Alfonso stood inside the barn at Rancho del Robles Viejos. His nearby room was little more than a walled-in stall, but it was all he needed, and he was near his beloved stallions. In front of him, one end of a rein was attached to a nail. For a length of two feet it was braided; then, where the old vaquero worked, it frayed into a half-dozen loose strands of fine rawhide. The trenzador, braider—and Alfonso was one of the best—was concentrating and did not hear Inocente approach.
“I understand Ramón was here last night.”
Alfonso jumped startled at the voice. “Yes, he stopped on his way north,”
“And he was not alone?”
The old man raised his head and centered his gaze on the hawklike eyes of the head vaquero of Rancho del Robles Viejos. “No, Inocente, he was not alone.”
“I was to meet this Anglo at Teodoro’s. He was foolish enough to insult—”
‘There was no mention of a meeting… and that is better forgotten, amigo.”
“Forgotten?” Inocente’s voice hardened. “Only the day before yesterday, he again stared at her as if she were on display in the pueblo mercado. Had he kept our appointment—were he not a coward—he would have gotten far worse last night than the first time he affronted a Padilla.”
“These old eyes have judged many horses and many men, Inocente, and I don’t believe this man to be a coward. I do know you are much too quick to judge. It is a failing of youth.”
“Maybe your old eyes are too old, viejo. He did not show up at the appointed place. He is a coward.”
Alfonso frowned. “A cougar is seldom where you think he will he, amigo. But that does not mean his claws are not sharp, his movement swift. I spoke with this Anglo, and he did not understand our ways. He meant no offense to Señorita Juana.”
One of Estoban’s stallions neighed and stomped in his stall. Inocente slapped his quid on his thigh. “If he returns, tell him Inocente Ruiz waited for I him. Tell him I still wait.” The slapping quirt echoed a constant rhythm. “Have these horses been exercised today?”
“Of course, segundo. Has this old man ever forgotten?”
Inocente turned on his heel and strode from the barn.