta put his arm