The place we was heading was ten miles off in the direction of Kerrsville. We stayed clear of the main road, as we did not want to run into any Sesesh on the way. Hanlin did not want to run into them, neither, despite he was one of them, as he was set on his hundred dollars. Also I guess he did not want to explain that he was wearing regular clothes on account of his uniform was heading to Mexico on a escaped prisoner. Also they might ask about his finger, and I guess it was a embarrassment to him that it had got shot off by a girl.
So we was traveling a trace. Mr Pacheco and myself switched out going afoot and riding his pinto with Sam mounted in back. She went afoot for a short distance but preferred riding, as the pinto was a fine horse and she was proud to be on him. Also it was not easy going afoot, as the trace was hard to make out and the grass high. In places it stood nearly higher than Sam.
I liked riding the pinto a great deal and wished it could be just myself without the others along. I could of taken the main road and headed for the United States to make my own way in the world. Whilst I can’t say for sure I would of done it, it would of been a privilege to have a horse like that and a choice in the matter.
I asked Mr Pacheco, What are you if not a shoemaker.
He said his life was a long story.
Indeed it was, as he talked about it nearly the whole way. I believe he liked telling a story nearly as much as Sam did. However, his stories was of more interest and there was more of them.
He said when he was young he worked for a great ranchero as a domador. That’s a horse trainer, if you don’t know. He could train horses without the use of rough measures or even spurs. He could gentle a caught mustang to the point where you could splice the reins with five hairs of the tail and the horse would still do just as you told it. He fell in love with a already married woman who preferred her own husband to him.
Then he become a smuggler. The way he told it, he would drive mustangs up north to Louisiana without paying the duty. He would sell out the mustangs and other things such as furs for a good price and buy a bunch of Louisiana tobacco leaf that he would haul in bags on mules back to Texas. Then he would sell that in Texas to buy more mustangs and whatnot. His enterprise made him rich but cost the lives of three friends that was killed by Comanches whilst they was working with him. God was yet to forgive him for that, he said, nor did he expect God’s forgiveness or even ask for it, as he did not deserve mercy of any kind, on account of it was his own fault his friends was killed. He had taken them on a unknown trace that proved to have the Comanches on it, just so he might avoid paying the duties. He was the only one to get away with his life, as he had the fastest horse.
When the revolution begun in Texas he commenced smuggling weapons for the Texas army. They was brought on ships into Horse Pass and he would haul them to the army. After the war come to a close the Mexicans in Texas was badly treated even if they was Texans like him that had never set foot south of the Rio Grande. So he struck off and went west. He felt lucky to take his soul along with him, as he had committed deeds that aught to of cost him his soul. He was a young man at that time, but had lived a chancy life to that point, and had regrets enough to burden his mind for the remainder of it.
I asked him, What was those regrets.
He said he would not speak of the regrets.
I said, If I might ask, how did you get the pocked face.
He said he did not talk about that.
I asked about family and he would not say much about that, neither. I said, How come you had any hope left at all when you headed off west, if you was barely with even a soul.
To answer that, he asked if I ever seen a lizard get done in by a jay bird. The jay bird will catch it up, carry it to a branch, pen it down whilst it squirms, and peck it to death. A lizard in that condition, when there should be no hope left, will turn the color of the tree in a effort to disguise itself so not to get caught, despite that it is already caught. Why does a lizard do that, he said. How does the lizard still have hope even whilst it is dying.
I said, Sam and myself had nearly the same luck of the lizard until you come to our rescue when we was in the tree. I need to thank you for that.
I wish I had shot both you kids before the rescue come, Hanlin said from atop the mare.
Mr Pacheco said he come into a good bit of gold out west. However, Mexicans was badly treated there too, as the laws was not in their favor, so he come back to Texas and spent what money he had earned to build up a ranch down south. He was friendly with a famous Mexican bandit named Cortina who had a habit of coming over the border from Mexico with his ombrays and stealing horses and cattle from the ranches in that part of Texas. Then the friendship fell out and Cortina burned his house and took his horses. It was a terrible night when that happened, Mr Pacheco said. The pinto was his favorite. His heart was broke to think of that horse in the hands of them bandits. He rode down to Mexico to see if he could find the pinto, and asked around, and was told by one of the ombrays that the pinto had been sold up here to a man over in Blanco. So he rode up here and bought him back. That was his purpose for being near us and for having cash on him. The pinto was all he had left that he cared about having. I can see why he went in search of that horse. It was the finest I ever knew and a pleasure to ride.
I asked Mr Pacheco what was it he said to the old Indian chief in the grave.
He said he had told the old chief that if his people cared to help theirselves to any more of his horses than the ones they had stole in the past, they could find them with Cortina’s ombrays, who was sure to hand them over with no trouble at all.
That joke give Mr Pacheco a good laugh.
Sam would talk of nothing but the panther dog. She bothered Hanlin to tell her about it, but he was not in a talkative mood and cursed her. Mr Pacheco said panther dogs was brave and noble friends of man and lived for but one cause, the cause being to track panthers. Their powers of scent was such that they could smell where a panther’s pad had merely grazed the ground. They was devoted to the point that they would track on a cold day until they froze to death, or on a hot day until they perished of thirst, or on rocky ground until the pads of their feet wore down to bone and the black of their nose was scraped off. A panther dog has the soul of a knight, he said.
