The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya

The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya 104actually had several – were in fact just as much in training as the recruits that now stood before Jose tolearn how to shoot. They considered themselves a different breed from the regular infantryman,however, and when he stopped to think about these motorcycle trainees Jose saw much in them thatreminded him of his days in the cavalry. He also saw much that amazed him in how rapidly the Armyhad taken to all of the varying mobile machines, given that it had only been two years since he wasbouncing along through the desert on machines that the army then considered entirely experimental. Healso was never able, although he tried several times, to explain to Juan Paolo the irony that he felt whenhe realized that the motorcycles were largely made by a company called Indian Motorcycle.None of that crossed Jose’s mind, however, as the rider rounded the formation of trainees andcame to a stop in front of Jose with only minimal sliding. He had orders from Jose’s captain to fetchJose, leaving the recruits to wait until a replacement could be sent out to operate the range for them.Jose was reluctant to leave his post at the range when there were men to be trained, but as soon as themessenger made him aware of why the captain had sent a rider instead of simply telephoning Josejumped from the porch into the motorcycle’s sidecar in one gracefully acrobatic moment: Eudora wasin labor.The air in his face was stingingly cold, but as they bounced down the dirt roads of the camp tothe main gate and Chillicothe Jose still wished that the driver of the motorcycle would take him fasterthan the prescribed twenty-five-miles-an-hour maximum speed. Nonetheless, as long as the trip seemedit was hardly ten minutes before the motorcycle was pulling up in front of his little house, and onceagain Jose performed feats of acrobatic by this time vaulting out of the sidecar before the messengerhad had his chance to bring the machine to a slow and elegant stop. Juan Paolo, who had also riddenalong on the motorcycle studying its operation like he studied the operation of the steamrollers,approved of Jose’s athleticism and decided to do his own vaulting dismount, adding a floating midairsomersault for effect. Jose, however, was already up the four porch steps and to the front door before