CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Meanwhile Jesus Christ and his heavenly wife Mary Magdalene and the angels of heaven watch without interrupting anything that is happening below the skies of above. But the ten conquistador crowns all comprehend the fact that the “Witch Catcher” is near and will never give up until they all reach their ships and head back overseas to the Old World.
Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza is thinking about how they should only camp out one more night even if that means roughing it to make the coast within another day or so. He doesn’t want to have to put up with the “Witch Catcher” for even another day. But then on the other side of the moon, he feels that two days is better than three days or any more than that.
Immediately Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza comes back explaining his plans as they reach further away from any trouble while disclosing, “Let’s keep traveling for a few more hours and then we will camp out somewhere for another night so we can make our way to the coast the next day hopefully!”
After thinking about what he had just said, Conquistador Padre is wondering whether or not they really can make the trip that soon asking, “Do you think we can make the coast in another two days or so?”
And before Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza can answer his question, Conquistador Rafael figures that he is pushing the matter and that he is very anxious to get home saying, “Isn’t that pushing it a little too much?”
Then again Conquistador Roberto believes that Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza is right coming back deliberating, “Yes, we can make the coast in two days if we only camp out for one more night. But we might not make until the evening, but we’ll make it!”
During the meanwhile, the “Witch Catcher” is near, although she has had some trouble keeping her eyes on them the entire time. There are too many trees and other obstacles around and not to forget that she is riding further away now so that she can be unseen by them. Yet still she catches glimpses of them every once in a while with them all talking aloud. The words they are saying are too hard to hear from such a long distance away so she tries to use her senses such as her extrasensory perception and realizes that they are eager to make their way to the coast.
Next Conquistador Arturo wonders if they think that the “Witch Catcher” woman is near querying to the original six remaining conquistador crowns, “Do you think that “Witch Catcher” woman is somewhere nearby watching?”
Then one of the other conquistador men such as Conquistador Miguel really quick rambling, “No, she stopped somewhere to take a siesta!”
Right away, a couple of the conquistador men start to laugh and chuckle like it were a cool joke to tell and even Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza catches a laugh while saying afterwards, “Yes, that “Witch Catcher” woman is nearby somewhere out there watching and waiting!”
After hearing that Conquistador Carlos can only guess at what she could possibly be up to questioning out loud in general, “I wonder what tricks she must have up her sleeve for us watching and following us so close!”
Meanwhile the “Witch Catcher” has been eavesdropping and it appears that she feels she has them confused to where she does come off as a mystery to every one of them. However she just wants to wait until they camp before she gives another note to her presence once again. And then on the one hand she does have them all gleaming and glaring around a bit trying to make sure that she gets too close.
The conversation reboots itself with Conquistador Sanchez figures that it appears that the worst is over with relating, “Perhaps maybe the worst of it is over with and she will go away when we get closer to the coast!”
But then again, Conquistador Roberto thinks differently about the situation because he knows those Indians and how they respond to things saying, “Oh, and she will go away just like that!”
Of course, Conquistador Padre has to be the one to sort the entire scenario out by exasperating, “You all don’t know her like we do; she won’t stop following us until we are in our little row boats paddling to our ships to leave for Portugal and Spain.”
Finally after pretty much giving up on the prosperities of this New World, Conquistador Felipe can’t wait to get rid of that “Witch Catcher” woman chit chatting, “Good; I can’t wait to get rid of that “Witch Catcher” woman!”
In the interim, Conquistador Riguel has a word or two to say about that rambling, “She’ll be getting the middle finger; her and this place!”
Meanwhile Jesus Christ and his wife Mary Magdalene are in heaven watching and waiting as their marriage along with the testimony unfold. The angels of heaven are praising heaven, although their trumpets are down considering that a new song will be sung before the throne at another time.
Soon Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza looks behind to see how much daylight is left before nightfall will come. So far, it appears that they still have a couple of hours, although they still need to get out of dodge before any more trouble comes their way. By now, he has had a few good glances at the map here and there when there was an opportunity, although there hasn’t been too many.
At this time, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza see some mountains in the distance before explaining to the other conquistador crowned men, “We’ll stop and find somewhere to camp when we come to those mountains just ahead along the “Old Spanish Trail.”
Right away, Conquistador Rafael wonders what the name of those mountains are in his map and journal asking, “And what mountains are those!”
Without waiting for another second to pass on by, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza says back to him, “Those are just some foothills I logged on my map but there are some good places where we could camp for the night!”
Quickly Conquistador Miguel is hesitant about making the long journey the following day insinuating, “And then we are going to make the coast, perhaps?”
Next Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza thinks about how they will make the coast as long as they don’t have any obstacles in their way saying, “Yes, we will make the coast as long as we don’t have any more obstacles like that “Witch Catcher” or those Chaco Indians back there trying to stop us!”
Just then Conquistador Arturo can only think about how they seemed to let them pass for some reason with little incident saying, “It seems that they were letting us pass for some reason or other!”
Right away, Conquistador Padre feels that the “Witch Catcher” has more to her game than meets the eye carrying on with, “It appears that the “Witch Catcher” woman has more to her game than meets the eye!”
After hearing something so absurd coming from Conquistador Padre’s mouth, Conquistador Felipe says, “So what are you saying that she has more than just Indians on her side?”
And once he has the chance to explain his thoughts on the situation, Conquistador Padre enlightens them all answering back insisting, “I’m saying that that “Witch Catcher” woman has something more to her game such as spiritual forces working for her!”
Meanwhile the “Witch Catcher” has been eavesdropping in on the situation and she has some chuckles to go along with it, although they are pretty smart considering that some things are hidden. And those things have to do with the testimony of Jesus Christ which they can feel but can’t see those forces at work. However they are attuned to the religious world involving many other churches other than the Catholic Religions that they are controlled under.
Finally Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza can only think back to some of the things such as War Hawk wanting to borrow his book of Prayers to the Spanish Lords and Saints as he quotes, “She may have some spiritual forces such as God and the words of Heaven working in and through her as well!”
Furthermore after hearing such a preposterous notion coming from the head conquistador, Conquistador Felipe thinks that’s absurd biting back, “You mean to tell me that you think that “Witch Catcher” woman is some like religious Catholic member!”
Next Conquistador Rafael has the book of Prayers to the Spanish Lords and Saints on his mind too while ranting, “Well, War Hawk did ask to borrow his book of Prayers to the “Spanish Lords and Saints.”
By now, some of the other guys are cluing in on some of the religious aspects as well considering that they have seen the Chaco Indians come and go from as far as Mexico. Some of the things they have noticed have seemed to be related to Spanish Culture in some similarities. And that’s considering that Spain and Mexico were and still are two completely different cultures at that time.
Moments later, Conquistador Carlos tries to compare the two cultures in order to shed some light on what they are all saying by commenting, “Well the Chaco Indians all know that we are Catholic and they have been listening and watching us on days of the Sabbath as well as on Sundays. And they all know we use the Julian calendar.”
So far, Jesus Christ and his wife Mary Magdalene along with the angels of heaven have been listening to how they are coming close to seeing the world of heaven through their own eyes. However they are still only guessing at certain facts while they have missed out on catching a lot of other characteristics.
In retrospect, the “Witch Catcher” has a lot going on as she chuckles again while listening in on how they are getting closer and closer to the truth, yet they are still so far off from it. And now the sun is nearing the sunset as the ten remaining conquistador crowns all reach their next destination. The destination of where Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza had decided to camp out for the last night along their journey of returning to the coast where their ships are docked.
Soon they reach the foothills where Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza had made his mind up to camp for the last night as he says, “Well, here we are where our last night of camping will be for the night.”
As they ride in-between three hills that are just north along the “Old Spanish Trail,” Conquistador Padre feels that they are camping in an area where they will have trouble seeing what’s north of them all saying, “How are we going to camp here where when can’t see a darn thing?”
Right away, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza thinks of how he had it planned to give them a blind spot from the “Witch Catcher” answering back, “It’s perfect; this way that “Witch Catcher” won’t be able to camp looking down on us!”
After taking a quick look around at how the “Witch Catcher” would have to camp out somewhere without a direct line of sight, Conquistador Felipe says out loud as he looks for a place to tie down his horse, “It’s perfect!”
Next Conquistador Miguel comes forth blabbing on, “Yes, it’s a perfect place to get cornered by that “Witch Catcher” and those Chaco Indians!”
By this time, every one of the ten remaining conquistador crowns is ready to pack, although there are some massive hesitations as they all look for a place to tie their horses off while thinking this place is unsafe. But slowly they all come to their senses as the sun starts to go down leaving them no choice other than to stay and camp for the entire night. So while considering the consequences, they all try and make the best of settling in.
Then moments later, Conquistador Roberto thinks about how they aren’t really in Chaco Indian Territory now because they are entering Mescalero Indian territory saying, “We won’t have to worry about the Chaco Indians so much because we are now in Mescalero Indian Territory.”
And for some reason once the “Witch Catcher” reached the same destination on the far side of the foothills, she realized that they were up to something, although she had some inkling of their changing patterns with camping. Yet she has an idea of finding a place to camp that is along the “Old Spanish Trail” up ahead, but then another area has come to mind.
Temporarily the ten remaining conquistador crowns settle in making this area between the foothills their camping place for the last night. And they are very hesitant when the sun starts to settle in the last minutes of dusk that are just barely lighting up the western skies a little bit. So far, they have no idea if they are out of Chaco Indian country altogether, but then again all of the Indian tribes are a part of the Chaco Indian Culture.
Nevertheless after they all have settled with tying their horses down and breaking their blankets for a place to sleep, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza has decided to take the first night watch once again mentioning to the others, “And again I will take the first night watch just in case that “Witch Catcher” wants to try anything while we are out of her view!”
It seems that Conquistador Felipe had looked at his rations which are starting to get very low indeed, although they have been being very careful about how much they do eat each day. In fact, some of the other conquistador men are doing the same considering that they are very hungry indeed.
Then after wondering how they will make it if they don’t get to the coast soon, Conquistador Felipe says, “It looks like my rations of food our getting low.”
After hearing and watching Conquistador Felipe look at his rations of food without even taking a bite, Conquistador Padre says, “It looks like all of our rations of food are getting low!”
And when they all start to wonder what they are going to do, Conquistador Riguel becomes curious about Conquistador Arturo, Conquistador Carlos, Conquistador Sanchez, and Conquistador Roberto and their rations of food asking, “So how are your rations Conquistador Arturo, Sanchez, Carlos, and Roberto?”
Right away, Conquistador Arturo looks into his bag of rationed food while coming to his senses of how they all barley have enough to last another day saying, “We only have enough to last through the night and the afternoon tomorrow unless we find something else to eat like some red cactus buds.”
Immediately Conquistador Roberto thinks he remembers where there are some barrel cactuses near the “Old Spanish Trail” somewhere along the way to the Midwestern Coast saying, “I saw an area along the way down to our mining site where there was some red barrel cactuses that we could eat, although we’ll have to go out of our way a few hundred yards.”
At about that time, Conquistador Rafael starts to get the dry heaves from not having enough to eat while everyone is talking about the fact. Of course, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza feels that they should eat what they can and take Conquistador Roberto on his offer of assistance with some red budded cactuses that he had seen along the way along the “Old Spanish Trail.”
And while watching Conquistador Rafael nearly get sick along the trip, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza comes out speaking, “Yes, that sounds like a plan if we want to have enough food along the way!”
After listening to some more moans and groans coming from Conquistador Rafael, Conquistador Padre asks how he’s doing, “Are you alright?”
Slowly and surely Conquistador Rafael tries to signal everyone that he is okay perhaps by grunting really lightly, “Yes!”
Thereafter Conquistador Miguel thinks that it’s obvious that he is sick saying, “Of course, he’s not alright. We all haven’t had a decent meal in days just something to chew on here and there.”
Finally Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza commands them to eat what they can and then fall asleep hedging, “How about everyone eat what they can and then call it a night so we can get an early move on in the morning before sunset?”
Then and right there, Conquistador Riguel tries to set the mood while bearing in mind the fact that the “Witch Catcher” had snuck up on them the past morning saying, “Yes boss!”
Immediately they all quiet their actions as they nibble what they can while laying back ready to crash out for another night. And now the “Witch Catcher” has them all in her view once again, although this time she had to travel around to the other side of the foothills. But she has decided not to make any camp fires this time because they are kind of in a bad place where they are camping.
