The Which Way Tree

by Elizabeth Crook

  It come from the side, she said. It made not a noise. I smelled it before I seen it. It was on top of me so fast it knocked me flat on my face on the ground and commenced to bite my head. I tried to turn over but then I got a mouthful of its hair. I felt it growling against me. Its breath was hot on me and its slobber was all over my head. I wanted to yell but it had my whole head in its mouth. I felt the teeth go in, right here where you see them bare patches on account of the hair was ripped out. My mama come from the house and jumped on the panther. She said, You run, you run, you run. That’s all she said that I heard. She whacked at it with a hatchet but it was moving a lot so she could not get a good whack. I did run, and climbed up a tree.

  The Mexican pulled up a chair and was intent on the story. She told the whole tale.

  Hanlin said, So you cost your mama her life.

  The Mexican told him that if he was to say such a thing again the vultures would feast on his tongue before the hour was over. That shut him up for a time. The Mexican said, The neenya’s mother sacrificed herself because her daughter is a great treasure.

  I do not know what Sam made of that. She give it a moment’s consideration and then went on telling about me throwing the flour at her, and about our father arriving home to find Juda all tore up on the floor, and passed, and her eyeball gone. She pointed to the corner where Juda had laid. She told of our father taking her to Camp Verde and showed how the doctor sewed up her face. It’s a ugly face now, she said.

  The Mexican asked what wounds the panther had from the hatchet.

  She said, It was cut up a good bit all over.

  I said, Two toes was hacked off.

  The Mexican then fixed his eyes on me in a powerful manner. They was very black eyes. He said, Deeos meeo, which toes would those be.

  I said, Those of the hind right. Why do you ask.

  He asked if I was sure they was the hind right toes.

  I told him I seen Juda hack them off myself, and if he cared to see two-toed tracks of the hind right he might go outside to the goat pen, and there they would be.

  He went out, and when he come back he acted more excited than ever. He put his arms in the air and paced about and said the panther we was telling about was famous. He said, People know of this panther all the way to the border. It is called El Demonio de Dos Dedos.

  I said, What does that mean.

  He said, The Demon of Two Toes.

  Ranchers and others down south, gringos and Tejanos, and also Mexicans over the border around Piedras Negras, had been trying to track and kill the panther for a long time, he said, on account of it was unnatural. Varmints and deer was not satisfactory food for the panther, as it favored farm animals. It has only a taste for creatures touched by man, was the way he said it.

  As I have before stated, the Mexican spoke better English than I am able, and I would be unreasonable to try to repeat his words. But I can tell you he said them in ways that would make you take notice. He become determined on what he was saying in a way that made me give credence to it. He said El Demonio de Dos Dedos was known by some as El Demonio and by others as Dos Dedos. He said he knew of no other person that the demon had killed, however there was many goats and calves and even horses that met their fate in his jaws. The demon was known to steal newborn colts out of their stalls, and pull suckling pigs right off their mama’s teats, one after the other. He said whoever should kill the grandeesemo panther and present the hide with two toes on the hind right, would earn the respect and gratitude of people in villages all the way to the border and beyond it. They would be famous for killing Dos Dedos. People would write songs about them. Ranchers was known to track the panther through chaparral too dense for horses to pass through and mesquite shrub that would tear you to bits, only to see it disappear and leave nothing but tracks with the hind right missing two toes. Some people had swore Dos Dedos was not a flesh and blood panther, but a terrible spirit called a doowindy that taken the form of one.

  Sam got mad when she heard him say that about the doowindy. She jumped up off the bed and hollered, He is not a doowindy. He is a actual panther, and I have got marks on my face to prove it. It is my right and my duty to kill him and I am going to do it, not you or them others! I want to get even, and all you want is songs written about you. I have faced the panther twice, and you have done nothing but hear of his name. All I need is a loaded pistol. You already seen I’m a good shot. I plan to sit in the tree tonight and wait till it comes.

  Clarence Hanlin said, I ain’t staying here tonight, nor any other nights neither, whilst you sit in a tree. I got to have help. I got to have food. You ain’t even shared your corn bread with me.

  The Mexican said, It will do no good to sit in the tree. He said the panther would likely not come back for the kid, as it was known to kill for sport and leave the kills to rot on the ground.

  Sam said if it would not come back, then she would track it and find it. Either way, I intend to do it in, she said. It is my right. You seen my face. You seen my mama’s dress there without my mama in it. I don’t care about songs. That panther was on top of me. I want its hide laying right here on my floor to tromp on day and night. I will be on top of it! I will make that happen myself, not you!

  I would say her fierce opinion startled the Mexican, but he was not a person to show any sign whatsoever of being startled. So I would say it took him by surprise. He told her she could not track a panther without a panther dog.

  She said, Where am I to get one.

  He said, They are not common.

  She said, What are they.

  He told her they was trained to follow the scent and chase the panther into a tree and howl at the base of the tree until the hunter come to shoot it. However, he knew of only one pack of dogs that ever caught up with Dos Dedos. It was four well trained dogs, and by the time the hunters had got there, the dogs was all four killed by Dos Dedos, who had not got up in the tree like he was supposed to but had hid out and turned on them and done them all in, a skillful piece of work on his part, as he did not get harmed hisself enough even to leave bloody tracks.

