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“¡Papá!” Diego’s voice echoed into the stables. “Papá, where are you?”
Alejandro looked up from inspecting one of his mares that was due to foal soon. “I am here, Diego. What do you need?”
Diego sprinted into view holding a rope lead. On the end of the lead was a coal black colt.
“Diego, where did you get that colt?” He hadn’t the faintest idea where Diego could have gotten the animal, the boy certainly didn’t have the money to buy it.
“I caught him in the hills. Isn’t he beautiful?” Diego patted the horse lovingly. Running his hand over the colt’s mane and neck. The animal was surprisingly calm, only betraying the slightest bit of nervousness.
Alejandro blinked in surprise. “He’s a fine looking animal, but-” he didn’t know what to say. His son had been known to drag home the odd pet or two in his life, but a wild horse was another matter entirely. “But how on earth did you catch him?” Alejandro knew the story was probably a good one, Diego’s stories always were.
“I was out riding in the hills past the big meadow,” Diego gestured away from the house in the general direction he meant, “and I saw a herd of the wild horses. This one caught my eye because I didn’t see a mother anywhere nearby. I followed them-”
Here Alejandro sighed. He was sure one of these days his son would follow some creature into the wilderness and never come back.
“-and they went deeper into the hills.” Diego began scratching the colt behind the ears. “The more I watched this one the more I knew I had to catch him. He ran like the wind over the hilltops and showed the most agility I’ve ever seen in a horse of his age. I believe he is an orphan.”
Alejandro guessed that the foal was about eight months old, quite old enough to get by without a mother. Alejandro opened his mouth to make a few remarks but Diego continued.
“He is such a fine animal, but he is smart too, I had to be very clever to catch hold of him. I decided to lay a trap there in the hills. I could tell he was intelligent and curious so I took off my hat and propped it up on a stick and put it in the ground where he could see. Then I hid myself behind a rock and waited with my lariat.”
Alejandro tried to stay quiet through Diego’s story, but he was already imagining how surprising a herd of wild horses while on foot might have gone ill for his son.
“My deception worked.” Diego patted the little horse’s head proudly. “He alone out of all the herd came to discover who the stick-man was, he was most curious about it. But he was cautious too.” He ruffled the horse’s forelock. “But not cautious enough! I sprang from my hiding place and lassoed him neatly. And do you know what?” Diego looked down at the foal with a grin.
“What?” said Alejandro with some trepidation.
“He didn’t even fight back. He was a bit frightened at first, but he didn’t try to run. I knew he was special.” Diego petted down horse’s nose ending at the velvety muzzle. His eyes shone with pride.
It was more than obvious that the boy was already in love with the animal. Alejandro sighed again, this wasn’t going to be pleasant. “Diego,” he said gently, “you must realize you can’t keep him.”
His son looked at him, surprised. “But Papá, he’s perfect. With a little training and more time he’ll be the most magnificent stallion.”
“Diego, he’s a wild animal.” This was not the first time he had some version of this conversation with his son. “He’ll never really be tame.”
“Of course he can be tamed,” said Diego. “I will train him most spectacularly.”
At times Alejandro wished he had even half the confidence of a teenage boy. “It won’t work, my son. It is simply impossible to make a wild animal tame.”
“But, Father,” Diego protested, gripping the colt’s mane, “I can-”
“No, Diego, you cannot.” Alejandro already had visions of his son being thrown by a half-trained wild horse. He had witnessed other dons attempt to break the wild ones, it never went well for them.
“I just need a little time,” Diego insisted. “I know it can be done.”
“But, Diego, you don’t have time.” Alejandro hated disappointing his son like this, but he needed to see sense. “You will be leaving for university in just half a year. Not only do I doubt that you can tame the wildness out of this horse, but even if you could you do not have the time needed to do so. I am afraid I must insist on you turning the animal loose. It will be better off with the other wild horses than languishing here, unrideable, for four years.”
