As Pedro Martinez walked north through the cold desert night, he thought of his wife and children waiting for him at home in their village. He recalled the stranger who had come to the village, offering more money than Pedro could scratch out of the land in a year to those who would go with him.

It would only be for a week, the man had said, but even so Pedro, like the other villagers, did not jump at the chance. The land was all he knew, and he did not trust the stranger. But it had become harder and harder for Pedro to feed his small family, and he could not help but dream about how much better it would be for them if he had all that money.

So after agonizing about it for most of the day, he told his wife he had decided to go. She cried and begged him not to, fearing something terrible would happen to him. He almost gave in, but then he remembered how bravely he had spoken to the other village men, and grew stubborn. What kind of man would he be if he could not do this thing? So of all the villagers it was Pedro who got in the man's car and rode with him to Saric.

In Saric the stranger took him to a house and introduced him to another man. The stranger had said, "Pedro here has a wife and children in his village, and he very much needs the money you will pay him so that he can take care of them." Then he left, and the Saric man gave Pedro a pack with some food and a carefully wrapped package in it. The man told Pedro the job was simply to walk north for three nights, and deliver the package to another man he would find there. Then he was to return, and would be given the money he was promised.

There was a small map that showed him the landmarks to follow and how to find spots where he could rest and wait during the days. He was to walk only at night, and let no one else know of the package he carried. If someone approached, he was to quickly take it from his pack and hide it. When Pedro protested that walking alone in the desert at night could be very dangerous, especially if there were people who would want to steal his package, the man said. "Remember your wife and children. You need the money for them, do you not? You must consider what could happen to them if you fail in this."

Pedro did not miss the threat in these words. He wanted to wail in dismay and run home, but there was no turning back. He must do as he had been instructed. Pedro had not been told what was in the package, but he had heard stories of smuggling, and could guess what might happen if the wrong person found out what he was carrying. So he would be watchful, and very careful.

Now Pedro was nearing the end of his first night in the desert. He had been following a dry wash most of the way, and as day approached he looked for the dark outline of a peculiar twisted tree high on the right bank that would tell him he was near the spot where he could stop to rest. When he saw the tree he crawled up the bank and shortly found the hidden resting place. He looked around carefully to make sure he was alone, and quickly hid his package under a bush.

As gray dawn began to lighten the sky he gathered twigs for a small fire, then dug deeper into his pack and began preparing coffee and a small meal. While the coffee was brewing he began mixing water with a little corn meal. A noise in the brush alerted him, and he looked up warily. To his astonishment, a woman stumbled out of the bushes and walked up to his little campfire. She spoke to him in English, a language he barely understood.