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-You looking for the santo, yes?, the boy said stating a fact more than asking. –My name is Juli. I can help you.

He was no more than fourteen years of age, and he had a resemblance to the woman inside. Her name was Margarita, Trinity recalled.

-For a price. You know?

Trinity looked at the boy.-Howdy little fellow, I'm hunting devils, perhaps this is funny, but the only way to catch them is a quest after a santo. Just gimme your price, and maybe we can make a good deal".

-Ey, you cannot put a price on a santo, the boy replied with a cocky smile on his face. -But I can tell you were to find it ... for ... fifty dollars? Si?

And he put his hand up showing all five fingers.

Trinity was not sure, but he had a feeling this boy was telling the truth about the statuette. Finally, he had found a lead! However, he could actually have stolen the thing. In that case, what to do? Pay and take the santo up to San Acoma? Or grab the boy and go with him?

Fifty dollars? You might think I'm a desperate negro... Look little boy... I'll give you ten bucks now and fifty more if we find the santo. Do we have a deal?- Trinity offered his blank hand just to sign the business.

The boy looked at the black gringo, and bit his lower lip. Sixty dollars! That is a lot of money!

-Vale, you pay me twenty now and forty when I give you the santo, OK?

Juli looked around to make sure no one was listening, and added whispering: -I hide it very close here. Give the veinte to my mother, and then we go to get it, deal?

-Deal

Juli took the money and went to hide it somewhere inside. Then he came out and lead Trinity to an abandoned cottage near by. They entered carefully, and the youngster knelt down and removed some of the floorboards and took out an object wrapped in a dirty red cloth.

-This is the santo from the San Esteban chirch of Acoma, he announced as he uncovered the wooden figure.

It looked genuine and it matched the description given, with the key and all.

-So, you gimme my money now, yes?, Juli asked eager to get the hell away.

Trinity looked to the boy's eyes with fire in the eyes.- Eh boy... You know what a bounty hunter is, don't you? And I think you know what things bounty hunter's do, you know what I'm saying, don't you?. We gonna do something I gonna give you ten dollars more,you , the santo and I, we are going to San Acoma. We will tell an historia about scoundrels and guns and bullets and a negro and a boy, two heroes, you and I... and you will be in the right path from now on... or I swear you I'll hunt you and there no place on earth were you can hide you ass from my anger. 

-Si, yes, comprendo, the boy nodded and gulped. He was pale and frightened of this negro bounty hunter, and he had no intention of becoming his target. -I promise and swear to God, he added and crossed himself invoking all the saints and ... Trinity.

-Vamos, I´ll take you to the mesa and to see the new gringo sheriff...

It was a long walk to reach the top of the mesa, and Trinity had to leave Silverado at the stables down below. As if the Mexican knew he was on a sacred quest, he was allowed passage all the way to the top. In silence, they moved aside to let him and Juli walk up. He was sweating and thirsty when they got to the top. There were but a few dozen adobe style houses, with flat rooftops and small window holes. He could not see anybody on the empty streets, even though it was not that late yet.  Finally, he had entered San Acoma. The Sky City.

It had three rows of three-story adobe buildings. The roofs were covered with poles, brush and then plaster. The roof for one level served as the floor for another, and each level is connected to others by ladders.

The largest building by far was the San Esteban church.

And in front, there was the small adobe house that served as the sheriff´s office.

-Howdy, the sheriff greeter the black man and the boy. Middle aged, with a big mustache and a grey beard, he was used to scrying his eyes to protect them from the sun up on the high mesa. He was a bit surprised to see another gringo up on the mesa. And with a young Mexican boy. He had not seen one since the funeral of the previous lawman. -Ben Tilson, the sheriff ´round ´re, and a Texas ranger. What can I do for your, Mr...?

-Howdy sheriff, we have something interesting here- Trinity showed the santo.- A couple of scoundrels took the santo, this boy persued them till his hideout. I was looking for the santo and I found the boy, he took me to an abandoned farm, there was a gunfigth and the scoundrels ran away leaving the santo in the farm. Thanks to this boy San Acoma has recovered  his Santo- Trinity placed his blank hand on boy's shoulder.

The sheriff listened to the story and nodded as he carefully took the statuette from the stranger. -So thanks to this boy we got the santo back, huh?, he repeated. He was about to ask something more, but he decided not to. We got the santo back, why make too many questions?

-Look boy, you did the right thing bringing this back, he said to the boy. Next Sunday, you come to church, OK? To the iglesia? And we talk, comprende?

Ben Stilson watched as the young boy smiled and agreed, and ran away to tell his mother about the adventure he had lived today. -And thank you, sir. You were in the right place at the right time I guess. Can I offer you a drink?, he said and stepped inside. -You said you were looking for this santo, why?

I'm looking for two bastards, their names are Choctaw and Dekker. I have no idea about the current hideout of those scoundrels, I have no hints. The last footprints have driven me to San Acoma, but being realist, I'm totally lost... My quest for the santo was a way to reach San Acoma, my last bullet to get those bandidos. Have you ever heard about them?

-Yeah, I´ve heard of ´em, Stilson said calmly. –Choctaw Lee and Jack Dekker. They stayed in this part of New Mexico for quite a few months, riding from one place to another. The sheriff spat on the floor and took a bag of tobacco from his pocket and also offered to Trinity before continuing. –They joined a local bandito. A dangerous one he was. Jose Luciano was the name, but everyone ´round San Acoma called him “El Alacran”. It means the Scorpion.

He looked out the window for a moment. –What are you? Some kind of a bounty hunter? I figured Choctaw and Dekker were probably running from the law. I never met ´em here, but they did leave a trail of blood before leaving this area. So I didn´t mind to see them bastards go.

Trinity took the tobacco- A kind of bounty hunter? maybe, I prefer a man looking for some bad guys. You have any idea about the place where those banditos go?... You know where can I go to find them?

Sheriff Tilson chewed his tobacco. -I heard somethin´ ´bout ´em lookin´ for a a permanent position, ya know, as hired guns. He spat out the tobacco before continuing. -Maybe it was just hearsay. But some time after the shootout at the Cantina, they simply disappeared. There were two men looking to hire guns. Cowboys from Arizona, a small town... What was it called now. Can´t remember.... Ah!, he said and looked at the statuette of the saint. -It was like the Jew´s Sunday... Sabbath! That´s it. ´Ere were a gang of four. The half-Indian, Choctaw Lee, was the leader. No doubt about that. Ya better watch out for him, and the bastard Mex, this Alacran. I reckon he killed the former sheriff, shot to the back. Alacran likes to use his sawed off shotgun he calls "Rosanna". He ought to be pretty easy to find. So you find "Rosanna", and you find the rest.

-  Can you explain me how to reach that Sabbath town?. 

Trinity started the trip at dawn, with the first light of morning.

Finally, time had come to leave behind the timeless beauty of the ancient mesas and the vast desert of Mexico. Trinity did not look back as he left San Acoma, but he knew deep down inside, that something had changed in him. He was no longer looking for bounty, or for money. He was honoring the memory of Jack Taylor. But it was not vengeance that was pushing him forward towards this town named Sabbath. It was something else. Something deeper, more spiritual.

As he began the long ride to Sabbath, he felt as if he was on a kind of a sacred quest to even the score, to make amend in the world. To bring Justice. And it was all going to happen in Sabbath...