For now, the “Witch Catcher” has chosen to only camp nearby while keeping their every move in her sight. In other words she wants to be ready for when they leave in the early morning. It seems that she thinks they will try and leave before dawn because of her escapade the previous morning.
And now Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza has found a place where he can take on another night watch. But hopefully he can stay awake and more alert considering that he had dozed off a many times which resulted with him falling asleep. However directly behind him are the rest of the conquistador men trying to ease down from another action filled day.
There is no rest for them along this wild journey as the “Witch Catcher” moves in closer and closer to their camping grounds. Yet she will have to remain as quiet as possible so that she doesn’t give away the fact that she is within the proximity. But she is still far enough away to where any of the ten remaining conquistador crowns won’t even hear the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse sigh or flutter anytime or whenever.
Meanwhile once Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza has found a place where he can see everything from around where he is sitting on all sides, there are some noises which start to peak up some interest. The noises are only slight as the “Witch Catcher” had made some noises moving some rocks by mistake which fell down the side of a wash.
Nevertheless she still has some trouble seeing in the dark especially when she is flipped around from where she thought they would most likely camp. It’s a cat and mouse type of game, although she is dealing with a many bunch of mice in other words. And they’re almost as blind as a mouse in some respect as well. Nevertheless she has decided to camp out very lightly for at least a good few hours.
Hopefully none of them or even whoever is on the night watch will leave their post in order to take a look around the close vicinity. So far, the only one in mind is Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza because she had caught in asleep on the job of night watching; although she had given him quite the wakeup call to turn things around the other way.
Finally she has settled in enough with just only a blanket and a pillow in order to catch some rest a good distance away. And she has taken a glimpse at where they are realizing that they only have one way out from where they are camping for the night. But just before she decides to lie down and get some rest, she takes a look towards their camp while seeing Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza sitting out on the first night watch.
Then she turns back to lie down while the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse stands nearby tied up to a tree. For the time being she has left the horse saddled and ready to go for another quick rush out of there unless they try and surprise her with an early departure. Luckily Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza and none of the other conquistador crowns have noticed her being relatively close.
At first, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza really wonders where she’s at even though he had become tired of her camping out nearby; but then on the other hand he feels that she is somewhere close watching despite his plan. He has this eerie feeling now that every one of the conquistador men has started to relax for a few hours or so. And still he is hoping to make another early departure so that he doesn’t have another encounter with the “Witch Catcher” up close.
A little time goes by before Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza starts to wonder if the “Witch Catcher” is near considering that he hasn’t heard too many noises over the last while. Moreover the “Witch Catcher” has fallen asleep even though she usually takes on only a light sleep while out on a “Witch Catch.”
But she still is aware of what’s going on around her nonetheless and if one of the conquistador men was going to try and sneak up on her while she was asleep, she’d probably hear them coming anyhow. On the other hand they would have to know where she was camping at in the first place in order to try sneaking up to do something. And that would be hard because they don’t really know where she’s at during the present moment.
Luckily the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse has been very quiet while never making any movements or noises to give her location away. Then again his horse has been sort of trained by the “Witch Catcher” through her demeanors over the last several days. Now the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse is more tamed than even before she had first rode him.
Hours go by and Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza still doesn’t hear anything which begins to make him feel like she’s hiding out somewhere. And still there are premonitions that perchance the “Witch Catcher” may have given up completely on them since they are nearing the Midwestern Coast. However they are only days away from their ships and she has been easing up a little bit except for that mishap the other early morning.
It doesn’t take long before he starts to doze off occasionally here and there, though he does seem to perk back up as well. Maybe he had learned his lesson a little bit from the previous morning when the “Witch Catcher” surprised him with another jolt to his conquistador helmet. And still he seems to doze off every once in a while anyways considering that they haven’t had much sleep for the reason of trying to make their way to the coast.
And as far as taking turns on performing the night watch duties, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza has decided not to ask anything of anyone due to the circumstances of the previous morning. So far, he has decided just to allow moments here and there for dozing off in order to trick the “Witch Catcher” and catch her in the act of her mischief.
However he does every now and then wonder if he should ask someone else to take over his night watch performing duties, but none of the other conquistador men or he himself ever said anything. And for that matter he can only wait until she does show up on the contrary as the hours of the late night begin to drift into the hours of the early morning.
Finally Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza does wake and sit up again from a crouching position that he had slumped in to over the last several minutes or so. Yet there is no sign of the “Witch Catcher” anywhere with her camp fires or anything else since she is keeping a low profile on the situation.
Still the other nine conquistador Crowns are very sound asleep and none of them have even woken up for any emergency restroom breaks. It seems that none of them can tend to wake up for any matter of chance during the middle of the night no matter what happens along the way. That’s because they are all worn out from the stresses and exertions of each and every day which are dragging on like some strung mosaic episodes along a linear event.
Soon Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza wonders if the “Witch Catcher” is camping on the other side of the hills just east of where they are camping out. But the only way he would know if he was to take a walk up to the top of the foothill and have a look around with his telescope. And consequently for many reasons he feels that he would be taking a chance if he were to leave the group without informing somebody of his move.
Then there is another intuition which tells him that he should just stay put and wait it out until the morning arrives. This way he won’t be putting him or the other conquistador crowns in any jeopardy while he is away scoping out the other side. Nonetheless Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza starts to fall back asleep once again while contemplating his choices of actions that he feels he must take to feel better.
Many more hours fly by this time while Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza remains in a light sleep wondering if the “Witch Catcher” will sneak up on him. Yet many hundreds of feet away the “Witch Catcher” is still sleeping as well, although she is starting to perk up now considering that she had slept enough without any distractions.
When she awakens, she slowly looks around making sure that her camping area hasn’t been disrupted in any way, shape, or form. That’s her own way of being precautious when she has been in a deeper sleep than she had first intended. This way she won’t wake up to any surprises such as the conquistador men standing or kneeling around her as she awakens.
Finally the “Witch Catcher” arises ready to pack up in a hurry, although she will have to at least grab a quick sip from her canteen and maybe some small bites from her rations before she does head off. However she does feel that she has at least a few minutes of getting something to eat and drink before the sunrise even comes close.
For now, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza continues on sleeping even though he perks up occasionally, although some of the other conquistador men are beginning to roll around their sleeping blankets while waking up. Moments later, some of the conquistadors start to sit up realizing that Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza is fast asleep on the job of night watching.
Then again they all understand the fact that neither of them ever had woken up in order to relieve him of his night job performing duties. Nevertheless Conquistador Felipe sees that Conquistador Padre is ready to stand up and put his belongings away as he says, “Looks like he fell asleep on the job again last night?”
Right away, Conquistador Padre has decided that they should try and do something quickly stating, “Yes, he must have fallen asleep last night and I think we ought to go check on him to make sure he is even still alive!”
Thereafter Conquistador Rafael wakes up as well seeing that they all should get motivated with the new morning saying, “Let’s go over there and wake him up and let’s get out of here!”
Immediately Conquistador Padre gets up to make the initiative of getting everyone together by waking up Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza. By this time the “Witch Catcher” is already loaded up and urging to get the show on the road, or should I say trail once again. They are lucky that she had decided to get some rest for a change while giving them a break for a night, though she took their strategies and turned them to her advantage.
At that time Conquistador Padre makes his way over to Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza mumbling, “Wake up! Wake up!”
Hurriedly Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza wakes up looking around to make sure that he is in the accompaniment of his own men before replying, “Wow, I must have fallen asleep again!”
Just then Conquistador Padre feels that he is lucky that he remained unharmed throughout the entire night blundering, “You’re lucky that you didn’t get another rock thrown at you or your throat slashed in the middle of the night!”
Quickly Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza starts to stand up even though he is only leaning against another sitting place he found on a nearby leaning tree saying, “I was ready for her or any Indians who would have snuck up on me!”
Next they both return to where the other eight conquistador crowns are readying themselves to head out back along the “Old Spanish Trail” once again. However by now the “Witch Catcher” has flipped her and the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse around to the other side of the little foothills that were supposed to separate them from her. But now she has a plan to flip things their way a little which will also confuse them a bit in the process.
Meanwhile Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza and Conquistador Padre return back to the group as Conquistador Miguel says, “So you’re alive!”
Then right away, Conquistador Riguel comes forth remarking, “We thought you might be out like a light or perhaps dead!”
While beginning to gather his own personal belongings which were only his blanket and a canteen of water when on the night watch, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza answers the derogatory comment or question saying, “I only dozed off a few times because it was too quiet last night!”
And now the “Witch Catcher” has reached the top of the foothill which is directly north of the ten conquistador crowns and their campsite. When she makes her way to the top, the morning sunrise just begins to crest over the valley to where she is visible at that moment. Yet nobody sees her at first until Conquistador Roberto hears some rocks grinding and tumbling from behind him.
At first, he doesn’t respond not knowing what to think of it, although he realizes that none of the conquistador men are behind him on the north side. And once the noise perks up again, Conquistador Roberto is ready to turn around as he hears a horses sigh. In fact, the noise that the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse makes is heard by the rest of the conquistador men as well as they all turn back to see what the disturbance is that is making the sounds.
But when they all turn around towards the other direction, the “Witch Catcher” is on top of one of the foothills sitting on top of the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse looking down upon them all. Nevertheless she isn’t too high up, though she does have the advantage considering that they are cornered with only one way out which is back along the “Old Spanish Trail.”
Directly then and thereafter, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza notices her just as he was ready to get back on his horse in order to command everyone to get back on the move. Yet so far none of them have even had a chance to eat anything and that’s because their rations are getting extremely low. Either Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza is eager to get the conquistador men out of there as quickly as he possibly can before anything happens to anyone.
Immediately Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza tries to focus on her as the sun starts to blind his eyes trying to focus while saying, “That’s her!”
Right then and there the conquistador men all scatter back to get on their horses in a hurry like they had to get out of a troublesome place in a hurry. It doesn’t take but only a few seconds before they are all back on the horses ready to bolt back along the trail to ditch the situation. Nevertheless the “Witch Catcher” can only remain calm like as she watches parked in the direct sun rays blinding most of their view.
Momentarily the “Witch Catcher” remains posing there while the ten conquistador men all start to ride off. A few of them look back here and there as the “Witch Catcher” stays still making sure they continue on down the “Old Spanish Trail” making their getaway. It doesn’t take long before they all reach the “Old Spanish Trail” with their horses nearly bucking them off at times.
As they all ride away, Conquistador Carlos asks out loud as Conquistador Felipe rides along the side of him, “Was that the “Witch Catcher?”
Immediately Conquistador Felipe says back, “Yes, that was the “Witch Catcher” crazy Indian woman!”
After hearing the affirmative response on how that was the “Witch Catcher” who was up on top of the foothill, Conquistador Carlos tries to take another peek back behind him and when he does he notices that the “Witch Catcher” is gone. Now she has moved on to give them that sense of passion that they all need to win over their love of gold in order to replace it with something else of value.
Basically the “Witch Catcher” has reduced the hero down to only a small amount of his brain capacity which will be to become fonder of when and where will she show up again. It is a cat and mouse game and they are the mice waiting for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Nonetheless the “Witch Catcher” has decided to regroup her efforts further down along her own trail that she has made up on her first expeditions of the area.
But now she has entered some areas where she had less time to eye over, although there are some monumental mountains that she recognizes. Yet still the ten conquistador crowns are moving faster than she had expected, although there goal is to reach the coast without another night of camping out.
So far, a few of the conquistador men have glanced back here and there looking out for the “Witch Catcher” even though they hope they have raced ahead of her another time. But no matter how hard they try she always ends up right on their trail making it hard for them to shake her away. Nevertheless they still have the place in mind where they can stop for some barrel cactus and the ripened red fruit that it produces, although Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza has only the shores on his mind rather than making any sudden stops.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Hours later, the ten conquistador crowns reach the area of the “Old Spanish Trail” where they must turn in order to get the red budded cactus fruit that Conquistador Roberto had been telling them all about. But then again they must watch out for the “Witch Catcher” and any other Indians who may impede in their way. However they have been riding very fast since they had left their mining camp this morning, though they had a good reason to leave suddenly.
