The Wild Girl Read Online Free PDF Page B

just away on vacation and have left me in charge. One of my mother’s nightgowns still hangs on the back of the bathroom door and my father’s razor, and strap, and shaving cream mug still rest on the shelf above the sink. And I still catch myself thinking that they must have forgotten to take these things with them on their vacation. Only the faint stain left on the wall behind the toilet, and the small bullet embedded there, remind that they are not coming home after all.
    After Pop killed himself, I started working more hours at the club, and I stopped going to class. I’ve always been a good student and academics have come easy to me, but to tell the truth, I’m really not much interested in school anymore. And so far university classes have seemed to me about like sorting through old scat to find out what the animals have been eating. All I really want to do is study photography. A few years ago, Pop bought me my first camera, a cheap box Kodak, and ever since then I’ve been obsessed with taking pictures. For the past two years I’ve belonged to an amateur camera club in the city. I’m the youngest member. We get together once a week to share ideas and technique, and to critique one another’s work. I even won a prize in a club photo contest. By the way, I took Pop’s deathbed advice, and after the insurance money came in, I bought myself a Deardorff 8×10 view camera, with a tripod and plate holders. It’s the most beautiful piece of machinery you’ve ever seen.
    Which brings me to my trip. On the Sunday afternoon before Christmas, I had just finished working the lunch shift in the dining room at the club. It was one of those gray, gloomy winter days in Chicago, dusk already settling in at 4 P.M. , the wind whipping up off the lake, carrying a load of wet, icy snow. I was just getting ready to go home when I noticed that the manager had posted a flyer on the club bulletin board.
     
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    THE GREAT APACHE EXPEDITION
     

LOOKING FOR ADVENTURE?

JOIN AN EXPEDITION INTO OLD MEXICO
     

PURPOSE
     
     
    This expedition, being organized by Douglas, Arizona, and Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, business and professional men, plans to go into the Sierra Madre Mountains on the boundary between Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico, to attempt to recover the seven-year-old son of Fernando Huerta, Bavispe, Sonora rancher, the boy having been stolen by the Apache Indians on Oct. 26, 1928, when three years old, the stealing being attended by the murder of the child’s mother. It is the plan and the hope that the presence of an armed force will cause the Indians to capitulate and give up the boy, who is known to still be alive with the band.
     
     

JOIN    THE GREAT APACHE EXPEDITION     JOIN
     
     
    Leaving Douglas, Arizona, April 1, 1932, for Bacerac, Sonora, and Canyon of the Caves. Inquiry of Bradstreet’s or Dun’s agencies will advise prospective recruits of the character of the men behind this expedition. The character of these men guarantees that the expedition will be composed of business men of as fine character as the Rough Riders and the objective will provide sufficient in thrills to make it a pleasant memory for life. It will carry those who accompany the expedition into one of the most interesting virgin forests of the western hemisphere, where few white men have been and none has explored. Excellent fishing and hunting opportunities abound. If this appeals to you, enlist and go.
     
     

JOIN     ENLIST TODAY     JOIN
     
     
VOLUNTEERS ARE ADVISED
     
     
    That recruits must be self-supporting and expect no money in return. This is a mission to aid Fernando Huerta in his effort to rescue his seven-year-old kidnapped son, stolen by the Apache Indians in 1928. A daily fee of $30 will be assessed each volunteer to help defray expedition expenses. Only gentlemen of good character and strong references will be accepted. This will not be a “Soldier of Fortune” affair. The company will be a