Laredo
Arnold Ashford’s Journal Entry #21
For all of these reasons and more, that sunset, that night, was the most perfect, picturesque, beautiful sunset that my eyes have ever beheld. Sweet, sweet Abilene; prettiest Town that I’ve ever seen.
Well despite all that had transpired; the warmth with which the townsfolk welcomed me in, the purpose I felt while assisting Dr. Teller, even the strange relationship I’d formed with Harry Houston as we sat together and watched Bret Beauville bleed out, it was time to move on. The call of The West continues, and so must I.
I figured I’d keep heading south and go down to the famous border town of Laredo, Texas. South, south I went, past Fort McKavett, the old outpost of the famous Buffalo Soldiers. South across the Llano, and the prettiest little blue swimming hole you ever saw. Still headin’ south, on past the Devil’s Sinkhole; must’ve been 50 feet across and the Good Lord only knows how deep. We eventually started following the Nueces River still tracking south. One thing became very clear on that journey from Abilene to Laredo; Texas is really, really BIG.
And then, there it was. The Rio Grande River, Laredo, Texas, and just on the other side, that land that has always held such wonder in my mind, Mexico. Here I was, all the way from the Shenandoah Valley, out on the Mexican border, on the actual Rio Grande, surrounded by folk that have only ever known a life that is almost entirely foreign to what I have always known. I felt like a fish out of water, but I knew that no matter what else, this was going to be an adventure unlike any I had had before.
I didn’t know what it meant just yet, but I felt from the hushed voices that I’d been hearing since I rode into Town, that this next adventure might involve something called the Perro Loco.
— Check back next week for a new entry in Ashford’s journal —