This is a 'Snow White meets Prince Charming' story from start to finish. Almost. In this case, there's no happy ending, but the denouement is satisfying and the journey to get there is great fun.
After being unjustly imprisoned by the French who are occupying Mexico, Cheyenne Bodie escapes and ends up pausing to bathe in a lake on his way to the border. An inept young woman who calls herself Juanita (Erin O'Brien) comically tries to steal his horse, but since it's because she's being pursued by the French, too, he decides to help her. As it turns out, besides both being young and beautiful, this is about the only thing Cheyenne and the girl have in common. There are a few clues along the way that their encounter might not have a fairy-tale ending. Although she appears to be a peasant girl, her imperious, "Who are you to order me?" when he told her to turn around so he could get out of the water was one; and her appalled reaction when he held out his hand to help her onto his horse--"Astride?!"--was another. Clues that weren't lost on him, but he feels a sense of responsibility to this young woman who is so obviously out of her element. Just how out of it she was came as a surprise to him, but by then he was hooked.
Juanita is actually Princess Maria Felitzia from Spain, in Mexico for her politically arranged wedding to the odious General Dubeauchaie, a corpulent career military man old enough to be her grandfather, well played by Sebastian Cabot. Horrified upon meeting him, with the help of her loyal young maid the princess runs away. Soon after, she encounters Cheyenne bathing in the lake. It's no wonder that she is immediately smitten. After all, she had just met her aged fiancé, who in the pantheon of Greek gods, is Silenus to Cheyenne's Adonis.
This story has it all: romance, action, intrigue, drama, humor, and even a dash of history. The writer ties it all together in a neat little package, and Clint Walker adeptly handles the diverse elements of the story with his usual aplomb. Along the way, Cheyenne teaches both Juanita and the rebel camp matron, Mama Fina (Naomi Stevens), a lesson or two, and he learns a few himself. Honorable to the end, Cheyenne willingly watches the lovely princess sail away after being assured-by the Empress Carlota herself no less-that Maria will not be forced to marry against her will. Happily ever after? Maybe not, but we can be sure neither of them ever forgot that idyllic interlude in Mexico.
After being unjustly imprisoned by the French who are occupying Mexico, Cheyenne Bodie escapes and ends up pausing to bathe in a lake on his way to the border. An inept young woman who calls herself Juanita (Erin O'Brien) comically tries to steal his horse, but since it's because she's being pursued by the French, too, he decides to help her. As it turns out, besides both being young and beautiful, this is about the only thing Cheyenne and the girl have in common. There are a few clues along the way that their encounter might not have a fairy-tale ending. Although she appears to be a peasant girl, her imperious, "Who are you to order me?" when he told her to turn around so he could get out of the water was one; and her appalled reaction when he held out his hand to help her onto his horse--"Astride?!"--was another. Clues that weren't lost on him, but he feels a sense of responsibility to this young woman who is so obviously out of her element. Just how out of it she was came as a surprise to him, but by then he was hooked.
Juanita is actually Princess Maria Felitzia from Spain, in Mexico for her politically arranged wedding to the odious General Dubeauchaie, a corpulent career military man old enough to be her grandfather, well played by Sebastian Cabot. Horrified upon meeting him, with the help of her loyal young maid the princess runs away. Soon after, she encounters Cheyenne bathing in the lake. It's no wonder that she is immediately smitten. After all, she had just met her aged fiancé, who in the pantheon of Greek gods, is Silenus to Cheyenne's Adonis.
This story has it all: romance, action, intrigue, drama, humor, and even a dash of history. The writer ties it all together in a neat little package, and Clint Walker adeptly handles the diverse elements of the story with his usual aplomb. Along the way, Cheyenne teaches both Juanita and the rebel camp matron, Mama Fina (Naomi Stevens), a lesson or two, and he learns a few himself. Honorable to the end, Cheyenne willingly watches the lovely princess sail away after being assured-by the Empress Carlota herself no less-that Maria will not be forced to marry against her will. Happily ever after? Maybe not, but we can be sure neither of them ever forgot that idyllic interlude in Mexico.