The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya

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The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya 24out of the kitchen door. It gave off a great wave of steam that misted the cool desert air as it hit theVillista full in the face. The Villista's sombrero and rifle went flying backwards, and the Villista fell tohis knees with a scream, covering his eyes as he did so. Jose pulled up short, taken aback and unsurewhat to do next. Behind him, at the corner of the barracks, Grayley began to laugh.Next out of the kitchen door was one of the camp cooks. In one hand he held the emptycooking pot, the boiling contents of which he had just emptied into the Villista's face. In his other handwas the shotgun he used to hunt hares and other game to help feed the men of the camp. He looked atJose and then at Grayley still laughing behind him, and shook his head in silence. With Jose stillstanding and staring, the cook walked over and swung the cooking pot at the Villista's head. TheVillista grunted at the impact and fell over backwards. As he rolled groggily around on the ground, theVillista's hand came within a few inches of finding the rifle that he had recently dropped. The cookraised his shotgun to the Villista's head and fired.A perfect circle of sand, dust, skull and brain puffed away from the Villista. Blood flowed intosand, and the thirsty desert drank it down. With a nod at Jose, the cook went back into the kitchen andpushed the door close. Jose stood perfectly still, staring at the body of the Villista. Had La Catrinacome and tapped this man with her fan, like the others he had seen die in the desert outside AguaPrieta? He had not seen her. Time had not slowed down tonight, like it had then. Had he donesomething wrong, or offended her? Jose stood in a momentary reverie, until he became aware thatGrayley was still giggling behind him and guns were still being fired in and around the town and camp.The spell cast by the dead Villista broken, Jose turned around. It had been his intention to tellGrayley to be quiet, that there could be more Villistas close by, but as he spun around to face Grayleyhe had a brief flash of a figure in a red dress as it disappeared around the corner of the barracksneighboring to his own. Jose glanced at Grayley. The man was trying so hard to stop laughing thattears were pouring down his face. They were so intense that water was dripping off of his jaw and
The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya 25steam rising off of his skin, a caricature of the Villista that had just been killed in front of them. Josedidn't have time for that. He took off running towards the corner where he had gotten the glimpse ofthe red dress. Grayley and his giggles came running after him.By the time Jose had raced to the corner of the barracks he had forgotten that a battle was takingplace all around him; his only interest was now in catching up to La Catrina, if that were possible.Without stopping to look, he ran around the end of the barracks. Grayley was right behind him. AsJose rounded the corner of the building, he saw a group of three soldiers come around the far end of thelong, low structure. He also saw another Villista in between himself and the distant soldiers, at thesame moment that the Villista saw him. For the second time in less than ten minutes, Jose went from asprint to a sandy, sliding halt. Grayley slid to a stop as well, somehow managing not to run Jose down.His giggling, which he had not been able to stop, was threatening to become an all-out belly laugh.The Villista had been creeping along the side of the barracks, heading in the direction fromwhich Jose and Grayley were coming. Unaware of the group of soldiers at his back, the Villista fluidlyraised his rifle at Jose and Grayley and squeezed the trigger. The bullet came so close to Jose's headthat he felt its displaced air caress his cheek as it passed, the gentle finger of an invisible lover. TheVillista started to work the bolt on his rifle, chambering another round. The lead soldier in the distantgroup raised a pistol and fired, and the Villista fell to the ground clutching his arms around his stomach.He doubled over tightly into a ball on the ground. He looked to Jose like he was trying to curl up moreand more tightly on the ground, as if he thought that if he could only form himself into a perfect ballthen the bleeding might stop, and he could roll away back to Mexico.The soldiers from the far end of the building came running up. The man with the pistol stoppedat the Villista to make sure that he would no longer be a threat. The other two ran straight past Jose,who realized with a start that Grayley was no longer giggling. Jose turned around. The two men werelooking down at the ground, where Grayley lay with a perfect smile on his face and a perfect hole in
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The Long and Storied Life of Jose Montoya

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