Charlie, Sparrow, and I take a quick moment to identify the best course of action. For now, we’ll keep the horse isolated until we can determine that he’s healthy and not a threat to the other horses.
Javier chats with Ant in Spanish, asking if we often work with difficult horses. Sparrow up-nods Javier.
“De donde estas?”
Where are you from?
Javier responds in Spanish, “I grew up halfway between San Luis Potosí and San Miguel Allende. Where are you from?”
“En serio? I was born in San Miguel.”
“Oh wow. My family has a leather goods stall in one of the markets there.”
“Which one?”
“Mercado de Artesanías.”
“Seriously? My mom still has a studio there and goes a couple of times a year to paint for a few weeks, then sells them in the same market.”
They start speaking a million miles a minute, and I’m lost. I nudge Ant. “You understand these two?”
He runs his hand through his hair. “Surprisingly…yeah. I don’t know if I could speak that fast, but I’m getting everything they say.”
Sparrow’s eyes widen, and he turns to Ant, saying in English, “Holy. Shit. I know who you are!”
“Yeah?”
“Little Antonito. All this time and I never put it together. You went missing like…ten years ago?”
Ant nods, and Sparrow continues, “I remember my mom coming back from one of her trips completely beside herself. She knows your abuela from the market. I didn’t realize you were the same person. They had posters up all over the place.”
“Really?” Ant asks, looking to Javier for confirmation. He nods with a sad smile.
“Really. My mom even brought one of the flyers back with her. Wait,” he says, pulling out his phone. “Gimme a sec. She never throws anything away.”
His fingers fly, and Ant stands next to me, biting his lip. I put my arm around him, waiting to see what Sparrow comes up with. His smile brightens after a few minutes, and he holds up his phone.
Ofelia has sent over a picture of a flyer on yellow paper with a black and white rendition of a picture of Ant at eleven years old.
Ofelia: They continued to put up flyers for years. Never gave up on him.
Checking for Ant’s permission, Sparrow takes a selfie with Ant and Javier, telling her he’s been reunited with his family.
Ofelia: So many prayers answered
I share a look with Javier, and his smile is layered with so many emotions that I dare not attempt to parse them out.
The moment is interrupted when my phone goes off. It’s a text from Charlie.
Charlie: Wimberley went in on a huge cult compound east of San Antonio. Found several trafficked people. Most are US citizens and going home. One boy is from Chile and needs a place to hang for a couple of nights.
Me: Sounds good. When can we expect him?
Charlie: Anders is on his way over right now.
I turn to Ant, showing him the messages. “Do we have a welcome kit for guys?”
He nods. “We have one more left.”