That satisfied Sam a good bit.
After we traveled a good part of the afternoon Hanlin said the place was nearby and he had just as well tell us it was his uncle who had the dog, as we was about to find that out.
Mr Pacheco reined in and impressed on Hanlin that there had better not be any attempts made.
Hanlin said, My uncle would not help me in the direst of circumstances. He has hated me since I was in nappies. He’s a preacher and a pious son of a bitch. He don’t care a whit about me.
We none of us found that to be much of a puzzle.
The house when we got there was in the midst of a big corn field. We come from the trees along the side. Sam and me was on the pinto, Mr Pacheco was afoot, and Hanlin was on the mare.
It was a bad looking house for a preacher’s. I had expected better. There was three kids in the corn but they run into the house when they seen us coming out of the trees. A ugly dog took us in from the porch as we rode up. He did not set up a howl, but stood there looking at us.
Hanlin said, That’s the dog.
Sam said, You’re a liar. That ain’t it.
Hanlin said, It’s the very one.
The dog was not as I had pictured and not sightly. It had a big head and powerful looking jaws, however its hind end was scrawny and its legs was short. It was of a murky, dark color. I would be pressed to say if it was black with brown, or brown with black. It did not look like a young dog.
Mr Pacheco said, That is not a panther dog. You have misled me.
Hanlin said he was not fool enough to attempt to trick a armed man when he was unarmed hisself and short a finger.
We rode up to the house and Hanlin hallooed from atop the mare.
A man
past his prime come out on the porch. He was loose boned and scraggy. His hair was like a tassel atop a corn plant. He called out, Welcome, strangers. Then he seen Hanlin in our company and said in a rough voice, I rescind the welcome. My door remains shut to you, nephew. Then he went back in his house.
The kids was looking out the windows and Sam thought they was looking at her face, which she took issue with people looking at. Get away from them windows, she yelled.
I told her to hush.
Hanlin yelled, Uncle Dob, I am hurt! I lost a finger! It has cost me some blood and I need help! Can you help me, please!
We waited, however the preacher did not come back out of the house.
Hanlin commenced to beg in the most unpleasant way. None of us cared a lick about him, and he seemed to think some of us aught to. He said, You would think my family at least would take me in.
Mr Pacheco said he would not think that.
Hanlin commenced to curse at his uncle, although his uncle did not come out to hear it. When he had done with that, he told us, If you want use of the dog you’ll have to arrange for it yourselves. I brought you here and shown you the dog. My part is done. I aim to get paid and go my way and get some help. I can’t endure the agony any longer.
Mr Pacheco told him he did not intend to pay him, as the arrangement involved our having use of a panther dog, and we did not have that, as the dog did not appear right, and even if it was right, we could not just go and take it. We had not come here to steal the dog.
Hanlin said, Well I can’t help you any more than I done.
Mr Pacheco then told us to stay put, and he gone up to the porch. He taken the saddlebag with the money along on account of he did not want Hanlin to grab it and run off. The dog did not seem to mind him and lay down to snooze.
Sam said, That ain’t the dog we come for.
Hanlin hollered at her, That is too the goddamn dog you come for.
Mr Pacheco had Hanlin’s pistol as well as his own and set them on the porch rail to show he did not intend any harm to the folks in the house. He knocked at the door and called out in a polite way, as he was a well spoken Mexican. We was close enough to hear what he said. He said he had two children along and was sorry to be in the company of such a man as the preacher’s nephew, but he had a favor to ask on behalf of us children, in regards to the dog.
The preacher then opened the door and said we was welcome to come into the house, however his nephew was not.
Sam did not want to go in. She told me, There’s kids in there looking at me. She squinted her eyes like she done when she was fretful.
I said I would go in without her, as I was hungry and figured they would offer food.
She said, Don’t leave me out here with him.
Hanlin said, Bitch, what would I want with you. You ain’t got nothing I’d touch.
Sam and me then remained where we was, on the pinto, and Hanlin atop the mare in a huff.
Mr Pacheco told the preacher he did not want to leave us alone with Hanlin. They commenced to talk on the porch and keep a eye on us. The preacher was not so well spoken as Mr Pacheco. Mr Pacheco explained how we was not associated with Hanlin out of any choice or desire. The preacher was surprised to hear it was true that his nephew had got his finger shot off. He said he had figured Hanlin was lying about that, as he was a known liar.
Hanlin held up his hand and hollered, How does a man lie about having no finger! Either he has got five fingers or he has got less, and I got less! The one shot off is laying under a tree ten miles off!
The preacher told him, You were up to no good. You have never been up to any good.
Hanlin denied he had done any mischief at all. I was waylaid by these kids! he said. They was up in a tree, armed with a pistol, and the girl lit into me for no reason! This greaser come and disarmed me and the three of them held me at gunpoint in a stinking house, where I would still be had I not told them I knew where there was a panther dog they might work a deal to use!
