Free [Texas Rangers 06] - Jericho's Road by Elmer Kelton Page A

want to. Jericho never lets himself get caught at anything he could go to jail for. He’s like a general who runs an army from the rear and never goes out on the battlefield. And because he concentrates most of his attention on ranches in Mexico, a lot of the Rangers look the other way. They’ve never forgotten the Alamo and Goliad.”
    Andy said, “I thought McNelly stopped most of the bandits, white and Mexican.”
    “ For a while. But he’s gone.”
    Mrs. McCawley stepped out into the patio. “Teresa’s here, and supper is ready.”
    McCawley motioned toward the door. “After you-all.”
    Andy waited for Len but not for Farley. His attention went immediately to a pretty girl with long black hair. McCawley introduced her as his daughter, but Andy had realized that the moment he saw her. She had the same dark brown eyes as her mother. They looked at Len and Andy, then dwelled for a moment on Farley before shyly cutting away. She waited for the men to sit. Farley did, but Andy and Len stood until she decided to seat herself. Andy was surprised at Len’s sudden good manners.
    Mrs. McCawley was last to the table. Light from the window revealed strands of gray hair that Andy had not noticed at first. She bowed her head and recited a prayer in Spanish. She crossed herself at the end of it, as did her daughter.
    McCawley said, “Eat hearty. One thing we’ve got plenty of is beef. There ain’t enough bandits to take it all.”
    Conversation lagged at first. Andy was too hungry to talk until he had emptied his plate. He was slower eating the second helping. He noticed that Teresa kept taking quick glances at Farley. He supposed she might be fascinated by his scar. It made him look a bit dangerous. Andy had been told that many women were drawn to men who looked dangerous.
    To McCawley he said, “You’ve mentioned havin’ trouble with Jericho. What about Guadalupe Chavez?”
    A look passed between McCawley and his wife, and McCawley considered before he answered. “Some of Lupe’s countrymen run off stock from time to time, but he leaves us alone.”
    Andy noticed that McCawley used the familiar form of the name, Lupe instead of Guadalupe.
    Mrs. McCawley said, “My father was Cipriano Chavez. Lupe Chavez is my brother.”
    Andy stared at the girl. Her gaze was studiously fixed on her plate, though she had stopped eating. He thought she looked too innocent to be kin to a bandit whose name was known up and down the border. He remembered something the hole-in-the-wall cook in San Antonio had said, that very few innocent people lived on either side along the Rio Grande.
    He remembered something else. McCawley had said his stepson was with an uncle. That uncle must be Guadalupe Chavez, Andy thought.
    He had a feeling that whether or not his service on the river was pleasant, it should at least be almighty interesting.
    After supper McCawley led the Rangers out onto the broad front porch, where he lighted a pipe while Len and Farley smoked cigarettes. He said, “You-all heard enough in there to raise a lot of questions. I feel like I owe you some answers.”
    Andy said, “You don’t owe us nothin’.”
    “ I want you to understand how things are. I was poor as a whippoor-will when I first came to this part of the country. That was back in the fifties. Jobs were scarce. I served a little while with the Rangers, but half the time the state couldn’t afford to pay me. Old Don Cipriano had land on both sides of the river, and he put me to work as a vaquero. By that time Americans were movin’ into this part of the country in considerable numbers. They wanted land. They found that most of it was owned by Mexicans, so they started pushin’ them out. The old man thought they’d leave him alone because he’d fought for Texas independence.
    “ Some of those Johnny-come-latelys hadn’t fought for Texas, but they thought they had a right to whatever part of it they wanted. They took control of the courthouse and ruled that