Quickly Conquistador Roberto slows down while trying to get their attention yelling out briefly, “Hey, here’s where we need to detour if we are going to grab some grub for us to eat until we make the coast!”
Hurriedly the rest of the conquistador men stop wondering if they should chance it by taking the detour. Right away, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza becomes curious as to how far they will have to go asking, “About how far will we have to ride to get there?”
Moments later, Conquistador Roberto points to a group of small hills only about three quarters of a mile away where there are some of the barrel cactuses he was talking about saying, “We only have to ride just passed those foothills right there.”
Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza looks at the hills and a few scattered barrel cactuses here and there which aren’t worth going for saying, “Let’s make this quick before that “Witch Catcher” woman or some of her Indian friends come catching up to us again.”
Now they all turn heading down another trail that they had used occasionally for such a stop as Conquistador Roberto thinks about another way back to the “Old Spanish Trail” saying, “Don’t worry; we can cut across back east around through the foothills and down back to the “Old Spanish Trail” if anything were to happen while we head on down this trail.”
Likewise the “Witch Catcher” is a good distance away trying to keep out of sight considering that there are more of them now than before. Also she wants to ditch them all before they make their way to the coast so that she can find her way to the other side from the New World to the Old World.
Meanwhile as they reach the secret place of where there are some red cactus buds to pick, more and more barrel cactus appear as they reach nearing one end of the foothills. The “Witch Catcher” realizes that they are smart with their continuing the pace without stopping or wasting time for any hunting. Of course, they are conquistadors who search for treasure rather than some Paleo-Indians or some hunter and gatherers who need to hunt for grains or wild game on a daily basis.
Nonetheless they all decide to wait for reaching the patch of cactuses that Conquistador Roberto mentioned and soon they reach the spot. And when they do it is no lie there is enough red buds on each cactus for them all to take enough to take care of them until they make the ships, although they will have to hurry if they feel they want to beat out the “Witch Catcher” before she or somebody else arrives.
Soon the ten conquistador crowns reach the north end of the foothills where the barrel cactus patch is with the red budded fruits that they have decided to pick. When they arrive Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza notices that there are a lot of them and hardly and jumping cactus such as jumping cholla cactus around that can harm them or their horses if any were to grab on to their feet or ankles.
While looking around at the barrel cactus as well as looking around for the “Witch Catcher” woman to show forth her face once again, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza gleams around another time before saying, “Looks like we found the mother lode of red cactus barrel fruit!”
Immediately Conquistador Roberto starts to get off of his horse in order to start picking what he can while making a remark gibbering, “I told you that I knew a great place where we could stock up really quick on something to eat until we make the east coast.”
And right then and there Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza decides to tell his men to make it quick and pick what they can without wasting too much time shewing, “Alright let’s make this quick before any trouble comes our way.”
Yet a great distance away the “Witch Catcher” watches as the ten remaining conquistador crowns all start to take and pick what they can as quickly as possible. Consequently, they realize that they can’t spare too much time, although they feel like they have rode far ahead of the “Witch Catcher” and that they have some time to spare which is very little.
It doesn’t take too long before every one of the ten conquistador crowns has picked as much as they possibly could filling their rations burlap sack all of the way. And then they all seem to return back to their horse while most of them sort of pulled their horses along while picking the red fruit of the barrel cactus.
As a few of them return back to their horses, Conquistador Padre thinks about how much he has picked commenting, “I think I have enough.”
Right then, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza has picked all that he could while keeping his horse by his side saying, “We’d better get a move on!”
Quickly Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza hops back on his horse ready to take off again in order to head back to the “Old Spanish Trail” before the “Witch Catcher” Indian woman shows her face another interval. Thereafter they all start to follow Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza’s lead as he pushes his horse to move on ahead.
The “Witch catcher” watches from a distance as they leave while making the necessary adjustments in order to cut them off and be neck and neck with them all again. Thus, she is behind a little bit bringing to the northwest end of the scene, but now she can advance her movements forward once again.
As they leave the area taking another trail that Conquistador Roberto knows that runs back towards the “Old Spanish Trail,” Conquistador Miguel makes a remark about their pickings smirking, “Well, now we can eat red cactus fruit until we get sick of them and want something else!”
And after hearing those words which were sort of negative, Conquistador Sanchez comes back saying, “It’s better than nothing to eat at all.”
Meanwhile the “Witch Catcher” is still a little north of them considering that she had to make some adjustments on keeping her distance. She had no idea that they would take a detour for something or other such as some red cactus fruit from some barrel cactus. And either way she must decide when or where to strike them again, although they are getting closer and closer to the east coast and she wants disappear before they reach their destination.
However she has a little time left before they do reach the coast but she must decide what to do and that’s because the conquistador men are still very unpredictable in their travels. The most important aspect of her way fare is to make it to the other side and luckily she has a few options. And one of those involves sneaking over by ship while the other involves a more intriguing phenomenon such as using the Rainbow Girls in order to form a Bridge of Light to make her way to the other side.
Many minutes later, the ten remaining conquistador crowns are nearing back towards the “Old Spanish Trail” as Conquistador Carlos makes a comment relating to the absence of the “Witch Catcher” bellowing, “So what happened to that “Witch Catcher” woman?”
Finally Conquistador Arturo feels that maybe they had ditched after all of the fast riding they had done shrieking out, “We haven’t seen very much of her in the first place!”
But no matter what anyone of the conquistador men says especially the new recruits to the group, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza fathoms the fact that the “Witch Catcher” will show forth once again unfolding, “She’s close by watching us!”
Henceforth Conquistador Carlos feels that they had ridden so fast the last few hours that maybe they had lost her and ditched her leaving her behind as he comes back talking, “I don’t know; we had to have lost her riding that fast!”
It seems that the new conquistador members to the group haven’t had as much experience as the originally six remaining conquistador crowns. That’s because they have ridden through thick and thin making their way from the lands of the future Teguayo and Cibola which will only be talked about and never found. For now, the mining camps are only a place of where cultural trade takes place between Indian tribes so that Chaco Canyon can make cultural differences with that of Mexico.
By this time, the “Witch Catcher” can only think of some place where she can get close again so that she can make her last impressions on the ten conquistador crowns. She feels that she has done a great job on the original seven remaining conquistador crowns. And that was while even eliminating one of them with leaving only six remaining conquistador crowns to continue on with the legacy.
But what she means by getting close again is to make a lasting impression that they won’t forget and that’s because there are some new members to the group. Yet for now she will continue on again at a distance while bearing in mind the fact that she had given them quite a scare earlier.
At this time, the ten remaining conquistador crowns have reached the “Old Spanish Trail” and they are making good time on the one hand, although on the other hand they feel like they are moving through a sand pit as they try and progress further to the east coast. However they all have something to fill their hunger pains with for the time being and hopefully they will have enough until something else comes their way.
As Conquistador Padre takes another bite of their reaping, he turns to Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza while riding at a slower pace saying, “I wonder when that “Witch Catcher” will show up again; she gave us quite another scare this morning.”
Immediately Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza thinks about how that “Witch Catcher” has pretty much ruled over the conversation meaning there is nothing else to talk about as he says, “We probably won’t see her until the early morning again.”
Of course, Conquistador Carlos really thinks that the “Witch Catcher” must have had them all riding on their tippy toes pretty much the whole way back to the mining camp adding in, “That “Witch Catcher” woman must have had you all riding on your tippy toes more or less before you made your way to us?”
And then Conquistador Felipe comes back to say a word or two about her grimacing, “Yes, she has given us quite the stare or two to say the very least.”
Finally Conquistador Roberto wonders what had happened in the past before they had come their way asking, “So what is the deal with that “Witch Catcher” woman and why is she following all of us?”
Straight from the start Conquistador Padre butts in to the conversation saying out loud, “That “Witch Catcher” woman wants to push us out from this land and back over seas and she doesn’t want us ever to return!”
After hearing some of the some nonsense that sounds like a bunch of gibberish to them all, Conquistador Arturo comes by way of asking his own question, “Well, there has to be more to her than meets the eye and why she is chasing us out from here?”
By then, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza has decided to say something more to what has happened before considering that they haven’t had the time to blunting, “There is more to her than meets the eye and she is chasing us out because the cultural centers of Chaco and the southern continents have wagered against us.”
Meanwhile Conquistador Sanchez wonders what the Chaco Indians and the Southwest Tonto Hohokam will do with this place once the conquistador are all removed asking, “So what will the Chaco Indians and the Southwest Tonto Hohokam Indians do with their lands once the conquistador are all removed from here?”
Next after wanting to say what he has to say, Conquistador Felipe jumps in to the swing of the conversation by mocking, “They will probably mine the heck out of the place and then trade all of the gold with the southern continents.”
Then Conquistador Carlos is curious why they didn’t make their stop down that way bringing up a point, “Why didn’t we all sail down south instead of here?”
Soon Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza can only think about how his first decision was to stop here saying, “My first decision was to start here and work our way down south by building missions and colonies!”
Lastly like Conquistador Roberto thinks about how those plans were ruined replying, “And now those plans are destroyed and ruined forever!”
After that Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza can only guess that more colonists will eventually come finding more opportunities within these lands embarking, “For now those plans are ruined; but one day more colonists will come finding new prosperities in the New World far from the Old World.”
And there’s no doubt that any of the conquistador men want that same fate again as Conquistador Rafael makes a remark about their return saying, “And those colonists will find exactly what we found which is some bad opportunities.”
Now Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza returns with more to express on the subject at hand embarking, “Those colonists will most likely be smarter than us by having missions of some kind so that they will be able to understand the Indians better while converting them to Christianity!”
There was some rumor that one of the new recruit conquistador men had heard as Conquistador Carlos comes by way of articulating, “I heard a rumor that the Indians down south are much nicer than the Indians up north.”
Right away, Conquistador Miguel wonders how far south by interrogating, “Where did you hear that nonsense?”
Thereafter Conquistador Riguel has a question to ask now that his interest has been lifted while questioning, “How far south?”
Immediately when those were had been said, Conquistador Carlos comes back to defend his point shuddering, “I just heard the rumor from one of the Indians who had traveled through, that’s all.”
With thoughts racing through his mind, Conquistador Felipe thinks about how they should have gone further south blotting, “Then why didn’t we go further south?”
Straight forth Conquistador Carlos decides to defend his conversation on the matter another time by exemplifying, “I told you all we should have gone further south and then we could have comes up here later with more missions and Rancherias.”
But after thinking over what Conquistador Carlos had said about the last part of his visions, Conquistador Padre does seem to feel differently about the living in part while gibbering, “I could see some missions but the Rancheria part is a little too much.”
In his behalf Conquistador Rafael has a negative attitude about even having a future anywhere in those parts again regardless of what is said as he contends, “This is no place to decide to settle down and raise a family!”
Also in Conquistador Carlos and his defense Conquistador Roberto comes back defending his and his friend’s honor, “Who ever said anything about raising a family?”
In conclusion to all of the basic arguing before it escalates any further, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza says to turn things around, “Nobody will be returning here to seek any treasure or let alone try and come to build a family!”
In the distance a good ways away, the “Witch Catcher” is watching through some peeking views within the tree lines, although she can’t hear a word they are saying to one another. But it is apparent that there is some tension between them all with the expressions upon their faces even at such a distance apart.
Nevertheless there are a few more hours left before they will have to decide where to camp another night. They all thought that they could make the traveling to the east coast within another night, though the “Witch Catcher” sees it otherwise. She knows that there is no way that they will make the distance without camping another night and that is something that is keeping her hopes up.
She had been thinking of riding ahead of them a bit, although she doesn’t want to be seen by them because of the incident early in the morning. Plus she is using this time to study the new comers much better since she hadn’t given the other mining camp much of a first glance along her prior travels.
For now she only wants to make sure that they aren’t anymore jumpy than the remaining six conquistador crowns who were originally from the mining camp located at the end of the “Old Spanish Trail.” That’s because she doesn’t want any surprises when she happens to get too close for some reason or other.
During this time, the ten remaining conquistador crowns have been talking as usual about what they should have done, what they are going to do, and what did they do that caused all of these problems. But then there are also thoughts of how they didn’t do anything wrong and there were some other factors involved. And so far those factors are spiritual that they are feeling working through and around them all.
Another look and glance around behind and towards both of their sides within the north and south are all that Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza needs to make him wonder and guess where the “Witch Catcher” is hiding at. She has been very unpredictable and as well unnerving as they all try to make their way back towards the Midwestern coast.
