She looked pale, the eyes too large in the rounded childish face, and Dillinger dropped to one knee beside her. “Hello, Juanita, remember me?”
Her velvet suit was torn, bedraggled, and covered with dust. She passed a hand across her eyes and said, “Will I be seeing Mama soon?”
Dillinger patted her on the shoulder and stood up. “How much water have you got?”
“Enough,” said Ortiz.
Dillinger shook his head. “You’ve come fifty miles at least since your last water hole, and you were expecting to find plenty here.”
“Tell Rivera he can have half an hour,” Ortiz said. “After that there will be no more talking. I have allowed him to live long enough.”
Dillinger pushed his way through the thicket, aware of the unseen eyes on either side, and crossed the clearing to the chapel. He stepped inside and closed the door.
Rivera moved forward eagerly. “What does he want?”
“You!” Dillinger told him bluntly. “If you hand yourself over within half an hour, he’ll give us the child and let us go free.”
“You have seen Juanita?” Rose demanded. “How is she?”
“A little the worse for wear, but otherwise unharmed.” He turned to Rivera. “What about it?”
The Mexican’s face was deathly pale and beaded with sweat. He struggled for words and said in a low voice, “Is there no other way?”
“From the moment you ruined Nachita’s plan for us we lost any real advantage we might have had.”
“But what about the well? They must need water badly.”
“They could last for a couple of days,” Villa put in.
Dillinger turned to Nachita. “What would happen if we did turn him over? Would Ortiz keep his word and let us ride out?”
“I’m not sure,” Nachita said. “He is in this thing too deep. He has nothing left to lose. To a man like Victorio, honor was everything. Ortiz is a different breed. Besides, I think he is mad now.”
“What about water?”
“I would say they have none. I noticed the condition of Ortiz’s pony when I went to speak with him.”
Dillinger nodded, a slight frown on his face as he considered the situation. He said slowly, “Do you think he might kill the kid if we turn down the exchange?”
Nachita shook his head. “If he had intended to kill her without reason, he would have done so. I think he will keep her with him now until what happens happens.”
There was a short silence as they all considered his words. It was finally broken by Villa. “It pains me to admit it, but it would seem that a grand gesture from Don Jose would appease Ortiz only for a moment.”
“I’ll test the water one more time,” Dillinger said.
He picked up a canteen, filled it from the well, and went back outside. As he crossed the clearing, Ortiz stepped from the thicket.
Dillinger stopped a few feet away. “Nachita says you have no honor.”
No anger showed on Ortiz’s face. He shrugged and said calmly, “So be it. What happens now is on your own head.”
Dillinger held out the canteen. “For the child.”
“You would trust a man without honor?” Ortiz said. “How do you know I will not drink this myself?”
“Only you can prove that you are still a man.”
“Then follow me,” Ortiz commanded.
Once again he led the way into the thicket to where Juanita sat on her blanket. She seemed happy to see Dillinger so soon again. Ortiz knelt and held the canteen for her as she drank. When she finished, the canteen was still more than half full.
“You can have the rest,” Dillinger said.
Ortiz turned the canteen over and spilled the rest of the water to the ground. “I will drink,” Ortiz said, “when Rivera is exchanged for the child.”
He handed the canteen back to Dillinger and said, “Go now! You have fifteen minutes left.”
Dillinger returned to the chapel. The others gathered around him to hear what had happened. Suddenly he stopped talking because he, like the rest, had heard the muted throbbing of a drum.
“It is their way of trying to frighten you,” Nachita said.