experience could be.
She heard Orozco’s loud curse as it wafted across the desert air to the porch.
She decided
to hold off on the headache powders for a minute or two. She wanted to watch
Orozco suffer.
“ He’s a
lout, too,” Gran said.
Christina put her glass on the table, crossed her arms over her chest,
and tilted her chair until its back rested against the hotel wall. “You’re
absolutely right, Gran.”
She couldn’t distinguish the words Martin, Orozco, and Schuman were now
exchanging, but Orozco sounded angry. He gesticulated wildly, and Mr.
Schuman looked alarmed when the palanquin rocked . Christina dropped her chair’s legs back onto the
porch and
leaned forward to get a better view of things. “What the devil is he doing?”
She was referring to Orozco, who had begun shouting.
Gran shrugged “Making an ass of himself; is my guess:’
Christina
guessed she was right.
All of a sudden the camel let out a bellow, and she saw it take off
at a dead run across the desert, away from Martin and Mr. Schuman. Their
shouts blended with Orozco’s screams of terror. She gasped and slapped a hand
over her mouth. “Good heavens!”
“ Heh! Looks like he’s cooking his own
goose now . ” Gran’s voice held a huge measure
of satisfaction .
She was correct in her assessment of the situation, too. As Christina
watched in growing horror, she saw the palanquin slowly, slowly tilt sideways
on the camel’s back, until it had slipped completely off
the hump Then
she saw Pablo Orozco flailing madly, topple out of it, and crash to the
ground.
She didn’t wait around to hear what Gran was going to say now, but took
off at a run toward the scene of the accident. She heard Gran chuckling behind
her however,
and wondered suddenly if her family carried some tainted hereditary trait that
turned women into witches once they reached a certain
age.
Six
Howard Schuman stared with what looked like total incredulity at the
camel’s retreating hump with its palanquin bouncing crazily and with Pablo
Orozco hollering fit to kill. “Damnation! He spooked the camel!”
Then the palanquin bounced right off the camel’s hump and Orozco
spilled out. Martin winced and immediately thought about his shooting
schedule.
Although the weather was hot enough to boil water, he and
Schuman ran like greased lightning across the desert sands to where Pablo
Orozco lay, cursing a blue streak and wrestling with what looked from a distance like
a clump of grayish vegetation. Martin hoped it wasn’t a cactus.
“ Damn the camel!” he hollered. “If Orozco’s
broken something, we’re in big trouble.”
Schuman shot Martin a fulminating glance. “That camel, for your
information, is worth twice as much that pigheaded blowhard of an
actor.”
“ To you,
maybe,” Martin shot back.
This was awful. It was horrible. If Pablo Orozco had suffered a major
injury, the picture was doomed.
Oh, very well. Perhaps it wasn’t doomed, exactly, but if Pablo had
hurt himself, it would be a major blow to the calendar of the shoot. Martin
himself had already put the filming behind schedule by making all that fuss about
the kiss yesterday. Even thinking about yesterday’s folly made him cringe
inside .
A thir d person’s footfalls reached his ears.
He glanced
around and was surprised t o
perceive Christina, whose long, elegant body and apparent high level of
physical fitness had allowed her to catch up with him and Schuman. Suddenly
recalling her sarcastic wish that Orozco should fall off his camel and break his arm,
he wasn’t altogether pleased to see her.
“ What in the world happened?” she asked,
puffing hard. “How’d he manage to run off with the
camel?”
Before Martin could answer her, Schuman did. “That blasted actor
spooked the animal, and it bolted with him .”
Even though Martin knew Schuman was speaking only the truth, he
resented him doing so out loud and to Orozco’s co-star. He also resented
She heard Orozco’s loud curse as it wafted across the desert air to the porch.
She decided
to hold off on the headache powders for a minute or two. She wanted to watch
Orozco suffer.
“ He’s a
lout, too,” Gran said.
Christina put her glass on the table, crossed her arms over her chest,
and tilted her chair until its back rested against the hotel wall. “You’re
absolutely right, Gran.”
She couldn’t distinguish the words Martin, Orozco, and Schuman were now
exchanging, but Orozco sounded angry. He gesticulated wildly, and Mr.
Schuman looked alarmed when the palanquin rocked . Christina dropped her chair’s legs back onto the
porch and
leaned forward to get a better view of things. “What the devil is he doing?”
She was referring to Orozco, who had begun shouting.
Gran shrugged “Making an ass of himself; is my guess:’
Christina
guessed she was right.
All of a sudden the camel let out a bellow, and she saw it take off
at a dead run across the desert, away from Martin and Mr. Schuman. Their
shouts blended with Orozco’s screams of terror. She gasped and slapped a hand
over her mouth. “Good heavens!”
“ Heh! Looks like he’s cooking his own
goose now . ” Gran’s voice held a huge measure
of satisfaction .
She was correct in her assessment of the situation, too. As Christina
watched in growing horror, she saw the palanquin slowly, slowly tilt sideways
on the camel’s back, until it had slipped completely off
the hump Then
she saw Pablo Orozco flailing madly, topple out of it, and crash to the
ground.
She didn’t wait around to hear what Gran was going to say now, but took
off at a run toward the scene of the accident. She heard Gran chuckling behind
her however,
and wondered suddenly if her family carried some tainted hereditary trait that
turned women into witches once they reached a certain
age.
Six
Howard Schuman stared with what looked like total incredulity at the
camel’s retreating hump with its palanquin bouncing crazily and with Pablo
Orozco hollering fit to kill. “Damnation! He spooked the camel!”
Then the palanquin bounced right off the camel’s hump and Orozco
spilled out. Martin winced and immediately thought about his shooting
schedule.
Although the weather was hot enough to boil water, he and
Schuman ran like greased lightning across the desert sands to where Pablo
Orozco lay, cursing a blue streak and wrestling with what looked from a distance like
a clump of grayish vegetation. Martin hoped it wasn’t a cactus.
“ Damn the camel!” he hollered. “If Orozco’s
broken something, we’re in big trouble.”
Schuman shot Martin a fulminating glance. “That camel, for your
information, is worth twice as much that pigheaded blowhard of an
actor.”
“ To you,
maybe,” Martin shot back.
This was awful. It was horrible. If Pablo Orozco had suffered a major
injury, the picture was doomed.
Oh, very well. Perhaps it wasn’t doomed, exactly, but if Pablo had
hurt himself, it would be a major blow to the calendar of the shoot. Martin
himself had already put the filming behind schedule by making all that fuss about
the kiss yesterday. Even thinking about yesterday’s folly made him cringe
inside .
A thir d person’s footfalls reached his ears.
He glanced
around and was surprised t o
perceive Christina, whose long, elegant body and apparent high level of
physical fitness had allowed her to catch up with him and Schuman. Suddenly
recalling her sarcastic wish that Orozco should fall off his camel and break his arm,
he wasn’t altogether pleased to see her.
“ What in the world happened?” she asked,
puffing hard. “How’d he manage to run off with the
camel?”
Before Martin could answer her, Schuman did. “That blasted actor
spooked the animal, and it bolted with him .”
Even though Martin knew Schuman was speaking only the truth, he
resented him doing so out loud and to Orozco’s co-star. He also resented
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