In addition once he has made the decision that she is nowhere around as normal and she could pop up at any time, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza looks to the others talking in general to all of them chatting out, “No sign of her so far! Well, I think we’re going to have to take another night at camping out. So far, according to my recollection of the map with what’s in my mind we still have many more miles to go yet.”
Meanwhile Conquistador Padre hears what he has said as they continue to ride slower than they had wanted while saying, “I figured we would have to add another night of camping before we would even get close to the east coast.”
Next Conquistador Felipe feels that they are tired from the long distance they have gone in such a short time saying, “That’s because we are all tired from trying to push ourselves to the east coast as fast as we can before getting ourselves killed more or less.”
Right then and there, Conquistador Arturo feels that usually they aren’t so outnumbered by the Indians anyhow saying, “Normally we aren’t that outnumbered by the Chaco Indians to this great extent anyhow.”
And then just a little ways away are some Mescalero Indian Children watching and playing nearby, although they stop as they hear the ten conquistador crowns approach from a distance. For now they seem to try and keep out of sight as they all come riding in closer and closer along the “Old Spanish Trail.”
One of the Mescalero Indian Children looks to the other Mescalero Indian Child while gawking about them as they come nearer to where they are hiding, “Hey, look some Spaniards are coming!”
During this time, the ten remaining conquistador crowns continue on with their conversation while riding along with a good pace. It appears that they have given up trying to out ride their capacity to try and push how fast they can make the east coast. Of course, they are more worn out than they first imagined and not to forget that they haven’t been getting good sleep along the back tracking journey either nonetheless.
And while riding past the Mescalero Indian Children, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza says, “We’ll ride along a little further and then we’ll find a place to camp before that “Witch Catcher” woman shows up again unexpectedly.”
After hearing that response, Conquistador Miguel says as they pass right by the Mescalero Children who are staying as quiet as they can without being heard, “That “Witch Catcher” woman will show her face again in the morning to put us on the move.”
Once the ten remaining conquistador crowns end up riding past the Mescalero Indian Children, one of them says to the other one, “Let’s go tell the others!”
Right then, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza comes back rallying about how the “Witch Catcher” will show her face in the morning saying, “So if she does it doesn’t matter to me as long as we can get some shut eye.”
Now the “Witch Catcher” notices that the Mescalero Indian Children have noticed the ten conquistador crowns passing tem along the “Old Spanish Trail.” However there were some words exchanged that were between the Mescalero Indian Children and she was wondering what had been said nonetheless.
Meanwhile as the “Witch Catcher” wonders what had been said, the ten remaining conquistador crowns are looking for a place to camp for the evening. For now they are going to continue on while the sunlight is still shining, although they want to find a place that has a strategic advantage even though the last ones had failed promptly.
For now, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza looks behind them all to see how much daylight they all have left as he says, “Well we only have an hour more or so before the sun will start setting and we’ll need to find a camping spot eventually.”
Thereafter Conquistador Padre wants to make a suggestion about where they ought to camp for the night which happens to be some mountains that he sees up ahead commenting, “Maybe we can make some of those mountains up on those ridges where we can camp for the night!”
Immediately Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza looks out towards those mountains off in the distance saying, “Yes, that looks like a good place to camp for the night. Anything is better than what have been happenings the last couple of nights with her strange encounters!”
Right away, Conquistador Roberto thinks about her strange encounter that he had witnessed shrieking, “Yes, I think we will be better off with more cover within those mountains ahead!”
Then Conquistador Rafael wonders if Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza is going to take tonight’s watch asking out loud, “So are you going to take the first watch tonight?”
Next Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza comes back with his answer while thinking about catching the “Witch Catcher” in her act, though he wishes to catch some shut eye as well replying, “Yes, I think I will give another last shot at catching that “Witch Catcher” and her act of being up to no good!”
Yet Conquistador Arturo has some confusion while bearing in mind how he and the others hadn’t been along the entire journey querying, “So do you all think that “Witch Catcher” will be around when we make the ships at the coast?”
And this question is one that is answered nonetheless by Conquistador Felipe as he pulls up ahead of the group to say loudly, “I’m sure she’ll be around nearby watching, but then again there will be more conquistadors to keep her away and scare her off.”
After hearing those words, Conquistador Arturo comes back like a rattlesnake striking again with a little more to say on the matter rattling, “I’m only saying that because I get the feeling she is still around and she is very close by!”
Thereafter Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza has an answer that hopefully will stop them from wondering about her whereabouts much more saying, “Don’t worry; that “Witch Catcher” always feels like she is around nearby!”
And once that is all said, Conquistador Sanchez takes a look around wondering if he will be jumped at any moment unexpectedly asking, “So you don’t think that she will maybe pop up unexpectedly jumping anyone of us from behind at any moment?”
Now Conquistador Padre can only fade his memory back to when the “Witch Catcher” had hit his left arm with the sling shot from a great distance away telling, “There’s a good chance of that happening!”
Soon Conquistador Felipe feels like commenting on something about that “Witch Catcher” talking about the same aspect, “He’s only saying that because of the incident he had with her hitting his arm with a sling shot.”
But nonetheless Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza returns with his own way of getting them back on track saying, “Let’s just keep our minds on the “Old Spanish Trail” so we don’t let fear keep us from making the east coast.”
To the “Witch Catcher” the ten remaining conquistador crowns have been moving at a slower pace which has made it easier to catch up and keep out of sight, although it appears that one of them is always looking back and around for her. But still she has a psychic connection with them that is on a one way channel meaning a one way receiver that only she can comprehend.
At this time, she can feel their intuitions of being unexpected of when she will show her face making things more difficult by striking them again and again. However they are getting closer and closer towards the east coast and she has decided to let off her guard so that she won’t be seen by anyone of their ships mates.
She also has other plans of disappearing from the scene so that no of the ten conquistadors or any of their other members will recognize her around when the time comes in the near future. And still she has some more preparations and tasks to prepare and get ready for, though she will have to wait until they all arrive at the final destination.
Now the ten conquistador crowns are reaching closer to the range of mountains where they have decided to camp out for the night, although the “Witch Catcher” has found some more Indians approaching closer and closer towards where they are riding. In fact, there are a few groups of Indians moving in on where the ten remaining conquistador crowns are riding currently at their slow pace.
Soon Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza realizes that they are along the closest path to the mountains along the “Old Spanish Trail.” And he also realizes that they should probably try and camp around the foothills of the mountains somewhere. However he doesn’t want a repeat of what had happened the last several nights so he wants to be a little pickier about where they camp, although they are tiresome as heck from all of their travels.
Once they are closing in on the foothills of the mountainous range, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza decides to say out loud, “How about camping somewhere around here so we are closer to the “Old Spanish Trail?”
Quickly Conquistador Roberto remembers a close camping spot where some of the other conquistador men had camped before saying, “Hey, I think I remember a pretty good spot where some of the conquistador men had decided to camp out for the night when they were too tired to carry on returning back to the east coast.”
And after hearing Conquistador Roberto talk about a place that he thinks he knows, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza comes back asking, “How much further is the camping spot that you are talking about?”
Straight away Conquistador Roberto answers back while looking ahead a little further down along the “Old Spanish Trail” quibbling, “Just passed that next foothill a ways.”
Next Conquistador Padre butts in to the conversation as he sees how much farther they will have to go and how much sunlight is left ranting, “That’s a ways away.”
Finally Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza decides to make the slight extra distance responding, “What the hell is another half mile or so before we stop to camp for the night?”
Lastly Conquistador Felipe feels like just making their way to camp without all of the hesitations saying, “Let’s just get there!”
Of course, Conquistador Rafael hopes that the “Witch Catcher” isn’t anywhere close the next time around when the camp out such as her morning interruptions mocking, “Plus when we do hopefully that “Witch Catcher” Indian woman won’t be anywhere nearby or around.”
And then only to get their hopes of his conquistador friend’s camping place, Conquistador Carlos originates his way through saying, “Come on; Conquistador Roberto’s camping place is as good as any of the others.”
But still, the “Witch Catcher” is near and she notices that they haven’t stopped to camp as of yet, although the time is getting nearer and nearer. And she realizes that there are some other Indians in the area which have some other habits and tendencies which are culturally different from other Indian tribes.
Soon the ten remaining conquistador crowns realize and notice that there are some other Indians lurking around as the sun starts to set. But still they haven’t come in to contact with any of them as of yet, or at least they really don’t want to be confronted by any Indians at this particular time.
So far, the ten remaining conquistador crowns have no idea who the Indians are that are lurking around, although they all realize that they are still in Mescalero Indian country. And now they are being sized up by an Indigenous culture of hallucinogens of peyote by mescaline as well.
While passing and making their way closer towards the mining camp that Conquistador Roberto had pointed out, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza passes a Mescalero Indian shaman woman holding a cup of tea or something as he says, “Hey, just ride on by and don’t take anything from any of them!”
Meanwhile the Mescalero Indian shaman woman continues holding the cup of water she has in their as a token of her affections, though they may be otherwise for some reason of trickery or witchery. And purposely the ten remaining conquistador crowns all ride on by while trying to pay no attention to the Mescalero Indian shaman woman the best that they possibly can without stirring up any emotions from them.
A many yards later, the ten remaining conquistador crowns reach the destination of the camping grounds that Conquistador Roberto had talked about. When they get there they aren’t alone, although they can’t see anyone else even though their presence is strongly felt. And the darkness that is settling in doesn’t help them much as they pull in to a nearly pitch black camping grounds.
Nonetheless the Mescalero Indian shaman woman continues on approaching the camping grounds, although she starts to slow down her pace of walking a little bit. For now, the Mescalero Indian shaman woman is the only Mescalero Indian showing any interest in talking and trying to get close to the conquistador men.
As soon as the ten remaining conquistador crowns reach the camping grounds, Conquistador Roberto tries to settle the other men in by making a statement on the place, “So what do you think of the place, it’s quiet huh?”
Right there, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza takes a look along with some heed of the place answering back positively, “I’m unsure, but it will do for the night!”
Momentarily there are some footsteps in and around camp that start to pick up some interest, although the ten remaining conquistador crowns still begin unpacking slightly. However they are very restless as they hear movement close by and not to forget the fact that the Mescalero Indian shaman woman is nearby closing in fast on their proximity.
Also right here within a close range, the “Witch Catcher” is also looking for a place to camp that is nearby or adjacent to their camping grounds. Yet then on the other side of the story, she has even made some eye contact with the Mescalero Indian Tribe while following along their path somewhat.
In addition for now at least, the “Witch Catcher” has only made eye contact with the Mescalero Indian People, although she hasn’t talked with them and her overall plans of any kind. But as she gets off of the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse, many of the Mescalero Indian People begins to come nearer towards her place she had chosen to camp for the night.
However the Mescalero Indian shaman woman with the cup of her hallucinogenic tea is still hanging around outside of the ten remaining conquistador crown’s camping site. Plus this is something which is starting to unnerve them all just a little bit too much. But right here and now they have decided to try and ignore these things.
Of course, that’s considering the fact that Conquistador Roberto and even Conquistador Carlos as well as the other two conquistadors from the mining camp of the future El Paso and Juarez intersection and junction have expected encounters such as these. Besides consequently the remaining ten conquistador men feel a little nervous as they start to unpack their horses, though they only unpack them lightly as usual.
Meanwhile Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza realizes that there is no place to hide in order to try and trick that “Witch Catcher” with all of these Mescalero Indian People around. Nonetheless Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza tries ignoring the Mescalero Indians while realizing that they have been somewhat harmless in the past and should be left alone.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Suddenly once the ten remaining conquistador crowns have unpack all that they want and ordinarily unpack, the Mescalero Indian shaman woman moves in closer to camp with one of her friends accompanying her. She is wearing a drought Brownish furred Indian gown that is dirty and looks like there are some worn in stains. There is also another Mescalero Indian hanging around in the back of their group just in case something was to happen and they need some assistance in an aggressive encounter and they are all wearing the same attire.
Quickly Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza looks to the other conquistador men who are grouped together wondering what’s going on ordering, “Don’t take anything from them!”
