| |
The Thursday leg of the trip had been fun after a late start from the motel in Del Rio. Darcy had been impressed with the Amistad dam and lake and the sight of the Pecos River flowing into the Rio Grande far below the scenic overlook. Yet her favorite stop was the Judge Roy Bean tourist center in tiny, "historic Langtry."
Matt thought he would never get Darcy out of the cactus garden, where she studied every one of the hundreds of cacti and other desert plants growing in abundance on the rocky hill behind the headquarters building.
Darcy read every placard about the famous hanging judge, how he had a futile fascination for the actress Lily Langtry, and the way he ran his peculiar bar-courtroom. She had a hundred questions, to which Matt usually had only one answer: "I don't know."
He agreed, however, that the plants were beautiful, especially the enormous century plant blooms that towered over them.
No radio stations were in range except from Mexico. Rural Mexico seemed to be a Darcy mania-free zone. All he could pick up was tejano (Tex-Mex) and norteño (north Mexican) music.
Matt had been fighting the setting sun shining into his eyes for the last hour. He sensed Darcy was tired too. An hour from Alpine, he felt the future weighing on him.
"Darcy, what's next on your list?"
"Pardon?"
"What's the next thing you figure you need to do?"
"Oh. Well, I need to give Mrs. Williams her clothes back. Don't you just love this green shirt?"
"No, silly! I mean, yes, the shirt looks terrific on you, but where do you have to go after you do that?"
"I promised I would meet with those lawyers, you know, the ones who sponsored me and Cheryl."
Matt felt a stab of anxiety. "You told Mrs. Williams you loved how quiet it was at her place. Do you want to stay there for awhile?”
“No. I couldn’t do that.”
“Have you thought about where you might go?"
"Not really, Matt. I just don't have much knowledge, first-hand knowledge, of earth. You know that."
"Yeah, I do. Hey, what about this? My Grandmother Méndez lives in southern New Mexico. It's beautiful there, out of the way, and she has an extra building on her place where you could stay as long as you want. She's all alone now, and I bet she'd love having you nearby. It's close enough to a fairly big city that you could visit a library or go shopping if you want. Would you consider something like that?"
He held his breath.
"That's an interesting idea. I need to meet with the lawyers. Why don't we talk about it after that? They're going to set up an account for me. Maybe I won’t have to worry about having enough to live on.”
"Won't have to worry about living expenses? Darcy, you're going to be rich! You'll probably be a millionaire! With that kind of money you can do anything you want."
He felt another couple of stabs, deep in his heart.
"Oh, I don't know, Matt. Maybe. I know one thing, though."
"What?"
"It means you will be released from your promise!"
"My promise?"
“You promised not to write your story about me until I said it was all right. It'll be all right, Matt. You can write your article. You can even write a book. You'll be rich yourself, and famous everywhere!"
"Aaah, yes. The article! And the book...."
Darcy was right. There would be huge money in a book about her, gigantic money. His future would be assured. People who knew him back when would say they had always known he was destined for success. His parents would never tire of dropping his name (though their friends might). Guest spots! Documentaries!
The possibilities piled up in his mind as the truck ate up the darkening miles through Alpine to the Bar-S ranch beyond.
