At sunset, they flocked to the edges of the farms where they worked, to the places where the fields gave way to wild marsh. The or ganizers waited three days to let people gather; two old women had come all the way from Chiapas. The atmosphere was viciously festive, fueled as much by tequila as by the testosterone of revenge: many were drunk before the boats even went out on the water.
It was a ragtag little flotilla, roughly fifty men and a few women in a dozen boats, mostly canoes and cheap fishing boats with puny outboards. At about seven p.m., the large airboat from Craine’s farm emerged from a slough and took its place at the head of the flotilla.
As the smaller boats drew level, they finally caught sight of the bound men on the airboat. The mood changed palpably, the aggressive excitement faded, replaced by grim purpose. There was little talk now. Some still drank, but the men were mostly silent, thinking about the thing they were about to do, about the cruelty that had brought them all there.
The airboat pilot was unfamiliar with the controls, but was learning quickly. The man sitting next to him navigated, calling the left or right shifts as necessary. He tipped the stick, and the airboat swung into a wide arc to the right.
The two men tied to the front seats were immobile. The younger one was weak; he’d been shot when they caught him, and his wound now stank. When they’d carried him to the boat, he’d begged and wept, but he was quiet now. The older one hadn’t spoken a word since he’d been taken, hadn’t reacted, no matter what they did to him. Both had bloody bags over their heads, and their necks were tied together by a length of filthy gray rope.
One of the navigators nudged the pilot’s leg and pointed. Up ahead, a large island of mahogany and gumbo-limbo rose from the water like a surfacing whale. In the golden light of the sinking sun, huge black vultures floated over the dense canopy of leaves, sometimes breaking off to drift off over the marsh, but always coming back to settle in the high branches and wait.