Jim Kane - J P S Brown (25 page)

"
That is more the way I do it. But I want to
learn this."

"
Tell Don Tomás. He is always happy to recruit
another charro. If he had his way every male on two legs in Rio
Alamos would be a
charro
.
He would even like to ban the
tejano
,
the kind of hat you and I wear, in the State of Sonora. He has
recruited doctors and lawyers into the association and they are
learning tailing and roping. Some of them even ride the bulls."

"
I thought
charros
of the caliber of Mariano and that old man with the
moustaches were only to be found in the south of Mexico. I have never
seen
charros
in
Sonora."

"
Don Tomás is from Puebla. The old moustaches,
Don Paco, came here with Don Tomás many years ago, The boy that rode
the bull is Don Paco's son. Since the boys have grown up they have
formed a team to compete in
charro
competitions all over Mexico. A team usually consists of
five men. The Rio Alamos group always has at least one doctor or
lawyer who is willing to take his lumps to go along with them. But
don't think there are many
charros
in Sonora. Rio Alamos has the only
charro
association in the state."

"
Why is it that Sonora vaqueros are not more
interested in
charreada
?"

"
The Sonora
vaquero
likes the way of the American cowboy better. The
vaquero
is a good practical roper and horseman but
charreada
is the art of roping and horsemanship. The sons of Don
Tomás and Don Paco were given the
chavinda
,
the
maguey
rope, for
their first playthings. Their baby cribs were saddles. The saying is,
'El charro se hace con baba, no con barba.'
The charro is made when he is slobbering, cutting teeth,
not when his beard is growing."

"
We also say a cowboy is born, not made."

"
This is true but the art of the
charro
must be taught to the small child and is much more
complicated than the roping and riding of the cowboy. Not many
cowboys could become good
charros
."

"
Still, I'm going to learn that roping someday."

"
Good luck. Wait until you try it. I don't say
you can't learn it, though. Don Tomás tried to keep Adelita, my
wife's sister, away from the horses and ropes in order to raise her
to be a lady, but I believe she is a better
charra
even than Mariano. That is her over there by the
chutes."

A small, brown girl in a leather split riding skirt
and knee-length black English boots was laughing huskily at Mariano
for missing his first loop at the heels of the white bull. The
vaqueros
at the chutes
were enjoying what the girl was saying. The boy was looking down at
his saddle horn while she derided him. A quirt hung from her left
wrist and she whipped her boot top with it as she laughed up at the
boy on horseback. She was bareheaded and her black hair hung straight
down below her shoulders. It hung together in wild ropes like the
hair of a Yaqui Indian. Don Tomás spoke to her and she turned and
stalked out of the arena swinging the quirt in one hand and stroking
the thigh of her own striding leg with the other.

"
That girl has no pardon. There will be no
forgiveness for Adelita Piedras," Juan Vogel said.

Don Tomás walked down the alley between the
barrera
and the stone wall to where Kane and Juan Vogel stood.
Mariano rode in the arena following Don Tomás and leading Don Tomás'
horse.

"
You shouldn't stand here in the sun without
beer," Don Tomás said. He turned to Mariano. "Go and get
beer for us, son," he said. The boy was still smarting from his
sister's teasing. He handed Don Tomás his reins.

"
Three?" he asked.

"
And one for yourself"

The boy rode away sitting his horse as proudly as he
could, knowing Kane and Juan Vogel were watching him.

"
How do you like the
charreada
?"
Don Tomás asked Kane.

"Very much," Kane said.

"
Are you a horseman?"

"
After a fashion."

"He wants to be a
charro
,"
Juan Vogel said.

"
Anytime you wish to join us you are welcome,
Se
ñ
or Kane. This is our
national sport. It is Mexican one hundred per cent," Don Tomás
said.

"
The Lion says Jim is a good
jinete
,
a good rider of bucking horses," Juan Vogel said.

"Why not? The Americans have great style in
riding bucking horses and bulls," Don Tomás said. "The
charro
rides to stay
on until the animal quits bucking. The cowboy rides to contest the
horse or the bull for a short time to make a good picture of a horse
bucking and a rider spurring. The American way of riding is an art."

"
Mariano's roping is an art," Kane said.

"
Yes, we attempt to make our horsemanship and
roping an art. Did you see the tailing today?" Don Tomás asked.

"
No, we came too late," Kane said.

"
Tailing requires the art of horsemanship.
Someday I'll invite you to try it," Don Tomás said.

"I'd like to," Kane said.

"
Would you like to ride a bucking horse today?"
Don Tomás asked Jim Kane.

"
I had not thought of it."

"
He has a bad knee," Juan Vogel said.

"The knee is all right," Kane said. "I
could ride a bareback horse.

"
All our bucking-horse riding in
charreada
is bareback. We use the
pretal
,
the tight rope, only. We never saddle our bucking horses. "

"
His knee is bad," Juan Vogel said.

"
We would like an exhibition if you are
willing," Don Tomás said.

"I'll attempt it, " Kane said. Mariano rode
up with three cans of beer and handed them to Don Tomás.

"
Would you like some of the
fuerte
,
the strong drink, first?" Don Tomás asked.

"
Let's see," Juan Vogel said. Without
dismounting, Mariano leaned over Don Tomás' horse, took a thin,
half-pint bottle of clear
mezcal
out of the saddlebag, and handed it to his father. Don
Tomás handed it to Kane and Kane drank a big swallow to brace up his
brain, the brain which had crumbled under stupidity when Kane had
been faced with the dare of riding a bronc. Juan Vogel drank with
relish, wiped off the mouth of the bottle, and gave it back to Don
Tomás half empty. The charro drank again and the bottle went around
again. Don Tomás emptied it.

