HIDDEN SPRING 2

ther next morning latigo sat at the table with a cup of coffee. he was stareing at the envelope laying before him. his hidden spring ranch was in the most inacessable area he could have found. he had come home from viet namn broken and scared, physiclly and mentaly. he didnt want to be around people for any reason. while he wa gone over seas a uncle who trated him more like a son than a nephew had died leaveing him a little nest egg. with that he had bought the hidden spring ranch. it was 20 miles of rough dirt road to town. no one came here except his sister janet. she brought him grocerys and mail. but he very seldom read any mail. looking at the letter before him he was tempted to throw it in the stove. he wanted nothing to do with the goverment. after 20 years from his discharge date, he still was bitter about the 14 months in south east asia. he had lost friends there. in a conflict that, in his view was senseless. he had did his best to push the memorys to the back of things. but the best he could do was three or four days without thinking about it. latigo stared at the letter as if it were a snake gettting ready to strike. when he finished his cup of coffee he simply stood up and grabbed his hat off a nail where it hung and walked out the door. at the corral his three horses stood at the gate of the corral waitting for their morning feed.when he finished feeding he was closeing the gate to the horse corral, he heard a vehickle comming on the road to his yard. just the sound put him on edge. presently a olive drab painted pickup truck came into the yard and stopped. latigo stood his ground at the corral a tall man in uniform got out of the truck, looked around then spotting latigo started walking to him.as he drew near he stuck out his hand" ime capitan louise. are you latigo burnes?" latigo looked at the capitans hand then said" you know i am. i live here so i dont have to deal with people. you knew who and where i was before you got here." latigo was sour. " ok, ok, we need to talk. we need you." louis said. " no, what ever it is no. ime not intrsted. i already gave you all a big part of my life. and what did i get? one leg three inches shorter than the other, a scare along my jaw bone and not even a damned thank you no what ever you want."latigo was on the verge of explosion. " here me out burnes. what ime going to tell you concernes you as well as the nation. we need you."louis was all but begging. "talk!" latigo spoke. " we have it on good authority that a communist regeim is going to be sending people up from mexico. they will be comming through the barry gold water bombing range then through here. we are told no one knows this desert any better than you.if you can spot these people and inform us as to where they are we can then stop them from doing terrorist acts" louis talked fast fearing latigo would throw him off the ranch. " they are comming across my ranch?" latigo asked. the capitan nodded." we fear if we put military people out there to pick them up they will just move to another route.if we know where they are crossing we can pick them up away from here." latigo turned and walked away a few steps then turned and came back. you people sure know how to put a man in a squeeze. i dont want to do a thing to help the army, but if i dont do this then ime sure ill have all kinds off ordinance roaming my home. i wont do it for nothing. i gave this country my body once i wont do it again."latigo was angry but he knew he had no other choice. " make a list of what you want, ill be back in the morning with the equipment you will need." the capitan got in his truck and drove out of the yard. latigo stood rooted where he stood going in the house he opened the letter on the table. it simply requested him calling a number. he was sure that it tied in with what louis was wanting to do.