Right then and there, the other nine conquistadors all stand there watching as the Mescalero Indian shaman woman and her companions make their way much closer. As the Mescalero Indians approach, the conquistador men feel that they should obey their team leader and try not to partake of anything out of the ordinary.
Right away, the Mescalero Indian shaman woman walks in towards them all closer while saying some words, “We brought you a gift.”
The ten remaining conquistador crowns all look at the Mescalero Indian shaman woman while Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza looks back to her answering back, “No, we are okay and don’t need anything!”
But then again, Conquistador Roberto feels that they should be a little more apathetic than that and maybe they should all try being nice coming forth with, “What kind of tea is it, peyote tea?”
Here and there the Mescalero Indian shaman woman looks to them all while holding her cup of tea which is large enough for them all to get a sip while saying, “No, it’s Mescalero Indian tea!”
Besides hearing all of that mumbo jumbo, Conquistador Sanchez who knows better than that says out loud, “You mean mescaline tea!”
Now Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza wants every one of his conquistador men to leave the Mescalero Indian shaman woman alone, although some of the conquistador men are more hesitant than the others. In fact, many of them start to set up their beds for the night while watching every action of the Mescalero Indian shaman woman.
In the interim Conquistador Padre feels that they are being slowed down by the Mescalero Indian shaman woman by indicating, “Come on; she brought her mescaline tea only to slow us down from getting any sleep!”
Next Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza goes with his aspiration telling the conquistador men, “I don’t want anybody to take a drink of any of her tea she has to offer!”
In addition to hearing those commanding words of the head conquistador, Conquistador Carlos wonders what taking a sip will do as far as harming their already batter ego from such a rough journey as he says, “Oh, what bad can her tea do anyhow? What’s the purpose of your tea that you have to offer us?”
As an answer to Conquistador Carlos and his question about her Mescalero Indian tea that she has offer them all, the Mescalero Indian shaman woman eloquently ends up commentating her tea, “This tea is a gift to bring away the witchery of the “Witch Catcher!”
Immediately Conquistador Arturo starts to chuckle a little while winding for the night, while Conquistador Roberto laughs saying, “This tea you made is supposed to take away the “Witch Catcher” and make her turn back, is that what you are saying?”
The Mescalero Indian shaman woman starts to change her song and dance a little by responding, “This tea will take away the witchery of the “Witch Catcher” and the spells that she uses against you like her ability to read minds!”
Thereafter Conquistador Carlos comes again with some more of the logic behind the Mescalero Indian shaman woman and her mysterious tea as being a remedy for the “Witch Catcher” and her witchery saying, “What’s wrong with a sip of some Mescalero Indian tea to help take the witchery of that “Witch Catcher” away?”
And in addition to what Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza said about how he didn’t want anyone drinking or partaking of the Mescalero Indian shaman woman and her tea, Conquistador Roberto makes a comment to their favor of taking a tiny round of some sips commenting, “Why not; a sip isn’t going to hurt anything or anybody except stop that “Witch Catcher” from reading our minds, huh?”
Quickly Conquistador Carlos approaches the Mescalero Indian shaman woman while reaching for her large cup which is bigger than it appears once you go to take ahold of it. When he does get it from the Mescalero Indian shaman woman he takes a small sip regardless of any reactions of anyone else in the group. After that Conquistador Carlos hands the Mescalero Indian tea cup to Conquistador Roberto who is waiting patiently with no problems of taking a sip as well whatsoever.
Soon Conquistador Roberto hands the Mescalero Indian cup to Conquistador Arturo who takes it and only smells it wondering what is wrong with it. Then Conquistador Arturo hands the Mescalero Indian tea cup to Conquistador Sanchez who decides to take a little sip only in remembrance of the Indian culture that they had once nearly embraced and ethnocentrism with while living the conquistador lifestyle.
However there is a clash of ideals when it comes to that difference in the Indian cultures when Conquistador Miguel comes in with a line of his own slurring, “You’re all going to take a drink from that cup of hers?”
Right away, the Mescalero Indian shaman woman protects her interest by saying, “The tea I made is good for you!”
Soon the cup of tea is handed back to the Mescalero Indian shaman woman as she tries to hand it to the other five remaining conquistador crowns. And that is considering that Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza had refused of anyone taking anything from her. Despite the Mescalero Indian shaman woman and her efforts of getting another conquistador to take a sip and try her Mescalero tea which has a tinge of mescaline in it, the conquistador men all start to settle in for the evening.
Meanwhile Conquistador Carlos has something to say regarding her tea as the Mescalero Indian shaman woman turns to leave with her companions gawking, “There’s nothing wrong with making friends so that we can get out of here when the Mescalero Indian People have always come with a few gifts here and there throughout the years and now isn’t the time to turn them away so wrongly!”
Moments later, Conquistador Roberto begins to unwind while mocking a token of his own words indicating, “Her tea tasted pretty good and I don’t know what the problem was about!”
Finally the Mescalero Indian shaman woman has left and the conquistador men are all settling in for the night, although they haven’t paid much attention to the whereabouts of the “Witch Catcher” Indian woman. One reason is because they were distracted by the Mescalero Indian shaman woman who had brought them a gift of her own delight. Another reason is that she hasn’t been around since the previous morning and they all feel that she won’t return once again until the early morning around dawn perhaps.
At this time, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza emphasizes his thoughts on how that Mescalero Indian shaman woman may be an informant for the “Witch Catcher” even though he doesn’t feel like saying something other than, “I told you all to leave that Mescalero Indian shaman woman alone!”
Lastly while trying to turn in for the night, Conquistador Roberto says, “Come on; the least we can do is show some respect and turn the mood around is all, huh?”
Concluding his efforts to keep the many Indians of the Chaco culture at bay, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza turns to take another evening of a night watch bellowing, “Well, I’m still staying up for another night watch right over here.”
Immediately Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza walks away to a spot where he has chosen to hide away from the main group and concentrate on any Mescalero Indians or even that “Witch Catcher” woman who is hot on their trail. Nonetheless he realizes that they aren’t alone especially now that some of the conquistador men have partaken of the Mescalero Indian shaman woman and her cup of Mescalero Indian tea.
As Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza walks away to his designated place, Conquistador Carlos wonders what is wrong with him asking the others, “What is wrong with him?”
In response to Conquistador Carlos and his question relating to their head conquistador, Conquistador Felipe returns with a notion grimacing the scene, “I think he is a little upset and angry because you all disobeyed his direct orders!”
Then on the one side of the situation, Conquistador Roberto feels like sticking up for them all in their behalf saying, “We were just trying to be nice rather than try and cause some more commotions when are relations with the Indians is on the bad side anyhow!”
In the background are some noises coming from some broken branches every time one of the Mescalero Indians moves about watching and spying on the conquistador group. It is also very obvious that the Indians of the Southwest Plains won’t leave them alone or give them any distance from themselves. Nonetheless they feel a little pressured from the Mescalero Indians now that they have partaken of their gifts.
The first one to notice that the Mescalero Indians are hiding around nearby watching and waiting for some uncanny reason is Conquistador Padre who comes through after hearing some more movement blurting, “Well, sounds like you caused more commotions with those Mescalero Indians sneaking around outside of our camp!”
But then only to make a joke to mock and pun the other newcomer conquistadors who arrived late in the group, Conquistador Riguel has an invitational line mumbling, “Why don’t we just let them all move in to our camp for the night?”
And then only to bring the other side of the light to mind, Conquistador Rafael yakking reckons, “No, I think they’ve came in close enough already!”
Right away, Conquistador Felipe wonders if that “Witch Catcher” woman will try and sneak her way in to their camp for the night saying, “I hope that “Witch Catcher” Indian woman doesn’t sneak her way in to our camp!”
Of course, Conquistador Padre feels that the “Witch Catcher” has put the Mescalero Indian People up to what they are doing explaining, “I think that “Witch Catcher” woman has put the Mescalero Indians up to keeping a close eye on us!”
After hearing such a preposterous statement come from one of the original conquistador men, Conquistador Carlos says, “The “Witch Catcher” Indian woman has nothing to do with the Mescalero Indian People and their gifts!”
Next Conquistador Roberto feels like adding in a word, “The Mescalero Indian People have always come around occasionally with such gifts!”
By now, the “Witch Catcher” has found her own camp and the Mescalero Indians have swarmed around her camp as well, the only difference is that she has allowed some of them to camp with her for the night. By choice, it wasn’t because the Mescalero Indian culture is that of one superstitious culture that has an intriguing side of knowing the probabilities of outcomes and actions and that’s why they are here.
So far, the “Witch Catcher” has explained to the Mescalero Indians how she wants to remove the conquistadors from their land, although she has a spiritual side of the story which is unseen. Nevertheless the Mescalero Indian People understand considering that they are a part of the Chaco Indian culture as well.
Moreover the “Witch Catcher” is curious as to what has happened so far asking one of the Mescalero Indian women, “What did the Mescalero Indian shaman woman give them all?”
The Mescalero Indian female explains what has happened so far contending, “She gave them some of her Mescalero Indian tea to drink and she left.”
Furthermore the “Witch Catcher” would like to at least confront the Mescalero Indian shaman woman on her own accord while interrogating the Mescalero Indian female, “Where is the Mescalero Indian shaman woman now?”
And after thinking about it for about a split second or two, the Mescalero Indian female responds, “I don’t know; she is probably around here somewhere with the others watching and waiting for them to leave again in the morning!”
Now the “Witch Catcher” wants the Mescalero Indian female to locate and bring the Mescalero Indian shaman woman to her saying, “Find her and bring her here!”
Back with Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza and his night watch, there are many noises disturbing him which is making it hard not only to sleep but perform his night watch as well. Still he realizes that the noises are from the distractions of the Mescalero Indian People rummaging around watching which is making it hard for him to catch that “Witch Catcher” woman in her act.
Many of times he has nearly fallen asleep here and there, but then the noises from the Mescalero Indian People and their footsteps keep waking and disturbing him to where he wakes back up again. Briefly for another period, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza has woken up again only to hear some more footsteps coming from the Mescalero Indian People. Yet these footsteps are ones which are getting closer and closer when he seems to close his eyes for a while.
Luckily he feels better considering that he hadn’t taken any sips from the Mescalero Indian shaman woman and her tea cup, although some of the other new members have and he’s unhappy about that fact. Plus he’s hoping that nobody tries to sneak up on him during any of his fast naps even though he’s been sleeping very light.
At this moment, the Mescalero Indian female has returned with the Mescalero Indian shaman woman to the “Witch Catcher” and her camp. Once she returns the “Witch Catcher” can only think of how she wants the ten remaining conquistador crowns to leave without any troubles other than the ones she causes by her lonesome.
Once the Mescalero Indian shaman woman approaches the “Witch Catcher” Indian shaman woman, she says, “What did you give them?”
The Mescalero Indian shaman woman comes back with her notion of potion by retorting, “I only gave them some of my Mescalero Indian tea that I have always brought on occasion to the conquistador when I visited their site!”
Right then and there, the “Witch Catcher” tries to persuade her and her Mescalero Indian People to continue being a pestilence while she waits the morning hours saying, “Let’s try and keep them on their toes until the morning hours so I can give them a surprise before they leave again! But I don’t want them to know that I’m near the area camping for the night.”
After hearing the “Witch Catcher” and her command, the Mescalero Indian shaman woman tells her, “We will all walk around their camp all night keeping them up while I work on making their dreams peaceful until the morning hours come at sunrise.”
Meanwhile the “Witch Catcher” decides to agree with the Mescalero Indian shaman woman and her plan as she decides to catch some shut eye for the evening. But then on the other hand the Mescalero Indian shaman woman wanted to be on the nice side of the conquistadors just in case they were to return one day. And that’s despite the fact that the “Witch Catcher” wants only to remove the conquistador for a spiritual purpose.
Now Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza has fallen asleep once again, although the Mescalero Indian woman has spread the word around to her Mescalero Indian People to keep the conquistador men from getting a wink. However, the conquistador men are getting used to all of these games which are keeping them from getting any rest whatsoever.
Besides the point of what the Indians of the southwest plains are trying to make, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza has woken up again from another light sleep ready to tear some Mescalero Indian heads off. By this time, he usually gets enough shut eye to keep up the pace, although on this particular night things are becoming more confusing.