“But,” Diego tried one last time, “I could start his training and then maybe Benito could work with him, or I might delay entering the university for a year and-”
“No, Diego, I have made up my mind on the matter and I want no more argument. He is not fit for breaking and I will not hear another word of you delaying your start at university. Take him now and turn him loose before he becomes to accustomed to the domestic horses. We do not want him returning and leading them off.”
Diego was bitterly disappointed. He cast his eyes downward combing his fingers through the colt’s mane. “Yes, Father,” he said finally.
“There’s a good boy,” said Alejandro. It was difficult for him to let down his son like this. He hated to take away something Diego so clearly enjoyed. “You had best go about it quickly, I’ll see you at supper.”
Diego nodded. “With your permission,” he said, not meeting Alejandro’s eyes. He tugged at the rope around the colt’s neck and the horse and boy left the stables.
Alejandro sighed. He wished Isabela were here to help manage this, her death last year had made parenting that much harder. She would have been able to make Diego see sense. At the same time, Alejandro thought, she probably would have convinced me to let Diego keep the horse. He was certain he had done the right thing in telling Diego to release the horse. Wild animals were just that, wild, and had no place in a domestic herd.
Diego mounted his palomino, Sinfonía, and leading the little black horse began to ride towards the hills where he had captured the colt. He was aggravated. He had spent most of the day tracking and capturing this foal, he hated letting him go again. He hadn’t even had a chance to tell his father the name he picked out for the animal. Tornado. His father hadn’t even seen how Tornado could run like the wind or turn on a pin. He was frustrated to be dismissed so quickly.
Glancing at Tornado cheerfully trotting beside Sinfonía his heart sank. The small horse was magnificent. To turn him loose was a waste.
“Do you want to stay with me, Tornado, or shall I set you free? I could train you to be the most legendary horse in all of New Spain.”
In way of response Tornado snorted and kicked up his heels, shaking his head. The colt was energetic even after the long day of activity.
“That’s what I think too,” said Diego, taking Tornado’s gestures for an answer. “Papá thinks that a wild horse can never be broken, is that true?”
Tornado twitched his ears in various directions.
“Well, I suppose it is true a little bit, but I do not want to break you. I want us to be amigos. I think we can work together most fabulously.”
Tornado scampered through the grass at Sinfonía’s side.
“Do you think I should listen to my Papá and turn you loose?” Diego was debating the issue internally. This little horse was so full of life and practically begging to be his friend. It would be cruel to send the animal back out to the wild when fate had so clearly intended for them to be together. Diego realized he couldn’t turn Tornado loose, he had to find some way to keep him without his father knowing.
He rode deeper into the hills, the hacienda disappearing in the distance. He knew the herd wouldn’t be where he had left them earlier, but he was beginning to think he wasn’t going there anyway. Still, where could he keep a horse so that his father wouldn’t suspect?
“So, Tornado, if I am not to turn you loose, where shall I put you? Shall I swear Benito to secrecy and have him hide you among our herds?”
Tornado frisked along oblivious to Diego’s troubles.
“That would not work for very long, Benito is too good a man to hide you from my father.” Patting the neck of his Palomino Diego said, “What do you think, am I being stupid, Sinfonía?”
Sinfonía just climbed through the hills calmly giving him no opinion.
Diego scanned the horizon hoping inspiration would come to him regarding his predicament. Presently the smell of smoke wafted over him. He stood up in his stirrups looking around for the source of the smoke, one could never be too careful about that sort of thing. The breeze was coming from the east so Diego rode in that direction hoping to find the source a campfire or something equally innocuous.
The source of the smoke, it turned out, was a cooking fire made by Old Cristóbal the shepherd.
“Don Diego,” Cristóbal rose and hailed him, “it has been a long time. Come, sit with me and tell me about your life.”
Diego smiled. He liked Cristóbal, and would on occasion seek him out just to enjoy his company. The man had many stories of his adventures as a shepherd in the wilderness, and he knew everything there was to know about the Californian countryside.
“Buenos días, Cristóbal.” Looping Tornado’s lead around Sinfonía’s saddle horn, Diego dismounted and shook the old shepherd’s hand. “How have you been?”