  I said, There is no possible way he could kill all four.

  The Mexican said, And yet he did.

  Sam said, Where can I get a panther dog. I need to have one.

  The Mexican told her he did not know of any this side of the border.

  Hanlin declared, I know of one about a three hour walk from here.

  The Mexican said he did not believe him, as they was rare.

  Sam said, Where is it.

  I will tell you that for a fee, Hanlin said.

  His gone finger was giving him a great deal of pain and he was shaking on account of it. He said, Pay me, I’ll tell you where the dog is, and then you can turn me loose and I can get to Camp Verde and see to my wound.

  How about you tell us where the dog is or we’ll shoot you, Sam offered.

  Who’s going to shoot me, he said. I don’t think none of you is going to take me out and shoot me. If you do you won’t get the dog.

  Sam done a hasty turnabout when she heard that. Then we’ll give you the money, she told him. We’ll pay you to get us the dog.

  I reminded her we had no money.

  Why did you go and let on about that to him! she hollered at me.

  I think he could figure it out, I told her.

  Hanlin said, I wager our shoemaker here, who is not a shoemaker, has got money. Any greaser with a horse like his has got money around. What do you say, Mexican.

  The Mexican said, I say it’s unwise to call someone a greaser if he has a pistol aimed at you.

  Hanlin said, I’ll need a hundred dollars. Give me that, and I’ll tell you where the dog is. The person who’s got him will let you have use of him for a small fee. What’s a hundred dollars and a small fee to get a song written about you.

  I believe Hanlin meant this for a joke, as he had a smirk on his face. I took it for one, because who has got a hundred dollars.

  However, t
he Mexican had neither a smirk nor a scowl nor any expression at all. I aught to of known at that time what I would come to know later, which was that he was playing a different game from what we was playing. He let on nothing about that, though. He said, I do not care about songs.

  Hanlin seen that deals might get made. No money, no dog, he said. I want to lay eyes on the money, and I want this boy’s word I can go my own way with it when I tell you where the dog is.

  Sam said, All right then, you have my word.

  Hanlin said, I don’t want your word. I don’t trust you and I don’t trust the Mexican. I trust this boy.

  I did not know what to make of that.

  The Mexican offered he would pay fifty dollars. That shut us all up. My jaw about dropped to the floor at the thought of fifty dollars. He said Hanlin would have to take him to the dog and then he could have the money.

  Sam said, You ain’t going for the dog without taking me along.

  The Mexican looked at her a good long minute and seen she would not be denied. You may come if your brother will come, he told her.

  I will tell you what. I was not keen on it. I put up a argument with Sam about it, but she come out on top.

  The Mexican asked who it was that had the dog.

  Hanlin must of figured things was moving in his favor, as he become brash. I ain’t saying who’s got it, or where it’s at, until I see the money and deals is made, he said. And I ain’t doing nothing for fifty dollars. It’s a hundred dollars or nothing. I have lost my finger on account of this girl. My finger was worth more to me than a hundred dollars, so I am not so much as coming out even. And if you are not fixing to shoot me, which I think you are not, then you are going to have to turn me loose sooner or later, and it might as well be on friendly terms. If I have got a hundred dollars I might feel friendly. If I got fifty, I won’t.

  I figured this was a bluff, as how could he think the Mexican might pay a hundred dollars. Who has got money like that to carry.

  However, the Mexican appeared to think it over.

  Sam become impatient and told him to pay the hundred.

  I said, Why would he do such a thing. There is nothing in it for him. You want him to pay a hundred dollars he has probably not got to get you a dog to hunt a panther you want to keep the hide of.

  The Mexican said, I will pay the hundred.

  That surely got our attention.

  He said, But if I pay the money and kill the panther, I will need to have the hide.

  Sam said, You can’t do none of that but pay the hundred! I am going outside to pick us some corn to take along with us, and when I come back, I want it worked out. I want us on our way.

  There seemed to be a general agreement amongst the three of us that we did not have to listen to her. She went out, and Hanlin commenced to complain that he was in more pain than we understood, and about done in by it, and he did not intend to set out with us, as the person who owned the dog lived ten miles off and it was too far for him to travel in the condition he was in.

  The Mexican would hear none of that. He was not going to give Hanlin the money until he took us to the person with the dog and we was able to come to a agreement with that person about use of the dog.

  It was a big argument between them about all these particulars. Hanlin got up out of the chair to take a punch at the Mexican, who remained cool as a cucumber, as they say, and who give him a whack on the head with the pistol that put him back in his seat. Hanlin commenced to bleed from his head as well as his hand.

  Sam come back in with six scroungy looking ears of corn. She give Hanlin one to butter him up and get her way. He ate it raw with his hand that had all the fingers. He asked her to cut off a chunk of his tobacco plug that he had put in the pocket of the dress. It was bloody, as I before said, and made me feel sick to look at. Sam chopped off a chunk and give it to him. I nearly give up the corn bread I had ate.

  I told him, Don’t spit on our floor. He done so regardless, to spite me.