Right then, he turns to make sure that his conquistador men are still there behind him sleeping before sunrise comes for another break from camp. Plus Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza takes another look around trying to count how many Mescalero Indian footsteps he hears, though there are too many to count. It seems that they are surrounded and it will take a quick ride out of here to get some distance between them and the Mescalero Indian People as well as the “Witch Catcher.”
And once he has made sure that his conquistador men are still there without any Indians of any kind such as the Mescalero Indians or the Chaco Indians, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza looks to the sky to see and wonder how many hours are left until sunrise. For now he feels that they have at least a few hours left, although he is currently thinking of cutting the night of camping short.
Likewise the other remaining conquistador men are fast asleep even supposing that Conquistador Carlos and Conquistador Roberto had taken a sip of the Mescalero Indian shaman woman and her specialty tea. Conversely this time the Mescalero Indian shaman woman has put a little more mescaline in her tea than usual despite the fact that the men are over worked up with their adrenalines flowing very good.
But then on the bright side of things both Conquistador Carlos and Conquistador Roberto are feeling pretty good with their dozing off and dreaming. And their dreams that they are having are getting pretty intense, though none of them seems to make any sense to them both. Regardless they are both sleeping like little babies caught up in the mind’s eye of someone else. Or then maybe it is just the effects of the plant formed drug that are doing some good tricks on them both while taking away their pride but uplifting their spirits to a point.
Plus moreover the other conquistador men are having a little bit of trouble staying asleep as well with all of the Mescalero Indian People wandering around. And this is something which is only making them all nervous as heck while they all toss and turn in their blankets. But they are very used to the fact of having Indians around them at all times, although things are a bit different these days now that they aren’t in control.
Hours go by and Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza has woken up here and there a many times and feels that it is getting close to the time they need to leave. Yet this time he is thinking of leaving earlier considering that the “Witch Catcher” has shown her presence early every morning unexpectedly.
Soon he notices how the other remaining conquistador men are having some troubles as well and now he is really thinking of packing and leaving as quickly as possible. Also they are all having a hard time wondering if they should be watching their backs more than usual, though one fact of the matter is that the Mescalero Indians have always been a little nicer than some of the other Indian tribes altogether.
Then again the “Witch Catcher” is has already woken up from her sleep and she is readying for another surprise moment for when they all ditch this camping area. The camping area that Conquistador Roberto had prompted them all to visit, even though he had no idea that the Mescalero Indian shaman woman would be around offering their medicinal gifts of spiritual abuse.
To end another night of camping out, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza decides to go ahead and wake up and start getting the other conquistador men ready to leave. As he wakes he notices a Mescalero Indian Sir watching him from a little distance. And as he stands there, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza looks back before deciding to stand up.
Then quickly Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza makes his move over towards the rest of the conquistador men while the “Witch Catcher” is already near. So far, she hasn’t done anything, although she does have a plan as she pulls her bridle from only about ten or twelve feet from where the remaining conquistador crowns have been sleeping at for the night.
Afterwards the “Witch Catcher along with the Conquistador Prophet Ramon and his white horse make a quick pass by all of the conquistador men and their horses which are tied not too far away. Right after that she pulls her bridle around the other way so that she cuts right in-between Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza and his men.
When she does she makes another unexpected impression that has surprised and jolted everyone nearly at the same time. Even the Mescalero Indian People are surprised because they were unaware of her planned motivated move. Yet they all continue to stay out of her way as she causes every one of the conquistador men to scramble for their belongings even though they didn’t spring out too much of their stuff.
After she passes the men all gather their things along with packing their horses as quickly as possible so they can make a fast getaway. But then on the other side of things they all have no idea which way to go now that the “Witch Catcher” has cut them off. And she is also heading towards the “Old Spanish Trail” which has thrown some of them off who were watching as she had ridden on by them all.
Once they all do make their way onto their horses, everyone seems to wonder which way to go as Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza ends up following in her direction. Immediately he decides to make the “Old Spanish Trail” as well despite which way she has gone from here. The conquistador men all follow as well making their way right behind her even though it had taken a minute or so for them all to round up together.
Meanwhile the Mescalero Indian People all watch as Mescalero Indian Sir ends up stepping out of the way waving as they pass on by him. So far he hasn’t said anything to any of them, although he had been there with the others. But basically he is wishing them luck now that they are leaving again along with the “Witch Catcher.” However the “Witch Catcher” is being followed by them at this time perhaps.
The Mescalero Indian shaman woman watches as the ten remaining conquistador crowns depart from their nigh of camping, although she has a connection with them through her medicinal gift that she had offered to a couple of them. So far she had dwelled in with it a little bit trying her whimsy charm with some of her weird dreams and what else she thought up. Nevertheless sometimes she goes overboard with her visions that she pushes onto others, but nonetheless they will most likely talk about somewhere along the rest of the journey.
It isn’t long before the ten remaining conquistador crowns make their way to the “Old Spanish Trail” and, of course, the “Witch Catcher” is nowhere to be found or seen again. In their minds she must be near though while watching and waiting for another appropriate time to strike and make her mark on their lives. Yet Conquistador Carlos and Conquistador Roberto are starting to see visions which aren’t really there which may throw things of a little bit down the road or trail.
Nearby the “Witch Catcher” watches like they were and always should expect, although she feels like keeping her distance for now. She likes the quick little skirmish like charges that she has been getting out of the entire journey which is keeping the conquistador men on their toes needless to say.
As the ten remaining conquistador crowns begin to travel along the “Old Spanish Trail” a ways while they all seem to glance and gleam around for her whereabouts, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza looks around wondering where the “Witch Catcher” could have fled off to really quick commenting, “I wonder where she went; any signs of her?”
In the meantime, Conquistador Padre takes a peek around the area as the sun starts to rise in the east while realizing that he can barely see anything in the first place saying, “I don’t know; it’s hard to see with the sunlight blinding my views!”
As an answer back to his remark, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza comes back recoiling, “I know; I’m having trouble staying on the “Old Spanish Trail” let alone try and look around for that “Witch Catcher” shaman woman.”
After hearing them all wonder where the “Witch Catcher” shaman woman is at, Conquistador Felipe brings out his wits regarding that person gibbering, “I’m sure that “Witch Catcher” shaman woman is either long gone by now or she is close by somewhere listening to everything we say like that Mescalero Indian woman was saying to all of us!”
Next Conquistador Rafael can’t believe the way she rode right through their camp mentioning, “I can’t believe the way she had ridden through our camp like she was trying to make us angry or something.”
Right then and there, Conquistador Miguel makes a reference to what he thinks about the entire situation saying, “She’s just toying with us; that’s all!”
Thereafter Conquistador Riguel adds some words going a bit further than that noting, “It’s like a game to that “Witch Catcher” shaman woman.”
And only to make them all feel better because of all of the circumstances, Conquistador Carlos has a few words to scramble out somehow, “Don’t worry; we’ll make it to the coast with no problem!”
Right after hearing that boast come from someone’s mouth, Conquistador Felipe says really quickly like, “That’s easy for you to all say; you didn’t have to come as far as we have come to get to the coast!”
In conclusion to what Conquistador Felipe has said, which has the tone of voice that they haven’t done much, Conquistador Arturo comes back ready to receive more credit than they have been getting from them all relating, “You all act as though we all haven’t done as much as you six have done from further down at the end of the “Old Spanish Trail?”
Just then, Conquistador Padre butts in as the morning sun starts to come in to plain view marking the new morning while saying, “That’s not what he’s saying.”
As a last point to the whole argument, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza looks back like he has to get this conversation right decreeing, “Look! We all have had our part to do and we did what we could with the time that we had in the New World and there’s nothing more to it than that!”
Of course, the “Witch Catcher” has interpreted every word they have said, although it was through her telepathy that she has developed while being a shaman. She also realizes that a few of the men have had a sip of the Mescalero Indian shaman woman and her mescaline tea that she always makes as a gift. Plus she is wondering just how that will turn out as she tries to listen in and eavesdrop on the conversations from a distance.
For the moment Conquistador Roberto thinks he has the inside secret to the “Witch Catcher” almost like he’s in a state of confusion as he says, “The “Witch Catcher” just wants to make sure we leave and never return again, and that’s all!”
Then and there Conquistador Sanchez has some wits to throw in to the scheme of things now that they are all talking weirder and weirder as time goes on saying, “And you just think that you seem to have all the answers or is that Mescalero Indian shaman woman’s mescaline tea getting to you?”
Hurriedly like, Conquistador Roberto comes back talking about how her mescaline tea didn’t affect him any slanging announcing, “Oh, her tea doesn’t have that much mescaline in it; I can handle it after all of these years!”
As a final point to the dialog exchange, Conquistador Padre has to add a momentum of his esteem responding back to Conquistador Roberto and his comment, “Now don’t Conquistador Carlos and yourself start to go crazy on us!”
Immediately Conquistador Roberto comes back trying to get the point across that he’s okay from all that has happened explaining, “Don’t worry; we’re not going to go crazy on you all! We’re used to it!”
Then Conquistador Carlos has a fact to talk about saying to them all, “We’ve been accustomed to the many different Indian tribes and their gifts!”
Lastly like to have a different view of what the feeling of hallucinogenic drugs is about, Conquistador Padre comes clean and sober with the next line expressing, “I don’t see why the Indians all have some drug that they have for hallucinations anyhow.”
Next Conquistador Felipe wonders what taking mescaline is like since Conquistador Sanchez was the one to first bring it up anyways enunciating, “Well, I have done peyote once, although I have never tried mescaline. So what’s it like?”
And only to make a quick remark to answer his question, Conquistador Carlos decides to say something describing, “It’s sort of like peyote except without all of the vomiting.”
Now Conquistador Roberto feels like adding in a word or two as Conquistador Felipe and Conquistador Sanchez listen in really good saying, “But you still feel a little queasy if you drink too much of the mescaline tea.”
By this time the “Witch Catcher” realizes how much the little tea party has slowed down the remaining ten conquistador crowns even though only a few of them had partaken of the gift. It seems as though they should be more eager to make the coast by riding their horses as fast as they can go so they don’t have to camp for another night.
While eavesdropping and wondering how they are going to out flank her as she follows from afar, the “Witch Catcher” makes a gesture that is sort of loud saying, “Looks like that tea party has slowed the all down a little bit!”
At that moment, there is another conversation that is going on, although Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza kind of butts in to it ordering them all, “Let’s forget about the Indians and there little mescaline and peyote tea parties and make the coast!”
And quickly Conquistador Padre makes a remark regarding their achievement of reaching the coast thus so far screeching, “Yes, it would be better if we didn’t have to camp out for another night!”
Immediately they all start to kick the side of their horse in order to pick up the momentum as much as possible, although some of the men are sluggish and lag behind a many yards or so. Of course, the “Witch Catcher” notices as she has no choice other than to pick up the pace as well in order to keep up. Yet she understands how close they are to making their way to the Midwestern Coast which is where she needs to turn the gears a lot more.
Miles and miles go by and the “Witch Catcher” has kept up pretty good, although she didn’t have all of the red sanded mountainous cliffs to give her the edge this time around. But she had kept her stride and pace up which is something that has been hard in certain parts of the terrain. Except for now the ten remaining conquistador crowns have slowed down considering that their horses are very tires from the quick overhaul of miles anyhow.
Once they all slow down, the “Witch Catcher” has no choice to slow down as well even though she knows exactly where they are headed. She has been over this part of the “Old Spanish Trail” a few times which helps in aiding her with remembering where she is going all of the time. Besides there are a few places where there isn’t much cover for her to keep from being seen, though she has tried to slow down a little bit to compensate.
Finally as the ten remaining conquistador crowns do gentle lower their riding speed, Conquistador Roberto happens to look over towards the north while catching something in his eye. However he only caught a fragment of the imagination before turning away really quickly which made him think that it was the mescaline tea playing tricks on his mind so to speak. But when he glances back again whatever it was he thought he had seen isn’t there this time around.
There is no doubt that he thought he had seen the “Witch Catcher” riding by on the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse, but the next glance turned up nothing. Yet he has decided not to say something because he feels sort of mind altered or high from just only a few sips of the Mescalero Indian shaman woman’s mescaline tea.