“Each day is like the other, but no two are the same.” Cristóbal smiled at him. It was a warm, earthy smile that Diego liked very much.
The two of them sat down near Cristóbal’s cook fire where he was preparing a pot of what smelled to be beans. His mule grazed nearby and Diego saw a small, neat tent erected a couple of yards away.
“Has your work been kind to you lately?” Diego asked. The shepherd looked to be in good health.
“It has been kind enough. It is my old bones that are not kind to me these days.” Cristóbal’s eyes twinkled.
Diego laughed. “I hope they provide you with a few more years of kindness all the same.”
“And what of you, Don Diego. I see you have a fine colt hitched to your horse there.”
Diego looked at Tornado. At least he wasn’t the only one who could see Tornado’s worth. “Sí, he is the finest I’ve ever seen. I caught him in the hills earlier today, and as you can see, he is already half tame. I think he will be the most magnificent stallion when he is grown.”
Cristóbal stirred his beans to prevent them from burning. “Why do you take him on a lead through the hills? Would it not be better to start him in the paddock?”
“My father does not believe a wild horse can be tamed and has told me to return him to the wild.” Diego’s voice held an edge of the irritation he felt about the issue. “I think he is putting one of the finest horses in California to waste because he assumes that good things can only come from Spain.”
“That is a difficult spot, Don Diego.” Cristóbal took a delicate bite of his cooking off the end of his spoon. “What are you going to do about it?”
Diego rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Well, when I left the hacienda I intended to do what my father told me to, no matter how loathsome. But now,” he looked back at Tornado, “I want to find a way to keep him. I know I can prove my father wrong, I just need to be given a chance.”
“An important time in every young man’s life, when he eschews the counsel of his father and begins to make his own decisions.”
“He will not be happy when he discovers I’ve disobeyed him.” Diego grinned a little. “What a tongue lashing I will receive.”
Cristóbal laughed. “Your father’s way with words is legendary.”
“It is most certainly that.” Diego smiled and shook his head. “At any rate, I had just come to my decision when I smelled your fire and came to make sure that the hills were not ablaze. I don’t know what I’m going to do with Tornado, I just know I need to keep him.”
“Tornado, a fine name for such an animal.” Cristóbal stroked his mustache for a moment as he gazed at the colt. “I agree with you, Don Diego, you must find a way to keep him and train him in secret.”
“There’s another problem,” Diego said, thinking of the future. “My father is sending me to university in Spain early next year and even if I make progress with Tornado, I will have to interrupt my training of him for four years.”
“Oh, Don Diego, this is good news, though. You will get the most fantastic education.” Cristóbal’s voice was filled with enthusiasm.
Diego raised an eyebrow, softly skeptical. “Do you think so? To tell the truth I am a little nervous. I’ve never traveled so far before, or been away for so long. I keep thinking that maybe I could put it off a year or two. What difference does it make if I enter university when I am nineteen or even twenty years old? And if I stay I could train Tornado and show my father that the wild horses are every bit as good as the domestic breeds.”
“But Don Diego, opportunities like this come only one time in a man’s life, if ever. You need to reach out boldly and seize it.” Cristóbal mimed a grabbing movement plucking the spoon from his one hand to the other. “When you are older you will find that you no longer care to do things to impress your father, or show him that he’s wrong.”
Diego considered Cristóbal’s words for a moment. “So, you think I should leave Tornado?”
“Right now it is necessary for you to go to university. You will get an education and return to the pueblo with a mind sharpened and ready for action. You will contribute something to all of us who cannot go to Spain for an education and lift us all with your learning. You must go, Don Diego, and not worry about what will happen to Tornado.” Cristóbal returned to stirring his beans.
In Cristóbal’s words Diego heard a hunger for learning. He was sure Cristóbal had only the most rudimentary education, if any, and it was certain that a lot of opportunities had been lost because of this deficit. “But what then of Tornado?”
“Don Diego, if he means so much to you, I will look after him until you return.”
