Lorenzo's Revolutionary Quest by Lila Guzmán Page A

agreed to sell five hundred head of cattle. Next stop, the Governor’s Palace. Along the way, Lorenzo learned to his dismay that the new governor had not yet arrived to assume his duties. Lieutenant José Menchaca, commander of the fort, was acting in his stead.
    This was a complication Lorenzo and Colonel De Gálvez hadn’t foreseen when planning the cattle drive.
    Lorenzo rapped on the door to the Governor’s Palace. It swung open. A servant girl stood barely visible in the dim interior. Even so, Lorenzo could see she was Lipan Apache.
    â€œGood morning, señorita,” he said, tipping his hat. “Lorenzo Bannister to see Lieutenant Menchaca.”
    She showed him to the governor’s office, a sparsely furnished room.
    Lieutenant Menchaca sat behind a sturdy desk cluttered with papers. After several minutes he glanced up from his writing and pursed his lips. “I’m a busy man, Lorenzo. What do you want?”
    Lorenzo showed the colonel’s letter to Menchaca. “This is Colonel De Gálvez’s authorization to purchase five hundred head of mission cattle.”
    Menchaca shook his head and refused to take the paper. “Not going to happen.”
    â€œLast time I checked, a colonel outranks a lieutenant.”
    â€œI don’t care if that’s from the devil himself. You are not going to make off with my cattle.”
    â€œThey belong to the mission.”
    â€œAs acting governor, they are mine.” Menchaca’s chin jutted out in defiance.
    â€œThe colonel expects me to buy cattle. I am not going back empty-handed.”
    Menchaca smirked. “That’s your problem. Not mine.”
    â€œLook, Lieutenant,” Lorenzo said, trying to keep his anger under control. “All I need is your signature.”
    â€œI’m not going to sign.”
    â€œThe colonel—”
    â€œShould know that trade between the Province of Texas and the Louisiana Territory is forbidden by royal decree.”
    Lorenzo simmered. That was true. And it had led to a thriving smuggling business.
    The time had come to change tactics. Lorenzo looked Menchaca straight in the eye. “When Colonel De Gálvez learns you have been less than cooperative, he’ll be quite upset. I would imagine his uncle José will be as well.”
    Menchaca winced. José De Gálvez was minister of the Indies, the most important man in Spain after the king. Menchaca filled a pipe, lit it, and took several puffs. Smoke wreathed him. He stared off into space.
    Lorenzo imagined that visions of being recalled to Spain to explain his lack of cooperation were flashing through Menchaca’s head.
    After a nerve-fraying silence, Menchaca grabbed a blank piece of paper and a quill pen. He dipped it in ink and wrote at length. “A messenger will go at once to Mexico City to clear up the matter.”
    â€œIt could take weeks for him to ride to Mexico City, get authorization, and return.”
    Menchaca offered him an infuriating little smile. “That’s not my problem.”
    September 2 was the latest Lorenzo could wait and still meet the flatboats on time. “I’ll give the messenger until the end of the month,” Lorenzo said. “If he isn’t back by then, I’m taking the cattle whether you like it or not.”
    â€œDo so at your own peril. We hang cattle rustlers.”

Chapter Twelve
    Seven dawns after losing the cattle, Chien d’Or rode bareback on the outskirts of a buffalo stampede. Today he would strike and take control of the tribe.
    Dust billowed around buffalo dashing toward their own destruction. Chien d’Or and his companions drove them toward a cliff where they would plunge to their deaths. This was his favorite way to hunt buffalo. Letting them break their own necks was far easier than shooting them with arrows.
    Chien d’Or smiled to think this would be Chief Iron Bear’s last hunt.
    He had to act quickly before the