As if to confirm Jed's theory that status was gained through performance, Artillio followed Jed's lead of doing the unexpected. He stepped forward, placed a leg on both sides of the animal's lowered neck, and rode it upwards, as if on an elevator, onto the horse's back, albeit still facing to the rear. He changed position at a lope by standing upon the croup, arms extended for balance. The reverse was completed by a spinning jump. Then Artillio dropped to a sitting position, only to disappear over the side. He rode by hanging on with a heel and acknowledged the response from his audience by peeking around the horse's chest with a childlike grin.

Jed caught the mood. Yes, he thought, cowboys and Indians! He grabbed another mount, ran alongside by holding onto the mane at the withers. Using this momentum he vaulted on and off in rhythm, first one side, then the other, as the two horses galloped in a circle contained by the crowd. As the two mounts passed, Jed locked his feet under where forelegs met the body, and lay upside down and backwards, hands dragging in the dust. He found this 'Russian Drag' much easier to do off a smaller horse than Shadow, the mustang Jed had used as a teenager when competing in trick riding contests in the Cascade County Rodeo.

At precisely the right moment, he made a grab for Artillio. And they both ended up hitting the dirt in a miniature pig pile, laughing.

Arm in arm, supporting each other, they rose to accept the joy and applause of the villagers.

"Amigo, muy caballero," Arty kept repeating.

"Yah, well listen you little pygmy peckerhead, it's painful for me to admit this, pard, as you ain't a packer, but it's possible you are the premier pony pusher in Panama."

This statement wasn't translated. The mutual admiration was self-explanatory. They were comrades. And the games continued, all in fun.

On the way to the river to wash off an acre and half of the reddish jungle soil, Arty skillfully got his own back by tripping the gringo giant. Jed plowed a furrow with his nose down the bank into the water. When Jed overcame his weakening guffaw, he grabbed the giggling Indian by arm and leg. He picked him up bodily as if a bell bar, and bench pressed him high over his head. At the top of the lift, Jed took a running step forward, and threw Arty into the deepest part of the river.

Jenny met them both as they emerged from the water with twin, boyish smirks. She was frowning.

"Do you think that was wise, Jed? The village leaders seem to have secluded themselves in some sort of meeting."