“Really?” Diego sat up a little. “But I could not ask you to do such a thing.” He sat back again, then sat up again a second later and said, “What if I pay you? I can give you a salary for four years to keep him, watch him, feed him and work with him? Would you do that for me?”
“Don Diego, it would be my pleasure. Now, my beans are ready, join me and we will work out the details of this arrangement.”
Diego came to say goodbye to Tornado and Cristóbal. He was leaving for San Pedro in the morning and from there taking a ship to Spain. Tornado, just over a year old now, was shaping up to be a fine animal. Diego had not breathed a word about Tornado to his father. He wasn’t entirely sure how this would work out with him being gone for four years, but he was willing to give it a try.
Tornado was grazing in the small pen Cristóbal had for his mule. Upon seeing Diego the young horse nickered excitedly and raced to the fence. Diego reached over the fence rail and petted Tornado’s nose. He looked magnificent. “Hello, boy. Are you glad to see me?”
Tornado nuzzled Diego’s hand affectionately.
“I’m glad to see you too. I brought you a present.” Diego reached into his jacket and produced a carrot.
Tornado reached for it instantly.
“Wait,” Diego told the horse, holding the carrot out of his reach, “first you must do a trick.”
Tornado seemed to shake his head.
“Yes, you must. I want to know you will not forget everything I’ve taught you. Kneel, Tornado.”
Tornado backed away from the fence rail at Diego’s command.
“Kneel, come on boy, kneel,” Diego repeated.
Tornado sank down, bending one knee in a facsimile of a kneeling bow.
“Good boy, Tornado!” Diego said.
Tornado sprang back to his feet and ran to the rail again. Diego handed him the carrot. As Tornado munched the vegetable Diego scratched his neck. “I won’t see you again for a long time, boy. You must promise not to forget what I’ve taught you. When I come back you’ll be waiting for me and I will have the most exquisite horse in California to ride every day.”
Tornado leaned into the scratching, enjoying Diego’s attention.
“You must behave yourself while I am gone, be good to Cristóbal.”
“And I will be good to him, Don Diego,” said Cristóbal.
Diego turned to see the old shepherd. “Cristóbal, Buenos días. I came to say goodbye. I’m leaving for San Pedro in the morning.”
Cristóbal came to the fence and patted Diego’s arm. “Is it that day already? It seems only yesterday it was more than six months away.”
Diego nodded. “I am afraid you will not see me again for four years.” Diego reached into the pocket of his jacket and produced a fat purse. “Here is the sum which I promised you for taking care of Tornado.”
“Don Diego, you are too generous.” Cristóbal attempted to refuse the purse.
“I insist,” Diego said firmly, “you are doing me a great favor and I would not dream of treating you any differently than the best stables In Mexico City which house the finest racehorses.”
Cristóbal smiled. “Even though he will eat only plain grass and not imported oats?”
“The plain grass of California will make him strong, not soft like those Spanish imported breeds.” Diego placed the purse into Cristóbal’s hand and closed the man’s fingers around it. “No, I want him to be a true steed of the country. Swift, confident in the hills, and strong on good Californian grass.”
“You are too generous, Don Diego,” Cristóbal said again, finally accepting the money.
“Really, I am not. You are helping me, providing me with a service, and I am paying you a fair wage. There is no generosity in that.” Diego patted Cristóbal’s shoulder warmly. “Now, no more talk of our arrangement, it is settled. You will keep him and train him while I am gone and that is all I need to know.”
“Will you not stay for a light meal, Don Diego?” Cristóbal gestured to his small house.
Diego smiled. “I would like that very much, but I’m afraid I must get back home, I still have many things to do before tomorrow.”
Cristóbal nodded. “Then I wish you safe passage and look forward to your return.”
Diego embraced Cristóbal. “Thank you. Know that you and Tornado and all of California will be in my thoughts often.”
Turning to Tornado he motioned the horse back to the fence. The colt ran forward at full speed before coming to a halt at the last second sending a spray of dirt and a cloud of dust into the air. Cristóbal and Diego laughed and Diego reached out to pet his horse one last time.
“Goodbye, my friend, I will return soon.”