Chancho's given name is Del Rio, or "from the river." Found by nuns on the banks of the Rio Bravo, water plays both a transitionary and visionary role in Chancho's life.
In this scene I wanted to push his "Moses" parallels further while highlighting the tight bonds between him and his "people."
While unable to part the water, he braves the flash flood to get himself and his friends to the other side. But his time in the wilderness will not be without cost. In the following scene he loses his horse.
On a broader scale, each of the Lost File stories reveals pieces of a secret history waiting for readers to discover. By naming his new horse (a few scenes later) Bautizada or "baptism" I wanted to pull back the curtain a smidge to show how the author is possibly more aware of Chancho's history than he himself is at the time.
Book Excerpt
Fistful of Reefer
A crack of thunder shook Chancho from his sleep. Startled, he sat up in time to feel the first large drops of a pelting rain. After wiping the fog of sleep from his mind the threat lodged itself there. Running toward the opening of the tiny inlet where the wagons blocked the way, he squeezed past them into the gravel flat of the dry riverbed. A gust of wind whipped past his cheek bringing a wave of swollen raindrops splashing down around him. His worst fears clutched him as he looked at his feet where the water was already inches deep, and rising.Another flash of lightening burned a terrifying image into his brain as a menacing wall of water rushed to meet them, two hundred yards upstream. “Flood! Flood! Muddy, Nena. Flood!” He slapped the side of their wagon until Muddy’s eyes, startlingly white, pierced the pitch black. “Flood!” Muddy’s eyes widened further while Chancho flew up the inlet toward the goats which had already begun to scatter.He flapped his sombrero and cackled wildly, “¡Andanle, pequiñitos, andanle!” He did everything he could to flush the goats to higher ground, forcing them to climb the rocky slopes. Behind him, the giant wave slammed into the sandbar island, ripping in two. He spun in time to see another bolt of lightning illuminate the crushing surge of water beating against the wagons as it rushed past.
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