The Body of Martin Aguilera

Chapter Three

Lewis and Laura ate an early dinner, then went out to worm the two horses. Lewis told the girl how he used to have to blow pills through a pipe down their throats, but now it was just a matter of putting some paste in their mouths. She didn’t believe him about the pills. So he told her the story about the New Mexican rancher who lived right on the Colorado state line.

“He had a cross-eyed bull and he called the vet. The vet said he knew of only one treatment. He got a pipe, lifted the bull’s tail and stuck it in.”

Laura was delighted, hearing a naughty story. “In his — his poo-poo hole?” she asked.

“That’s not how I would have put it, but yes. So, the vet had the rancher stand in front of the bull while he blew through the pipe. The vet blew and blew and finally the bull’s eyes straightened out. A few weeks later the bull’s eyes popped back and he was looking everywhere at once.” Lewis demonstrated and Laura laughed. “The doc couldn’t come out, but he knew what to do. He got his neighbor from over in Colorado to help him. He sat behind the bull and put the pipe in his poo-poo hole and blew while the Colorado man watched. He blew and blew and blew but nothing happened. Finally, he said ‘You come back here and blow for a while and I’ll watch.’ The Colorado man sat behind the bull, pulled out the pipe and turned it around. “Why’d you do that?’ the New Mexican man asked. The Colorado man said, ‘You had your mouth on the other end’.”

Laura didn’t get it. She just looked at her grandfather.

“Well, you see he was going to put his—” He stopped. “Never mind.”

The horses trotted to the fence to greet them. Laura had been feeding them corn and so they were glad to see her. She dipped her hand into the can she held and spread a palm with corn through the cedar fence. While the black mare ate, Lewis hooked a lead into her halter and tied her close to the post. He had to put a halter on the gelding, then he tied him the same way.

Laura looked out over the pasture while Lewis applied the worming paste. “Papa?”

“Yes?”

“I’m scared.”

He pulled her close and stroked her back.

“I’ve never seen a dead person before.”

“Honey, we don’t even know if Martin was dead.”

“You thought he was dead. You think somebody killed him.”

He couldn’t deny this. And he too was feeling a bit afraid. What if the killer had seen them there? He was afraid for Laura. Then he shook his head. His imagination was getting the better of him. Even if they had been seen there, what possible threat could they pose to the killer.

“Come on, let’s go have some tea,” he said. As they walked back to the house, Lewis began to replay the scene at Martin’s in his head. No furniture was overturned. There was no sign of any struggle. The wound was in the back of the man’s head, under his hair, so he hadn’t gotten a look at that. There wasn’t a lot of blood. He sighed, then swallowed a deep breath, knowing that tomorrow he would ask Maggie to sit with Laura while he went back to Martin’s to look around.

Maggie called and was there an hour later. Her little Ford pickup kicked a cloud of dust into the air as she skidded to a stop in the front yard.

“How’s it goin’, fart-face?” Maggie said.

Lewis and Laura were standing on the porch. Laura laughed.

“You’re a sweet talker,” Lewis said.

“Hi ya, Laura.”

Laura smiled.

“Come on in and have some tea,” Lewis said.

“Got any herbal?” Maggie asked.

“You drink herbal tea?” Laura was pleased.

“Yep. The other stuff isn’t good for you. It makes me go potty.”

“That’s all Papa drinks.”

Lewis was holding the door open. “Come on, you two.”

“See,” Maggie said, entering the house behind the girl. “The tea makes him irritable and impatient and I’ll bet he pees every ten minutes.”

Laura was laughing again.

Maggie and the child sat at the kitchen table while Lewis put on the water. He turned around and leaned against the counter. “I was wondering if you’d stay here with Laura for a while.”

“Sure. Where you going?”

“You’re nosey.”

“Well, yeah.”

“He’s going to Martin’s house,” Laura said in a hushed voice.

“He is?” Maggie whispered. “Why?”

Laura said nothing.

Maggie looked to Lewis. “What’s going on?”

He hadn’t wanted to tell her anything, but better he tell her than she get Laura’s version. “I’m worried about Martin.”

“Why?”

“He’s dead,” the child said.

“Laura.”

“What?” Maggie pulled a pack of cigarettes from her pocket.

“Yesterday, we went to Martin’s and I found him lying on the floor. I think it was Martin. It seemed he was dead. He wasn’t breathing and I call that dead. Anyway, we called the sheriff. And when Manny Mondragon went back up there with us, the body was gone.”

Maggie blew out smoke. “Hunh. This ain’t the kind of talk one expects over tea. You sure he was dead?”

“I thought he was dead.”

“I don’t think you should be going out there.”

“Martin was — is my friend. I want to know what’s going on.” The kettle began its whistle behind him. “I’m just going to look around.”

“I think we should all go.”

“Yeah,” Laura said.

“No,” Lewis said firmly, the whistle hissing loudly. He turned and removed the kettle from the burner with one hand, putting out the flame with the other. He looked Maggie in the eyes. “This is not a game.”

“What is this, some macho thing?”

“I don’t want Laura there.”

Maggie looked at the girl and seemed to understand. She exhaled a breath like she was playing a trumpet and made a funny sound. “I’m sorry.”

“This is between us,” Lewis said. “I don’t want you talking to anyone about any of this.”

“And what if you don’t come back?”

Lewis looked at Laura. She was afraid. He looked at his watch. “It’s ten now. If I’m not back by two, call Mondragon.”

“Papa?”

“There’s nothing to worry about honey.” He felt badly that the child knew where he was going, but she had guessed it anyway.