Soon he looks away again and the “Witch Catcher” comes in to plain view once again and only for a quick moment, although this time Conquistador Carlos happens to glance at her and away again. And when he happens to look back again, the “Witch Catcher” is gone again without a trace almost like she had disappeared to another dimension or something.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Suddenly Conquistador Carlos decides to say something to Conquistador Roberto about what he had seen while trying to keep the others from listening in on their conversation. But then again their conversation is overheard by Conquistador Padre who isn’t too far away from them both while riding along the “Old Spanish Trail.” Yet at first he tries to pretend like he doesn’t hear them until he can tell what they are both talking about.
Then when he realizes that they are talking and looking over towards the north, Conquistador Padre asks out loud so that the other remaining conquistador crowns can hear what they are saying as he chats loudly, “What did you see?”
Immediately Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza thinks that they are seeing visions from the Mescalero Indian tea saying, “They are just seeing things!”
Just then, Conquistador Roberto feels as though he should be the first one to say something rattling, “We both saw that “Witch Catcher” shaman woman riding up over there just between those tree lines!”
After hearing what Conquistador Roberto just said about what they both had seen, Conquistador Sanchez asks really quickly out loud, “Are you sure it wasn’t the mescaline messing with your head.”
Now Conquistador Carlos is sort of angry that they would even think that considering that they had slept it off a while saying, “No, it wasn’t the mescaline tea, we both saw the “Witch Catcher” shaman woman riding back there between the tree lines.”
Of course, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza feels that she will show up again sometime in the future saying, “Don’t worry if any of you see her off in the distance unless she appears that she is too close.”
And for some reason or other Conquistador Padre feels that the “Witch Catcher” shaman woman has been full of surprises lately retorting from earlier, “That “Witch Catcher” shaman woman is full of surprises lately, huh!”
But then again, Conquistador Arturo has only the thought of making the coast which was the prime directive from when they all had reunited together as he contends with talking about, “Let’s just forget about that “Witch Catcher” shaman woman and make the coast before nightfall!”
As the “Witch Catcher” watches them all conversing in heavy conversation when they have slowed down, she tries to imagine what they are talking about and her insides serve her well. The fact the ten remaining conquistador crowns are all affected by the Mescalero Indian shaman woman and her mescaline tea has given her the chance to abide with more time with the needed preparations.
And quickly the ten remaining conquistador crowns start to pick up the pace while wanting to make the coast before sundown. By this time they feel the urge to make the coast and depart their ships from the port as fast as possible. But they still have a few good hours of travel and that’s if they continue riding as fast as they can for a good few hours or so.
Nevertheless the “Witch Catcher” picks up her pace too while wondering how much further until she will have to split off and away from them just a little bit meaning a few hundred yards extra. This is so that she seems to have left the scene already in order to carry on further with her expedition or legacy depending on how to look at things.
Yet the Rainbow Girls are prepared for their part of the magic even though the “Witch Catcher” is elsewhere. Besides her chance to find a way to the other side of the ocean or seas meaning from the New World to the Old World to complete the journey will come soon. However this will be more than a test of her magic which comes from the power of Jesus Christ nonetheless.
Many hours go by and the ten remaining conquistador crowns are nearing their port which is located at the other beginning of the “Old Spanish Trail” located where Galveston Bay would be today. And when they do reach within a few miles of their destination, they all tend to slow down in order to check their status of what’s to come of their journey so far.
It’s imperative that they take a look around for that “Witch Catcher” shaman woman before they reach the port so that there are no surprises or problems when they are carrying on their cargo. Moreover there has been no sign of the “Witch Catcher” since Conquistador Carlos and Conquistador Roberto had seen her in-between the tree lines many hours ago.
As they all slow down readying their way closer to the port, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza commands the others as many of them are gleaming around for her already. Now let’s make sure that “Witch Catcher” shaman woman isn’t near or anywhere to be found before we make our way to the port!”
Also to make another point of the conversation, Conquistador Miguel says to make his idea across, “Yes, we wouldn’t want to lure any more Indians in to the port while we are trying to load up and sail off and out of here!”
Meanwhile every one of the ten remaining conquistador crowns continues riding along slowly while glancing and looking around the best that they possible before riding in further. So far, there are no signs of her, although they all get the feeling that she is nearby somewhere and watching and waiting.
And after another quick glance around as they can finally see the ships at the port from a distance, Conquistador Padre comes out with a line of dialogue discussion such a fact that she’s not around saying, “Well, I don’t see that “Witch Catcher” shaman woman around anywhere nearby!”
Next Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza can only comprehend the idea of how she is definitely around somewhere communicating, “I’m sure she is around somewhere!”
During this time, the “Witch Catcher” is watching from a faraway distance considering how she doesn’t want any of the ten remaining conquistador crowns to see her. Nor does she want any of the ship men of the port to see her as well as the ship’s crew, and, or crew mates of other ships of the fleet as well.
Soon the “Witch Catcher” starts to give the Conquistador Prophet Ramon and his white horse the last of the lessons he will need to be a part of the testimony of Jesus Christ. And that’s because she will have to leave him in a sense, but then again she will only be leaving him in a physical reality rather than a spiritual one.
Now she decides to say a few words to the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse speaking, “Well, it’s time to part soon but only for a little while until the magic of the Rain People comes forth with the Rainbow Girls and their tribes of the Coyote Ye and Salt People Clan start forming a rainbow to form a Bridge of Light to the other side.”
Thereon the “Witch Catcher” has some more images to bring forth to the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse influencing, “But first I will have you ride by them at a distance before returning to me to see if they try and follow you. You can return to them if you want to or you can return to me once again.”
Finally the ten remaining conquistador reach the outskirts of the shore with all of the shipmates men and crew mates as well wondering what’s going on with so many conquistadors arriving here. There’s no doubt that they wonder why there are no mule caravans with any loads of gold to bring aboard and carrying on the ships to bring back to Spain. Plus it appears that they are unsure what to expect as many of their conquistador men return for some unknown reason without any warning.
Many more seconds later the ten remaining conquistador crowns make their way onto the shores where their ships are all docked and there are many shipmen watching as they arrive. The ten remaining conquistador crowns come in as fast as they can ride along the sand until the horses start to have trouble. Quickly they all get out of their horses stirrups and start walking them by pulling their horse’s bridles.
The “Witch Catcher” watches and waits while sitting on the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse for a few more moments as the ten remaining conquistador crowns make their way towards the beach. She watches as they continue on towards the shores as many ship mates wonder what has happened that led them all to return.
Nevertheless many of the ship mates are curious as to what happened and where are Conquistador Ernesto and Esteban considering they are nowhere to be seen in sight. It’s almost like something has taken place or scared them and no one knows what that possibly could be pushing them back to the ports.
Then when the ten remaining conquistador crowns make their way towards the ships at the port, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza looks ahead towards the ships and back to his men again commanding, “Let’s load up as quickly as possibly our horses and supplies!”
After that one of the shipyards men approaches very belated on what is happening when he quickly asks, “What happened? Where’s the caravan?”
Moreover another one of the ship mates approaches ready to help in any way possible as he feels there are some problems querying, “Where’s Conquistador Esteban and Conquistador Ernesto?”
Straight off the bat, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza looks back at him while giving the news answering back with a depressed voice, “They didn’t make it!”
More ship mates arrive trying to be of assistance with the return of the conquistadors and no caravans of treasure as one asks a question from them all, “What happened and why are there no caravans of riches?”
The first to speak is Conquistador Padre as he pulls his horse closer towards the ships through the sandy beach as a few waves nearly make contact replying, “There was an Indian uprising and we were pushed out!”
Another ship mate of the port looks around for more conquistador men to return from along the “Old Spanish Trail” as he asks, “Where are the others?”
The following conquistador to answer his question is Conquistador Felipe, who is a little shaken up and ready to take his horse aboard one of the conquistador ships, as he answers back, “They all didn’t make it back with us.”
Soon one of the ship mates asks where particular conquistadors are and what has happened to them questioning, “Where is our Conquistador Prophet Ramon?”
Nonetheless Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza feels that he should be the one to answer that question even though his father Conquistador Padre is present as he speaks with some depressiveness in his voice, “He didn’t make it; he was shot with an arrow by some Indian dressed up like a big black hateful bird of some kind.”
Just then, the “Witch Catcher” releases and lets go of the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse as he start to make his way onto the sanded beach with some unexpectedness. It only takes a moment or so before everybody notices as they turn seeing the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse race his way towards the ships of the ports cutting through some of the small crowds of men gathered. Many of them jump out of the way as the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse continues on circling around back towards the south end of where the ships are ported.
Then and there Conquistador Rafael quibbles out loud, “Hey, that’s our Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s horse!”
Immediately Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza feels that they better take the initiative and retrieve the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse commanding, “Hurry up and go round his horse up!”
And as quick as he possibly can without any further hesitations, Conquistador Rafael puts his left foot back in his horse’s left stirrup before taking off. It doesn’t take too long before Conquistador Rafael makes his way from off of the beach before taking a shorter way straight across cutting his horse off. Soon their Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse is cornered and can only turn back towards the ships where the rest of the conquistador men are readying their departure.
The “Witch Catcher” watches from a distance realizing that their Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse has been caught nevertheless, although she figured as much and wanted to see how desperate they were to retrieve his horse. As Conquistador Rafael continues to drive and herd their Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse, the “Witch Catcher” retreats a little ways further back to a place she had picked out earlier within her previous expeditions.
Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza looks around as many watch the actions of Conquistador Rafael returning with the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse. Yet he still feels that she is near and wonders if he should take the chance to send some men out to find her. But then again, it could be a trick of some kind considering that there may be many more Indians backing her up so he decides to gather what they can and leave the New World.
Once on his way to his own ship, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza decides to pack up as quickly as possible while Conquistador Rafael returns with the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse. Of course, every one of the Conquistador men decide to gather on one of the ships even though there is another ship that they use to bring more goods across to the Old World. However they do have some distance with ocean water and waves that they have to trudge through before making their way towards the ramp which is slippery and hard to walk up.
Moments later, Conquistador Rafael returns with the Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse with smudges of bloody hand prints and other artwork decorated all over him. Even the sight of their Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s blood stained on both sides of him still gives them a sorrowful feeling. It’s like they have all regained something they had lost for so long of a time that they had retrieved at a later time.
But then again they only retrieved half of what they lost and the most important part is gone forever. While thinking this through the ten remaining conquistador crowns start to make their way onboard a platform that was added as a feature to make loading and unloading easier for them. As they walk onboard many of them are quiet as they try and get loaded up as quickly as possible before some more Indians arrive.
Once onboard of his own vessel, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza commands both ships to leave after bringing the ramps in yelling out, “Let’s pull the ramp and sail away!”
Then as they make their way onboard, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza looks to their Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s white horse asking, “I’m surprised we have you back with us again!”
Slowly the two vessels belonging to the conquistadors begins put their sails up as some wind starts to catch them while pulling them away. The “Witch Catcher” watches from a distance hoping that her good will and testimony of Jesus Christ will help with fulfilling her journey. She was hoping that she could sneak aboard somehow, although she would rather stick with her intuitive tendencies.
Furthermore the Rainbow Girls are within the grounds of their tribal lands working their ceremonial magic only to help the “Witch Catcher” make her way to the other side. However she does have much of her own medicinal charm and shamanistic lore to give her the insights in to manifesting her presence somewhere else.
The Coyote Ye Clan and the Salt People Clan all help perform the ceremonial ritual as the “Witch Catcher” begins to feel their power from afar. But the ceremony will take many days considering that her appearance can’t be felt right away. This is something that means she will have to spend many days and nights within the spirit world rowing along the river of souls until the right time comes along.
Most of the ceremonies are a part of their cultural dances which will take several days and nights to accomplish with some patience nonetheless. Also they will have to form the right state of mind in order to pull their aspirations off which have never been done before. Yet many of them have spiritually left their bodies in order to sketch their landscapes from being in heaven with their eyes up above looking down.
In other words they do have a looking glass in to this realm from the skies above. This comes from their gift of seeing through their spiritual souls as they try and picture what the world appears to be that they live on. This is so they can draw some kind of map illustrating their living plane that they are surviving on in their minds eye.
Nevertheless the “Witch Catcher” decides to watch and wait for them to leave while deciding if she should just relax or walk out onto the beach. One reason is because she doesn’t want them to remain to close if they are to see her. But then again she needs to allow them to catch sight of her in order to surprise them with her appearance when the ceremonial ritual of the “Bridge of Light” to form a rainbow to the other side is completed.
