THE HIDDEN SPRING 4

the next morning before sun up, latigo was well on his way south horse back. the spotter glasses and the sat phone were in a moral hung from his saddle horn. latigo had a look on his face that would curddle milk. his private life had been invaded. he didnt like it, but he could see no way around the problems. he had seen what bad drugs did to his friends in south east asia. he hated those drugs and the people who made them available. in his heart he knew these people comming from mexico would be carrying drugs to finance their terrorist activites. he had done his time in service of the country and wanted to be left alone. but now he was cornered.he didnt see any way around the problem yet. the barry goldwater bombing range was a vast expance that almost reached the mexican border. in its interior was the remnents of old ranches from the early part of the centry. no one lived there. the buildings and improvements were targets for the pilots who flew out of luke air force base. latigo had very carefully slpped in the bombing range in the past to catch some of the wild cattle that lived there. there was a lot of unexploded ordinance scattered accross the land scape. he had quit going down there because of it. but he knew the country well. at one time there had been working wells on the bombing range. latigo had even tried to maintain them to use the water for catching the wild cattle. but the bombers had used the wind mills as targets. now the only water down there was charco s or earthen tanks with rain water in them. but they would be low or dry as it hadnt rained much in months.that would mean the illegals comming up from mexico had to carry their own drinking waater and had to hustle across the bombing range. a hour after sun up latigo rode up on a rocky nob and got down, he tied his horse to a palo verde tree then takeing the sat phone and spotting glasses walked out to a clear spot and settled down in the shade of a sahuaro. he started searching the land to the south. at first he saw nothing it was like nothing lived in that hell on arth. but he was patient. soon he saw a small string of wild cattle walking head to tail headed toward a charco. latigo was messmerized in watching. from where he sat none were branded. he was tempted to get his horse. but before he could move the cattle scattered like flushed quail. he sat back down and kept the glasses on the spot the cattle had last been seen as a group. in a few moments five people walked ouut of a arroyo. all were carrying back packs and long guns. latigo check the map getting the coordinates then called them in to louis. . he then got up and went to his horse. he hadnt ridden a hundred yards back to the north when a low flying jet screamed over head close enough for him to feel the heat from the engine. in just a moment the desert erupted with geysers of dust and sand as the jet dropped bombs. latigo sat still as he watched the jet circle and make another pass but it didnt drop any more explosives. the plane waggled its wings then flew off to the north. latigo turned his horse and rode back to the spot he had been sitting at. the desert below was turned up side down, the vegitation leveled. he could see bodys scattered about. latigo turned and rode for home.