Dark Moon Crossing Read Online Free PDF

I
don’t.”
    In a halting voice she recounted an existence burdened with poverty,
crime, illness and living conditions so wretched I could hardly believe she was
talking about life in this century, let alone a country within a few hour’s
drive of where we now sat.
    When she finished, I glanced around again at her sparse living
conditions and thought about all the overtime hours she worked, her weekend
jobs, the crappy old car she drove, her meager wardrobe. Where was my brain?‌
I should have guessed long ago. It struck me also that the newspaper could be
in trouble by having an undocumented worker in our employ. It seemed no matter
what direction we took someone was going to suffer. A rush of sympathy
engulfed me when I thought of Tally’s dilemma with his ranch hands. What a
strange coincidence that we should both experience the identical problem the
same night. “Lupe, tell me more about this witness. Is he still around?‌ Have
you talked with him?‌”
    “Not directly.” She looked away from me again and my sense of unease
heightened. Why the furtive behavior?‌ “Is this the same guy Walter was talking
about?‌”
    “No. The information comes from a small boy.”
    I was dumbfounded. “A boy?‌ How old?‌”
    “Four, maybe five.”
    I sat back hard, staring at her. “Let me get this straight. You’re
ready to quit your job, go traipsing around the desert hunting for who knows
what, and risk getting yourself deported, all on the basis of some fairy tale
told by a kid you haven’t even talked to?‌”
    Her jaw tightened. “Sister Goldenrod thinks he’s telling the truth.”
    “Sister Goldenrod ?‌ And who on earth is she?‌” I hadn’t realized
my voice was rising until Lupe chided, “You don’t need to shout. I thought you
were going listen to the whole story?‌”
    I held out my hand in a placating gesture. “You’re right. I did
promise.”
    “She is the one who put me in touch with the coyote in the first
place.”
    “And?‌”
    “She called this afternoon to tell me about this little boy.”
    I couldn’t decide whether the story was getting better or worse as she
relayed the tale of the Guiding Light Mission, which served as a sort of
unofficial halfway house for illegal immigrants. The woman calling herself
Sister Goldenrod was the minister at the small church located less than a mile
from the border town of Sasabe.
    “Sasabe?‌ Is that southwest of Tucson?‌”
    “Yes. Why?‌”
    Hadn’t Tally mentioned helping out a rancher friend of his in that area
several times in the past few months?‌ I wished now I’d paid more attention to
him. “Oh, nothing. Go on.”
    According to Lupe, Sister Goldenrod administered shelter, food and
comfort to the local homeless population and to the hardy souls who were lucky
enough to make it across the miles of desolate landscape and evade the Border
Patrol. She didn’t believe that she was doing anything wrong and stubbornly
maintained that she was merely doing the Lord’s work.
    A young family who had recently crossed over happened upon little
Javier wandering in the desert. He was severely dehydrated and hallucinating
about space aliens having supposedly waylaid the van where he and others had
been hiding. Unwilling, or unable to take the boy with them, the couple had
left him at the mission where he was now in the Sister’s care. The problem,
Lupe explained, was that the child appeared so traumatized by the event he
couldn’t remember many details. And even Sister Goldenrod, with her kind
ministrations, had been unable to coax the boy out from under his bed because
he maintained that the aliens might find him.
    “I think hallucination is the operative word here,” I said, watching
her crestfallen expression. “Look, obviously something happened, but it’s
pretty farfetched to believe that we’re dealing with a UFO abduction.”
    “Then where is my family?‌”
    I shrugged. “I don’t know. But I’m afraid that without