THE BORDER SEARCH 2

del sat his horse in front of the congress hotel he held the reins of a second saddle horse on one side and the lead rope of a pack mule on the other. he was fresh scrubbed and his face glowed in the early morning light. he had a new shirt, new denim britches tucked into the boot tops of a pair of hand made mexican boots. he had retained the greasy hat, he didnt like breaking in new hats. through the front door of the hotel walked maxine collier. in her hand was a soft sided valiese. she wore a leather split rideing skirt and a striped , long sleeve shirt that buttoned snug around her throat and at the wrist. but her voluptious figgure was still evedent. when she approached del steped to the ground and without a word took the valiese and secured it to the pack horse. it was then he noticed the pistol belted around maxines narrow waist. " you know how to use that thing?" del asked as he pointed to the pistol. "well enough i suppose." maxine responded." you dont wear one?" " no but i have one packed away here." del patted the pannier on the pack mule." we get a little closer to mexico ill unlimber it. besides i got the rifle." del pointed to the rifle in a scabbord on his saddle horse. maxine gathered up the bridle reins on the horse she was going to ride. stepped to his side then hoped up and stabbed her foot in the stirrup and swung her right leg over the cantle and settled into the sddle finding the off stirrup with her foot. " i se you ride a lot, thats good, we better get going, but believe me we are rideing into a revolution down there and ime not sure gringo s are very welcome" del made one more attempt to convince the woman at staying in tucson. " ime not afraid sir. i must find my brother. are you afraid?" maxine drew herself up in a pout. "yes ime afraid, ime not ashamed to say it. and you better be also. thats pretty country down there but the revolutionests dont care which side of the line they travel or raid. theres no law or army. so, yes ime afraid."del watched as maxine pulled her horse around and pointed it south west. he shook his head and tugged on the mules lead rope and followed along. late that afternoon they were approaching a favorite over night camping spot. up ahead del could see the white top of a wagon. i looked to be torn and the breeze was whipping the raw edges and popping them . del had a uneasy feeling about this situation and he eased up next to maxine and said so. "why dont you wait here until i go check this out. something dont feel right."del handed her the lead rope to the pack mule. as he rode ahead he pulled the rifle from the boot under his left leg and laid it accros his lap. as he drew near his horse started to snort and slow down , trying to turn back. del held a tight rein and kicked the horse forward. the stench of something dead came to his nostrel. the horse under him became more agitated. as the rode into the clearing where the wagon sat del could see a dead horse laying at the edge of the clearing. as he neared the wagon he copuld see the name of a tucson frieght company stenciled along the side. the harness lay in a pile along the wagon tounge. he rode around the wagon and saw the cargo had been plundered and scattered. as he came from behind the wagon and started up the oppossite side del could see slotches of dried blood on the ground by the front wagon wheel. but no body or person was in sight. he rode toward the dead horse and saw it had a mexican saddle still strapped on it.looking closer del saw the horse had been shot between the eyes. shakeing his head he returned to maxine." some body raided ronstadts wagon back there. made a mess of things. no one around i could see. but theres a dead horse causeing a stink. lets go on down the trail and make camp." del took the lead rope on the pack mule and rode a wide circle around the camp site. his mind was buzzing. they wernt even close to the border yet and already finding evidence of murder and mayhem.the revolution was giveing the mexican bandits the oppertunity to commit crimes in the name of the revolution.