Chapter 23 Summary, Analysis, and Key Themes
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
In 1895, north of Brackettville, Texas, Antonio rides toward two hills he believes mark cave country. The land rises onto the central Texas plateau, and the vegetation shifts from mesquites to ashe junipers as the air cools. A bitter wind blows straight into his face, and when he turns his horse to give himself a moment's relief, he spots a black dot on the horizon—a rider gaining on him.
Antonio spurs Candida into a run, but the horse tires quickly. He finds a dense copse of trees and hides behind the forking trunk of an old oak, hoping to ambush his pursuer. As darkness falls, he sees a skinny paint horse wandering toward him, still saddled, and then a bullet strikes his left shoulder. More gunshots follow, and Antonio crawls between trees, wishing Peter and Hugo were with him.
Overhead, a stream of bats pours from a nearby opening. Antonio bolts toward the spot where they emerged, takes another bullet in the leg, and slides feetfirst into a cave mouth hidden beneath a limestone outcropping. Inside, it is pitch black. He tosses a rock and hears no bottom. He waits, watching the entrance, but nothing stirs.
Alone in the dark, Antonio realizes he has been shot in the calf and shoulder. He works off his boot, digs the bullet out with his little finger, and ties his bandana around the wound. Then the tears come. He weeps for Jesusa, for his son Nicolás, for his daughter Aura, for Hugo, and for Peter—for all the ways he has failed them and for the profound loneliness that is, he admits, of his own bitter choosing.
When he wakes, the world outside is lighter. As he peers out of the cave, a massive log swings into his face, and he falls. He wakes to find Casoose—a Ranger wearing a wolf skin—standing over him. Casoose has broken Antonio's left arm. He forces Antonio deeper into the caves, speaking English and refusing to acknowledge his own Mexican heritage. Antonio taunts him relentlessly in Spanish, mocking his name, his badge, and his family, hoping to provoke the Ranger into making a mistake.
Casoose eventually reveals his motive: he believes Antonio killed his wife, his daughters, and his baby girl in Matamoros. Even when Antonio denies it, Casoose insists that all Mexicans are