The preacher said, You’re a liar, Clarence. Before you could talk you laid in your cradle and thought lies. I was told you was one of them that hanged them innocent travelers on Julian Creek!
Hanlin said, Whoever told you that had not a truthful bone in their body! It was the rest of the boys. I said them men aught to get a proper trial!
I thought I might mention what I had seen of his pocket picking the morning after, but I could not get a word in.
If there was hanging, you was in on it, the preacher said. You would not of missed that fun. I know you, Clarence. And now I have been called on to console some of the grieving widows.
They was sneaking off! said Hanlin. They was cowards going to Mexico, and they deserved a good hanging. If I am guilty, it’s of not being one of the boys that give them justice! So help me God, I was not one of them that strung them up. Now can I please get some help. I am badly injured.
The preacher said, It’s a ugly fact that God will not allow me to turn you away when you’re hurt. But as for your purpose in being here, I do not work deals with my dog. These people are welcome to my hospitality but not to my dog. Do you have any weapons on you, Clarence.
Hanlin hollered, No, I don’t. They took my pistol. It’s right there on the porch rail with the Mexican’s! I got nothing on me. I need help and food!
Sam saw fit to remark to the preacher. You got a mean nephew, she hollered. He is a bad son of a bitch! I have had enough of his company! All we want is to use your dog if it will track a panther!
I said, No, I would like some food also, if you are offering it, sir.
Sam spied the window sheet moving, and squinted a good bit, and shrieked, Get away from them windows, I said! Stop looking at me!
I told her to settle down but she did not heed me. She dismounted faster than I could get hold of her, and commenced to throw rocks at the house.
The preacher come down the steps and shouted, God all mighty, girl! Stop that! His voice was thunderous for a skinny man’s and got her attention, and she did stop throwing the rocks.
She said, There is kids in your house looking at me and I don’t like it! You make them behave or I’ll be done with you all!
I do not know why she thought that was a case to make. The preacher had not asked us there and likely would of liked nothing better than for us to be done with him.
He said, I will see they do not look. He gone into the house and come back out and said, Come on in. Nobody is going to look at you. I have made sure of that.
Sam and me started up the porch and the dog awoke out of his snooze of a sudden and got to his feet. The hair went up on his back, and I seen he was looking at Sam. He had but one eye that appeared any good, but it was doing the work of two.
The preacher gazed upon him and said, Zechariah, what’s got into you to act like that. This girl is our guest.
The dog was entirely froze in a stance neither friendly nor unfriendly but something other, like he might know something spooky about her.
He’s a odd dog, the preacher said, but he won’t hurt you if you don’t encourage him to. Come on in.
We went into the house and the dog nosed his way in behind us. He would not stop staring at Sam. As I have said, one of his eyes was bad. The eyeball stuck out and looked like a bird egg. It was mostly white.
The preacher let Hanlin into the house along with the rest of us on account of he had lost a finger.
The house was no finer inside than out, but there was a nice oil cloth on the floor. The three kids was lined up facing a wall. Two was tow headed and one was black headed and all of them was small. The preacher told them not to turn around, as he had told Sam she would not be looked at. He told us their names, but we was only seeing the backs of their heads. The black headed one stole a glance to the side but the preacher recalled him to face the wall. My eyes was drawn to his bare feet, as they was badly maimed with burn scars, like he had trod on red hot coals. I wondered what had befallen him to cause such wounds.
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p; After the preacher had told us the names, he told the kids to run on and not look at us, and they went back outside.
The preacher said his name was Dobson Beck and folks called him Preacher Dob. He wore spectacles that was lopsided on his face, as one of the arms was a stick tied on with string. His shoes was cowhide with the hair still on them in a fashion I had not seen. One of them was red hide and one was black. I would of thought it was a new fashion, however the shoes was old.
There was also a lady in the house who was married to the preacher’s son. He had gone off to fight for the Sesesh army and left her at his father’s home with the two tow headed kids, who was the preacher’s grandkids. Her name was Ida and she was a beautiful lady. You asked me to be frank, sir. I had a hard time not looking at her. I was used to mostly looking at Sam, and there was a world of difference.
Sam said, Is the black headed kid a Mexican or Indian, or what is he.
The preacher said the most they knew was he was a Mexican that got stole from his Mexican family by Indians and then run off from them. He had showed up in the corn field a year hence, naked and sick as a dog from helping hisself to green corn, and spoke more Spanish than Indian but did not speak much of neither. He now went by the name Jackson.
Sam said, If he’s a Indian he’ll do you in when he’s grown.
The preacher looked her over, on account of he did not know what to make of her. He said, I’ll be dead before he’s grown.
I asked him what happened to Jackson’s feet, as I could not rid myself of wondering. The preacher said the Indians burnt the soles at night with hot logs to dispirit the boy from running off whilst they had him. That picture got stuck in my head and I give some thought to how it must be to have times you want to forget carved on you to fly at your face every time you look at your feet. I wondered if Sam might notice how Jackson shared a hard thing like that with her, as it was the same with her face. But she give no appearance of doing so.
The Which Way Tree Page 10