However the conquistador ships start to become further and further away as the “Witch Catcher” watches waiting for the appropriate time to walk out to the shores to allow a glance of her. Meanwhile she notices that some of the conquistador men are looking back for her perhaps. So then, the “Witch Catcher” decides to take a chance at allowing them to see her presence on the beach because they are far away enough by now.
Slowly she walks out with her back pack making it look as though she’s seeing them off from their leaving departure from the New World back to their Old World. And as she stands there watching the ships all depart for their destiny of Portugal and Spain, many of them look back realizing that the “Witch Catcher” is standing there staring back.
Finally as all of the conquistadors and ship mates look back from a distance, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza makes a comment about her showing her face from afar saying, “There she stands watching and saluting us her goodbyes!”
Right away, Conquistador Padre looks also while pulling his horse towards the horse coral with the other conquistador men while saying, “Good, at least she won’t be following us anymore!”
Conversely many of the other conquistador men look back with a feeling of confusion wondering if they will see her again somewhere as Conquistador Felipe says, “Why do I get the feeling that it isn’t over with and we will be seeing her sometime again?”
Conquistador Carlos looks back like she can maybe do another miraculous endeavor trying to catch up with them now saying, “What you act like she can fly perhaps; how is she going to catch up with us now that we are sailing away?”
Thereafter Conquistador Roberto tries to come in with a little sarcasm and humor by adding a token of his visionary thoughts correlating, “If only our Conquistador Prophet Ramon’s horse could fly she wouldn’t be standing there!”
Immediately Conquistador Miguel feels that they should just try and forget about her now that it’s all over with as he shrills, “Let’s just forget about her and start thinking about our lives when we return home to Spain!”
Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza decides to order most of the conquistador men to settle down with putting their gear and supplies away so that they can have a smooth voyage as he cans the initiative of their expectations of the “Witch Catcher” collaborating, “Let’s just settle in and find our place on this ship for now and forget about that “Witch Catcher” shaman woman once and for all.”
A couple of moments later Shipmate Eduardo looks back to where the “Witch Catcher” was standing noticing that she isn’t standing there anymore as he comments, “Hey look! That woman who was standing out there is gone!”
Every one of the conquistador men and the shipmate who is doing the lookout from the top of the main mast above turns to look noticing that the “Witch Catcher” woman has vanished from where she was standing previously stating, “Looks like she left!”
Quickly Conquistador Riguel looks as he start to pull his horse towards the inner deck of the ship where the vision of the shore is becoming faint as he says, “It looks like she must be going back home!”
Next Conquistador Rafael figures that she won’t be coming back accumulating his thoughts, “At least she won’t be coming back again.”
The last thing to be said as a comment as Shipmate Eduardo remains in confusion is Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza as he adds, “I hope she doesn’t ever return in any of our lives again.”
Finally Shipmate Eduardo starts to become even more superstitious and curious about whom that woman is and what had happened considering they haven’t had a chance to say anything yet as he comes out asking, “Who was that strange woman?”
In supposition to what has happened prior to the ten remaining conquistador crowns and their return to their ports within where the Galveston Bay lies today, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza walks his horse with Shipmate Eduardo while answering back, “Let’s take our horses to the lower deck and we’ll talk about what has happened and what we need to do when we return to the Old World.”
Back on shore, the “Witch Catcher” has stopped watching their two boats sail away as they drift off further and further from the shoreline. Nonetheless she feels that watching will only hinder the Bridge of Light ceremony of forming a rainbow to the other side with the “Circle of Life.”
Now she is making her place to camp fort the night, although it will more likely be a few more nights making it probably more like a few weeks. But hopefully it won’t be that long before the conquistadors sail their way to the Old World from the New World making their way to Portugal and Spain. So far she is very tired from the long journey that has taken up over a week and she feels that she has some spiritual things to accomplish.
Most of what she has to accomplish is her state of mind as well as keeping track of time so that she can try and realize about when they will make the other shoreline within the Old World. Of course, the “Witch Catcher” has never sailed to the Old World which means that she has no idea how long it will take. But then again some of the Indians such as War Hawk and some of the others have asked questions getting some ideas.
Meanwhile back at the other end of the “Old Spanish Trail” is War Hawk with some of his other family members as he makes a comment while he looks in to some candle light like John the Divine had with his rhabdomancy saying, “The ships have sailed away and our “Witch Catcher” is setting camp waiting for the end of a several week ceremony!”
And with a little intuition coming from the candlelight itself as well, Little Dream Catcher feels that it’s time to have a ceremony of their own reflecting, “Maybe we ought to have a ceremony ourselves like the Rainbow Girls are having back at the Govennador.”
Of course their children and some of the other family members are having trouble understanding what they are talking about as Brother Dream Catcher says, “And then she will make her way to the other side from our New World to the Old World?”
With some confusion in mind, Little Catcher wonders how the “Witch Catcher” is going to do that asking, “And how is she going to get to the other side?”
“She will have to form a rainbow as a “Bridge of Light” to the other side of the “Circle of Life” which is the other side!”
This is what Anasazi Wind Dancer says considering that she will remain visiting the end of the “Old Spanish Trail” until the testimony of Jesus Christ is fulfilled.
Next Brother Dream Catcher mentions how the “Witch Catcher” will visit the “Tree of Life” chatting, “Then the “Witch Catcher” will visit the “Tree of Life” and the Throne of God and of the Lamb after she makes her appearance known.”
But then again after a bit of silence looking through to the candlelight that they have shining within the rock shelter, Father Hawk has a line saying, “But first she will have to visit the temple of Jesus Christ to help fulfill his testimony.”
And then War Hawk comes in with some information he had received from the visions of the candlelight as he says, “But this temple will be destroyed and rebuilt again many years later!”
One of the last questions in mind is one coming from Little Hawk about how the “Witch Catcher” will return from the Old World and back to the New World asking, “And how will she return back home from the Old World to the New World?”
The one to answer that question is Mother Dream Catcher who feels that they haven’t thought about things that far in saying, “I don’t think we have thought about how she will return home from the Old World to the New World.”
The next line comes from the visions of Father Dream Catcher who agrees with the notion contemplating, “Yes, we haven’t gone that far in the story!”
The last line of dialogue to shew forth from the mouth of those is from Chief Tomahawk who says, “Don’t worry; she will find her way home within the river of souls.”
Finally the conquistadors have put their horses away on the main vessel and Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza is ready to explain some things to Shipmate Eduardo who says, “So who was that woman who was standing there watching us?”
With some first words to explain what has happened and expose the “Witch Catcher” and her identity, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza replies back elucidating, “That was the “Witch Catcher” who followed us after the Southwest Tonto Hohokam had forced us out from the site at the end of the “Old Spanish Trail.”
By now, Shipmate Eduardo is more curious than ever to know what had happened asking, “What caused them to kick the conquistadors out from there?”
Next Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza decides to try and start from the beginning by telling him, “the first thing was that they wanted to have a harvesting ceremony so that they would have better crops by the end of the summer. And then they started to want to know more about our religious beliefs and our prophets and lords, so then I lent War Hawk, who was my head arrastra worker, the book and then within a few days he returned the book. Then the arrastra workers all began stealing and then we caught them.”
With much interest building up already while he begins to get in to the truth of the story, Shipmate Eduardo says, “So then what happened?”
It takes a moment for Tesoro De Castallanza to take a breath before trying to move ahead within the telling of the story saying, “Then as we confronted them all went well for a while and they went back to work. But a while later they rebelled and then the next thing I knew when I came out of my Spanish Quarters was that we were surrounded by the Rain People of the rainy lands on the north side above the cliffs and elsewhere. All we had time to do then was scramble as the Southwest Tonto Hohokam began their raiding us from the south side.”
After taking another glance around realizing that these men are all that’s left of them, Shipmate Eduardo asks another question, “And these are the only men who made it out of there?”
A moment later, Conquistador Padre butts in from a few feet away saying as they continue settling in, “Just all of us besides our Conquistador Prophet Ramon who was struck by an arrow by some large like hateful feathery Indian!”
Next Conquistador Felipe butts in to the conversation telling, “Well, we have his horse now that the “Witch Catcher” had let him go and fled away.”
Then there is no forgetting the rummaging of the “Witch Catcher” as Shipmate Eduardo asks another inquiry regarding her asking, “So what’s the deal with her?”
Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza is the one to answer the question of who the “Witch Catcher” is along with her identity again saying, “I don’t know; all we know is that she chased us right from the start and never lost sight of us until we made the ships. Almost every morning she surprised us before sunrise when we were overly exhausted falling asleep every night.”
Moments later, after a breath or so, Shipmate Eduardo comes back bellying, “Sounds like I was better off staying near the ships, huh?”
Now Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza can only agree with what Shipmate Eduardo is saying by expressing, “Yes, you were all better off staying here at the port because that “Witch Catcher” shaman woman had us fooled and played us like a trumpet!”
But Shipmate Eduardo is curious as to what will become of her now that they are sailing away and she had turned back as he counters, “I wonder what will become of that “Witch Catcher” shaman woman now that we are sailing away and we are far from the coast?”
And for some reason Conquistador Rafael comes crashing in to the exchange of words by speaking, “She’ll probably return home to the Rainy Lands after visiting back with the Southwest Tonto Hohokam at the end of the “Old Spanish Trail.”
Moments later, Conquistador Miguel is curious as to what they think the Indians will do with their burial remains saying, “So what do you contend they will do with our fellow conquistador men’s burial remains?”
Right after hearing such a query about their fellow conquistador men and their burial remains, Conquistador Roberto has something to say regarding that, “They probably burned all of their bodies long ago before we ever made the coast.”
And only to add a token of his esteem for the beloved and forgotten conquistador men who had died unexpectedly, Conquistador Carlos comes forth shewing, “Or perhaps they buried them somewhere only to keep them in their remembrance of their hate for us.”
After hearing that Conquistador Arturo decides to say something in regards to what he thinks saying, “It makes no difference what the Indians did to our forgotten comrades whether they burned their bodies or buried them.”
Yet only to make a lasting impression so that they can all move on with their lives, Conquistador Sanchez weighs up a few words to them all, “Well, instead of pondering the depression of their loss over; all we can do is keep them in our thoughts and prayers always for ever and ever.”
In conclusion to what has been said about the others who had never made it, Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza turns and looks floundering, “Since when did you become so religious and mushy all of a sudden?”
Right away, Conquistador Sanchez answers back telling him, “I’m not being religious and mushy because we cannot change the past but we can keep them in our thoughts when we return home to Portugal and Spain.”
This is a time for Conquistador Padre to mention something that wasn’t planned saying, “And when we return to Spain we will have to travel to the capital Madrid and explain our losses to the King of the Throne!”
Then Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza can only think about the losses of life that have been incurred on them all while struggling to say, “And then we will have to explain why we had incurred so many deaths during the uprising to the King of the Throne.”
Finally their friendly Shipmate Eduardo feels that maybe perhaps they all should get some rest because they are very worried about everything as he shrills, “You all should give it a rest and talk about it tomorrow. It seems that you all have had a hard time the last few weeks or so.”
Meanwhile Conquistador Roberto has some inclinations on his mind as he jousts, “Yes, we are sounding a little delirious worrying about what’s going to happen when we return to Portugal and Spain.”
Just then the Shipmate Captain of the ship vessel comes down to the lower deck rallying, “Why don’t you all get some sleep for a full day or so and then you can all talk all you want while we sail the seas!”
Straight forth Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza can only think of unloading the gold from the horses first now that they have made their place within the lower deck as he replies, “But first we must unload our precious gold from our horses!”
But of course, Conquistador Felipe can only ponder what gold is left as he is the first to start unpacking some of the burlap sacks from his horse while chatting, “Whatever gold we have left; so far it looks like I lost a lot more than I thought along the way!”
In the interim, Conquistador Padre figures that they all have lost more than they bargained for as he looks at his reaping saying, “It looks like we all lost more than we had bargained to lose along the way!”
Now Conquistador Tesoro De Castallanza and the other conquistador men can only fathom the idea of how the “Witch Catcher” and her mysterious ways have taken their earnings. Then nonetheless, they all slowly retire for the night as depression of their losses sets in deeply.
Below is a link to the "Catcher of Love" subpage 7.