Abeyta

Abeyta is a student at the boys school and the secret suitor of Elinora St. Clair. Introduced through an encounter with Lizzy Enders, he asks Lizzy to deliver a note to Elinora and reveals that the two have already met several times. His courtship is at once private and perilous: he imagines a future in which he and Elinora leave Santa Fe on horseback and marry, while the Bishop’s authority and Elinora’s own stated religious ambitions stand between that imagined escape and any settled outcome. Abeyta later appears within the convent under supervision, and his family’s influence becomes part of the practical arrangements for Lizzy’s journey to Texas.

Identity and First Appearance

Abeyta enters the story abruptly, at an alley beside the U.S. Army quartermaster’s depot. He runs out and takes hold of the reins of Ben, the horse Lizzy is riding, startling the animal into rearing. Lizzy manages to calm Ben before turning on the stranger for frightening him. Abeyta apologizes, removes his hat, and bows; when Lizzy demands to know who he is, he gives only his single name. His manner combines an impulsive approach with formal courtesy, but the opening scene makes clear that his romantic errand has consequences beyond his own feelings: he has stopped Lizzy in public and risked alarming her horse to reach Elinora through her.

Lizzy is struck by Abeyta’s appearance, describing him as exceptionally handsome and noticing his curly brown hair and white teeth. The attraction is hers, not a sign of any bond between them. Indeed, she is disconcerted when he kisses her hand, an unfamiliar gesture that leaves her feeling as though she has been branded. Her reaction sharpens the contrast between Abeyta’s polished courtship and Lizzy’s practical concern about what he wants. She quickly shifts from noticing his looks to questioning his identity, his connection to Elinora, and the risks of carrying his message.

Courtship and the Note

Abeyta attends the boys school and says that he and Elinora have become kindred spirits. He praises her singing and says they have met four times at the wall by the boys school. The meetings have taken place without Lizzy’s knowledge, even though she and Elinora share a room. His folded parchment is meant to remind Elinora of their connection and invite her to meet him again. The request makes Lizzy a go-between in a relationship whose existence Elinora has not disclosed to her.

The meeting he proposes is framed by the Comanche moon, a night associated with a lovers’ legend. Abeyta recounts the belief that lovers standing very still might see warriors crossing the river and hear their chanting and drums; if they witness this, they will be blessed and their union will be certain. The legend gives their secret courtship a larger, almost fated promise, but it remains a belief Abeyta invokes rather than a result the story confirms. His hope for certainty sits uneasily beside the secrecy and danger of their present circumstances.

Abeyta also explains that Elinora’s talk of becoming a bride of Christ is intended to mislead other people about their relationship. Lizzy had taken that talk seriously and thought Elinora might be seeking the favor of her uncle, Bishop Jean Baptiste Lamy. Abeyta acknowledges that Elinora needs the Bishop’s favor, making the disguise more than a playful secret: their attachment exists alongside a family and religious authority that could be hurt or angered by it. Lizzy warns Abeyta that the relationship could bring trouble to him and to the Bishop, to whom she feels indebted. Nevertheless, she accepts the note, while reserving the right to consider what to do with it.

Abeyta states his commitment in absolute terms: he says he will love Elinora forever, would die for her, and intends that they will soon ride away at night and marry. His declaration makes escape, rather than approval or a gradual courtship, the future he imagines. The plan recalls the history Lizzy knows about Elinora’s mother, who ran away at sixteen, but the story does not establish that Abeyta and Elinora carry out their proposed flight. His confidence therefore remains a promise and intention, not a completed event.

Family Influence and Convent Encounters

Abeyta’s importance later extends beyond the lovers’ private meetings. When Lizzy confides her concern that Elinora may run away with a young man, she explains that the note came from a student at the boys school who wants Elinora to meet him. She worries both about Elinora’s youth and about the pain the relationship could cause the Bishop. This conversation confirms that Abeyta’s approach has made Lizzy responsible for weighing secrecy against protection, even though Elinora does not like her and Lizzy has no direct authority over her choices.

Later, when permission is being considered for Lizzy’s plan involving Elena, Elinora suggests that Abeyta could use his father’s influence to get a letter to the ranch quickly. Bishop Jean Baptiste Lamy asks who Abeyta is, and Elinora answers that he will help if she asks. The exchange presents him as someone with access to resources and connections beyond the boys school, while also showing Elinora openly invoking that access in front of her uncle. It marks a change from the concealed note carried by Lizzy: Abeyta’s usefulness is no longer limited to secret messages between young lovers.

The Bishop writes to Lizzy’s father, and Abeyta is allowed to come to the convent to collect the letter so that his father’s courier can take it to Texas. His visit is early in the morning, and Elinora meets him in the Bishop’s office under the Bishop’s watchful eyes. The girls whisper about seeing him and compare the rare sight to seeing Saint Joseph or Jesse James. Elinora does not tell them what passed between the two; instead, she says only that the Bishop has agreed to host a dance for the older boys and girls from both schools. Abeyta’s presence thus becomes a public object of curiosity even as the substance of his meeting with Elinora remains private.

Public Risk and Final Appearance

Abeyta is later glimpsed during an illegal horse race taking place in the street. Lizzy recognizes a young man draped in a serape as he races past on a magnificent horse and believes him to be Abeyta. She connects the risk of the race to the protection of his family’s position, reasoning that his father would pay the fine. The episode offers a brief counterpoint to the careful, supervised visit at the convent: outside the Bishop’s office, Abeyta is associated with a public act that could bring a penalty, though the narrative does not report whether he is caught or fined.

His family’s influence also appears in the arrangements for Lizzy’s departure. A party of six expert riflemen and scouts, supplied by Abeyta’s father, is to accompany Lizzy’s party, which travels in three wagons with Teresa Espinosa, her husband Georgio, and their baby. The assistance gives Abeyta’s family a tangible role in making the journey possible, although the text attributes the escort to his father rather than to Abeyta himself. His final appearance is intimate rather than logistical: on a fine April morning, as Lizzy prepares to leave on Ben and baby Elena sleeps in the wagon, Abeyta stands hand in hand with Elinora, watching her departure. Elinora then grasps Lizzy’s arm and whispers something before Lizzy mounts. The content of that whisper is not disclosed in this episode, and Abeyta’s own plans remain unresolved. The closing image confirms that he and Elinora are together, but offers no account of what follows for their proposed escape or marriage.