  The Mexican went out to his horse to fetch the money. He come back in with a hundred dollars that about set my eyes on fire just to look at. They was Confederate notes, with a fifty amongst them. There was one of them I never seen before and the Mexican let me look it over. It had a lady wearing a dress that had only one shoulder to it and showed a good part of her bosom. She was not a good looking woman in the face but otherwise she was all right. There was some sailors on it too. The rest of the bills was fives. The Mexican would not let Hanlin touch any of them on account of he was bloody.

  Hanlin said, I don’t trust it. There’s too much counterfeit bills afloat. I want specie or bills from the United States of America.

  The Mexican thought that was funny. He said he could not figure how a man could have faith in a country enough to sign up to fight for it, and yet too little to trust its notes.

  Hanlin said, There’s too many Yanks passing bad ones that has found their way to us. He demanded to look over the bills. He said he would not be agreeable to anything until he done so. The Mexican showed him every bill in front of his eyes. When they was done with that, Hanlin said, All right.

  Then the matter of the dress come up again. Hanlin said, You might as well go ahead and pull the trigger as make me walk out of here wearing this. It’s bloody and it’s got cooties and it’s a dress. I want your daddy’s trousers and a shirt, or I ain’t taking you to the dog.

  I said, You can’t have them. You ain’t fit to wear his trousers.

  Sam said, Our daddy would want the panther tracked down and shot for killing my mama. He would give up his trousers to that effort. You know for a fact that is so.

  For a rare occasion I come to agree with her, as she had a good point. So I give Hanlin the trousers and my extra shirt. Sam went out whilst he changed. The shirt fit him small and could not be buttoned.

  We then talked over measures to take for our journey. The Mexican had his pinto horse and we had the old mare. Hanlin had nothing to ride, and said he could not walk, on account of he was woozy. The Mexican said he would not allow Hanlin on the pinto, but he would allow me and Sam. He said he would take turns switching out with me afoot. Sam declared she would switch out afoot too. We agreed Hanlin could ride the mare and that we might make him switch out afoot, along with the rest of us, if the journey become long.

  We fed the goats, turned the chickens loose in the yard to scratch, tossed cobs out for the pigs should they come up from the creek, mounted up, and started off. It was about noon at that time.

  Chapter 8

  Dear Judge,

  You are lucky to be hearing from me again, as I nearly stepped on a coiled up rattlesnake I mistook for a pile of cow shat when I was doing a favor. A man come to the shingle camp to tell us he had two yoke of wild beeves to break and they had got out, and could we help him round them up. Three of us said, Sure, we would be happy to do that. Whilst we was searching I seen what I figured was cow shat amongst rocks. It’s a good thing I seen it and thought to step to the side. You should of heard the racket that snake made. I am surprised you did not.

  Sir, I wish you could help me with Samantha. I do not know what to do about her. She complains she has nothing to do when in fact there is a great deal that aught to be done, as we remain in our same poor quarters and she will not spend a hour a day working about the house or doing things that might be useful but sits about saying she has nothing of interest to do. She chatters all day to the chickens as if they was long time friends. She does not mind wringing their necks when the time comes, but she prefers a conversation. She would do well to have people of her own age to talk with, but we live too far off, and what kind of kids is going to make friends with her regardless. Yellow-colored and cat-marked is not a good mixture for making friends. She is currently fifteen years old, as I told you, and she wants adventure and new sights and I have had a time keeping her from taking off. I have been telling her nobody is going to care to have her around and she is better off staying with me. What is going
to happen to somebody like her who is hard to look at and not likely to be useful. She told me, How do you know I won’t find something I can do.

  I told her, Because you don’t try to be helpful.

  She said, How do you know I won’t find people who might like to have me around. I figure nobody is going to marry me, but there might be a person who does not mind hearing me talk, like you mind it, and who might think a few things I say are a good idea.

  Judge, I will tell you what she wants. She wants to boss somebody around. I can’t think of a person who might care to be bossed by the likes of her. Do you know of any nice person, who lives not too far off, who might offer to take her in and give her a chance to do some work. It should be a person who is not inclined to stare at her, as she does not like that. It would have to be a patient person. She is not skilled about being respectful but she might learn. If you have any good thoughts of ways to help her be more useful or of any patient person that might have her, please write to me about them. Every day I fear she won’t be here when I get home from the camp. I worry about her a great deal.

  The pages I am sending now continue with my testament. I have spoke of Mr Pacheco as Mr Pacheco and not the Mexican, on account of we was now better acquainted.

  Yours kindly,

  Benjamin Shreve

  MY TESTAMENT

  It was a miserable ride to fetch the panther dog. Clarence Hanlin would not let us forget the pain he was in. He shook as if it was freezing out. To the contrary there was only a small nip in the air. His teeth rattled nearly as loud as a rattler. Of course that is a exaggeration but they did rattle. He complained of the fishing string being tied too tight, and took it off. He made a effort to hold his hand that had the gone finger up in the air to stop it spurting more blood, but his arm got wore out, and he complained about that too. We none of us had much sympathy about his situation. I did not like the way he treated the mare. She was not adapted to having a rider holding a arm straight up in the air like that.