Revelations on the Rio Grande

Prologue

(Note: all dialogue in this scene is in Spanish)

The market of Texjara was bustling. Christian Miralles weaved his way through the crowds of people, all bartering with merchants or talking to one another. Someone quickly ran up behind him, and Christian turned around to see his younger sister Carmen catch up to him.

"Slow down, will you?" she pleaded breathlessly. She was always the slow one, when compared to her brother, but she made up for it in looks, though. She had been able to dupe many guys into doing what she wanted, just by her good looks alone. It didn't help that she also had a silver tongue, as well. Christian had always been the opposite: athletic, and while he had a good group of friends, he was awkward in many situations, and simply plain-looking. Not that it mattered to Christian, though.

"OK, sorry." Christian turned around again and continued to walk towards the bakery he was tasked to go to. His mother allowed them to get pastries for working very hard during the week, so she gave Christian and Carmen some redbacks and sent them off to the market. When the redback was first introduced, the original peso was still the dominant currency. However, it was next to worthless, with Mexico's economy deep in the gutter, and cartels running amok, not to mention the Mayan Rebellion down south. Thankfully, Mexico's northern neighbor, the Federal Republic of Texas, came in to restore order and help Mexico destroy the cartels, which had also been harming Texas, too. Christian was still thinking on this, and how he wanted to move to Texas, when his sister woke him from his stupor.

"We're here," she told him. Christian looked up, and saw the sign for the bakery right in front of him.

"Thanks, sister," he commented as they walked through. The winderful smell of bread baking assaulted Christian's nose as he stepped through the bakery door. Señor Hernández, the owner of the bakery, was manning the front counter when he the two walk through

"Welcome back!" he greeted them warmly. "What catches your eye this time?"

"A Gallina for me, and a vanilla Concha for Carmen, Señor," Christian said, holding up the money. The baker smiled as he took out the requested items, and handed them to the kids in exchange for the money.

"¡Gracias!" they both said as they left the store. It was now a little past midday, and the Texan soldiers that were stationed here were now going out and about, their lunchtime over. Most people did not fear the soldiers, and neither did Christian or Carmen. They left you alone, unless you were asking for trouble. However, there were rumors of cartel activity in the area, so the Texan soldiers were much more alert than normal. Christian greeted them as they walked past, munching on his Gallina. He and his sister weaved his way through the still-thick crowd of shoppers and merchants, heading home. Something flashed in the corner of Christians, like a person moving in the nearby alley. Christian looked over at the alley, but nothing was there.

"What are you looking at?" Carmen asked, a concerned look on her face.

"I thought I saw something move in that alley," he replied, pointing to the alley. Could've been an animal, at least I sure hope it was.

"Might've been an animal, like a dog or cat. There's a lot of those here," Carmen concluded. So she thinks it was an animal, too. That's comforting, he said as he continued walking home. Christian looked over to see some soldiers at a stall just a few yards away from him. There were about three of them, and they all were discussing something with a merchant and a marketgoer. Extortion on part of the merchant, from the looks of it, Christian thought, observing the dispute take place. All of a sudden, something was thrown next to the soldiers, looking like a rock, but none of them, and not even the merchant or the customer saw it. Christian looked closely at it, and instantly recognized what it was. A Texan soldier used one of them during training when he visited the local barracks just outside of town Grenade!

"Get down!" he yelled to his sister as they dove behind a stall, dropping their baked goods. Seconds later, the grenade exploded. A loud bang, a rush of force and fire, and dust scattering into the air followed, and flaming debris soon fell to the ground around. Nearly incapacitated by the explosion, Christian and Carmen slowly got up and looked around, observing what had happened. Looking over to where the soldiers once were, Christian noted that all three of them, plus the merchant and customer, were dead, and a few other people were nursing minor wounds. What in God's name...? Christian thought, bewildered.

"We need to tell Mama what happened," Carmen piped up.

"Yes, let's do that," he agreed. They walked back home, as more soldiers rushed into the marketplace, rifles held up, looking around for any hostiles.

The walk back to the house was silent. Both children were mulling the past events over. No one would've guessed cartels would strike this town, so close to Texas, when before they couldn't push through the southern border of Tamaulipas. Soon, they turned a corner and walked into their house. There was one problem, though: the house was WAY too quiet. Normally, Mama or Papa would be out and about around the house, but nothing moved. What's happened? Why is the house so quiet? Christian and Carmen walked through the roomy livingroom, and into the kitchen, where Mama would probably be. Christian instantly wished he didn't. Lying there on the kitchen floor, was their mama, dead, with a bullet hole in her head. Carmen screamed, and Christian broke down into tears. Who would do this? he thought mournfully. I know who. It was the cartels. Papa tried to get the family away from them, and I think this was his reward, rather punishment for this action. Christian wiped his eyes, and looked over to find Carmen crying in a corner of the kitchen. No doubt that this rattled her.

"I'm going to look for Papa. I want to know what happened to him," he told Carmen as he mounted the stairs, and looked around for Papa. He wasn't anywhere upstairs. He must've been kidnapped. Christian walked around for a bit before stopping, and just standing. What are we going to do now?