far in miles since our last fill-up, but much of it was in low gear, and continued to be. This truck, wonderful as it was otherwise, was not a gas saver under the best of circumstances, much less in low gear with the 4-wheel drive engaged. I shifted into 2-wheel drive when I could, when the terrain permitted.
The going was easy, if slow, and finally we came to a paved highway with a bridge over the streambed. Esteban had told us to drive to the right for a few hundred yards to a place where we could climb up onto the pavement. Then we were to drive east for about 40 miles and we would wind up in Matehuala, a big city to him, a small town to us, but one with gas stations, motels, restaurants and all sorts of welcome amenities.
We rolled into town with the fuel gauge showing less than an eighth of a tank. The first thing we did was fill up and, while we were at the garage, we made a deal with the mechanic to change the oil and leave the truck inside overnight.
We didn’t need an oil change, but we did need to get the truck off the street. There was no knowing where the bad guys were. For all we knew they could be cruising around in Matehuala looking for us. We kept our eye out for the big car, and were relieved that it was nowhere in sight. Maybe they’re stuck out in the desert, we thought hopefully, perhaps dying of thirst. We checked into a motel, explaining to the curious clerk that our car was in the garage down the street for repair—almost true.
Chapter Four / Capítulo Cuatro
VERACRUZ
CARLOS
The next morning, we swung south to San Luis Potosí and east toward Ciudad Valles. Then we headed for Tamazunchale, where we spent the night, getting yet another oil change. We had bought some tools in San Luis and had stopped to hammer and twist the nasty scars Archie’s poor truck had suffered. The result wasn’t pretty, but it no longer looked like it was riddled with embarrassing bullet holes. Worse, it looked more like it had been violated by someone with anger problems and a pickaxe.
The following day, we traveled through Hidalgo state on a rather slow, but very scenic, ride among the mountains through Ixmiquilpan and on to the capital city of Pachuca. The highway was good, but the curves slowed us down, as did all our gawking at the incredible mountain scenery. México is full of beautiful scenery and this is some of the best.
As we drove, Lucy complained about the Houston office, and speculated about what had happened to betray our movements. “I still think there has to be a traitor, a leak,” she said. “Now I am beginning to understand what happened before. That same traitor got my cousin Gonzalo killed, and your two friends, too. We didn’t know then how they found us, but now I do. There is going to be some payback for this. I don’t like my friends and cousins being made dead.”
She went on to tell us what had happened. “We started out, much as we did from Laredo, except we crossed the border at Brownsville and Matamoros, then went south through Ciudad Victoria to Tampico. We were twenty-five miles or so south of Tampico when we were ambushed by four guys in a sleek looking car.”
“It was similar to what happened to us, just now, except that they started shooting from behind. We were armed and returned their fire, so they dropped back a ways.”
“’Let’s not speed up’ decided Gonzalo, ‘That’s what they want and it won’t help.’ So we continued on at a moderate speed, taking an occasional shot at them to keep them from getting too close, hoping to reach Tuxpan. We thought we were going to make it, when suddenly they sped up and charged at us despite our shooting. They swerved and hit us on the left rear with the heavy car, spinning us around and sending us off the road!”
“We charged headlong down the embankment, Gonzalo trying desperately to keep us upright. Finally, he couldn’t hold it any more and we turned over. Thanks to Gonzalo, we hadn’t been going that fast and the ride down the embankment, even though downhill, had slowed us further because of the soft ground.”
“I was thrown clear, and briefly knocked out. My fingers seemed welded to that pistol and I kept a grip on it throughout my tumble. The others survived the crash, but then the four pursuers came running down from the road, firing as they came.”
“Gonzalo, or one of the others, got in a shot that stopped one of the attackers, but the others kept shooting and, by sheer volume, shot down all three of my friends.”
“I was just coming out of my daze at that moment, and realized where I was and what was happening. I aimed as carefully as I could and, despite being hardly able to see, was able to hit two of them. Then I was out of bullets. Fortunately, the third one, the little guy, didn’t realize that. He scrambled up that embankment faster that I would have thought possible and took off in the car.”
“I checked on my friends, and my cousin Gonzalo. There was nothing I could do for them. I straightened myself out as best I could and hiked down the highway to get away from the scene. I flagged down a Flecha Roja bus for the ride into Tuxpan.”
“From Tuxpan, I called Houston and told them what had happened. John and Archie came down as fast as they could and, with a generous application of mordidas, covered up the incident and retrieved the bodies.”
“At the time, I didn’t suspect treachery. Now I do. I’m sure of it.”
We drove on in silence with Jeb and I both wondering what the hell we had gotten ourselves into this time.
LUCY
When we stopped in Pachuca, I left the guys at the hotel after supper, nursing their coffee, and went to visit some cousins I hadn’t seen in a long time—second cousins, actually, but we had been very close growing up.
“¡Lucita!” Laura screamed when she saw me. “¿De veras eres tu? Is it really you? Where did you come from? Is that your truck? What are all those holes?”
I told her the story of our recent adventures and asked her if she knew where I could get a couple of guns. Guns were strictly against the law in México, except for things like hunting, but that didn’t mean people didn’t have them. Especially in my family.
Laura and I visited for a while, got caught up on all the family news. I didn’t know when I’d see her again. Houston is a long way north and Chetumal is a long way south. When we made our tearful goodbyes, she handed me a heavy package and we hugged “¡Vaya con Dios!” We said to each other.
CARLOS
We stopped in Pachuca for a great supper of mole poblano in the hotel dining room. Lucy left to run some errands that resulted in our possessing a couple of pistols and some ammunition.
I hoped we wouldn’t be arrested for anything. We had proper tourist papers, but we were looking less and less like tourists. I was glad to see that the firearms went into a little box welded onto the frame of the truck. Jeb and I hadn’t even known the box was there. You don’t want to be caught with guns in México. Not good. We seldom carry them and usually it’s not worth the risk. After our recent experiences, though, we were glad enough to have them.
That Lucy is full of surprises. Always was. Still is.
The next day we skirted México City on our way through Puebla to Veracruz.
We got back into story telling mode, with Lucy leading the way with another of her childhood Mayan memories. A traditional story, she said.
“Listen