"
To bucking-horse riding!" Juan Vogel
laughed, and saluted Kane with his beer. Kane chased the
mezcal
,
not worrying about crowding its quality, with half of his can of
beer.

"
The next event is the
escaramuza
,"
Don Tomás said. "This is the ladies' horsemanship event. My
daughter is captain of the team of Rio Alamos ladies." He handed
the empty
mezcal
bottle
to Mariano. "Co replenish this, son," he said. The boy rode
away with the bottle.

"
Are you married, Se
ñ
or
Kane?"

"
No," Jim Kane said. He added immediately,
"Nor do I intend to be ten years from now."

"
We must introduce Senor Kane to some of our Rio
Alamos ladies, Juanito," Don Tomás said. "We have fine
women here, Senor Kane. Beautiful and good women."

"
I've been watching them," Kane said.

"For example, in the ladies of the
escaramuza
,
you, as a horseman, will see what I mean about our women."

The
mariachis
began
playing the old song of the revolution, "Adelita." The
arena was cleared and the gate opened at the far end of the straight
track of the keyhole. Six girls on horseback riding sidesaddle
streamed through the gate single file. They stopped their horses and
stood them abreast halfway up the track. The first horse sprang into
a run toward the
ruedo
.
The horse was suffering from what cowboys of Kane's acquaintance
called the 'green-eyed runaway.' The girl was spurring with the one
stirruped foot and whipping with a long, thin, hardwood rod to get
more runaway out of the horse. The girl was Adelita, daughter of Don
Tomás. The big black stud horse she rode didn't have a spot of white
on him. He stretched and ran as though there was no
barrera
at the end of the arena for him. The girl was wearing a
black and gold brocaded sombrero over her brow. Her hair was plaited
in one thick braid down her back.

The girl checked the big black in the center of the
ruedo
and he braked
and slid on his hind legs, his front legs pawing the air together.
The girl stilled the horse there and made a hand salute to her
sombrero and rode to one side to wait for her companions to introduce
themselves in the same manner. The team performed an intricate drill
in the
ruedo
at full
speed. Their final move was another headlong charge to the
barrera
.
Adelita did not check the stud until his nose was about to strike the
boards. When she turned him, his feet went out from under him and he
went down. The girl arched her supple back and kept her seat and
seemed to hover over the stud, unaffected by his struggles, while she
switched and spurred him so thoroughly that Kane could see the hair
fly off him. He scrambled to his feet and slammed against the
barrera
on the off side, the stirrupless side of the sidesaddle,
regained his balance, and was spurred in a charge out of the arena.
The rest of the team followed.

When the girls were gone and the gates had been shut
on the
ruedo
, Mariano
Piedras rode over to Kane and said, "My father says you are
going to ride."

"I guess so," Kane said.

"
When you are ready I will help you mount. We
have a buckskin in the chute. He is the best we have. He bucks very
well."

"Let's go then."

Kane climbed over the rock wall and walked down the
alley of the
barrera
to
the chutes. The buckskin was the same color as the Mortgage Maker
colt Kane had ridden for Bob Keys. He was much smaller. This buckskin
didn't weigh seven hundred pounds. He was narrow as a board. Kane
looked at Mariano.

"
This is him," Mariano said.

"
He is very good to buck," a smiling
vaquero
who was
perched on the back of the chute said.

"Well, let's have him then," Kane said and
climbed onto the chute and strapped on spurs he borrowed from
Mariano. Mariano and the
vaquero
wrapped a braided rope around the buckskin's girth and
pulled out the slack. Kane got down on the black-striped back and
planted his feet between the boards on both sides of the chute. He
got his hand under the rope.

"Use both hands," Mariano said.

"What for? One hand is better style for falling
off," Kane said.

Mariano tightened the rope and started to tie off the
end.
"Give it to me," Kane
said and took the loose, end and wrapped it around his hand and held
it.

"You'll hang up to him that way," Mariano
said.

"
That's what I figure," Kane said. The
vaquero
smiled.

"
Don't fall off then," Mariano said.

"I appreciate that advice," Kane said. .

"Ready?" Mariano asked, and got hold of the
gate latch. What the hell, Kane thought. He lay back, looked at the
sky, and said, "Turn him loose." He raised his inside foot
as high as he could and drove the wheel-roweled spur behind the
buckskin's ear as the gate opened. One thing about these gut hooks
I'm wearing, he thought, they'll bring anything back to life that
hasn't been dead more than ten days. He kept up the motions of
spurring, but he never turned another hair on the buckskin. He never
found the ragged little horse again. He could see no head, no
shoulders, no withers in front of him. He could feel no barrel under
his thighs. He was riding a bumpy rail that was the buckskin"s
backbone. The buckskin stretched and snapped the backbone under him
and Kane was sure every vertabra the horse possessed passed beneath
Kane's buttocks like the teeth of a chain saw. Kane spurred high with
one foot to keep his balance when the buckskin turned off the
barrera
, and missed.
When the horse raised his head after the turn, both of Kane's feet
were on the same side of the buckskin's neck. The horse wheeled away
from the feet and Kane lay out over him off balance. He turned loose
his hold on the rope. Gravity took over. Kane sailed out flat in the
air, parallel to the ground, and landed on his back in the arena. He
got up and leaned against the
barrera
to get his breath and looked squarely into the
sun-flecked, yellow-brown, coyote-like eyes of Adelita Piedras, who
was standing behind the barrera.