Ida give Sam and me and Mr Pacheco a invitation to sit at the table and served us food the likes of which I had not had for a good many years if ever. There was buttermilk. There was salt she had got by digging up dirt under the smokehouse and boiling it out. It was brown but salty. There was also cabbage and collards.
She give Hanlin a chunk of willow bark to chew for the pain and a rag to clean up his hand. Her manner to him was not friendly. She wrapped his hand and give him food at the table in a rough manner. The dog would not quit looking at Sam whilst we ate. It was unsettling, the way he stared. You almost would of thought she was a witch or some other untoward being, he showed such interest. She kicked at him when he got too close. Ida put him outside, but he stood on his hind legs and gazed upon Sam through the dirty glass of the window with his one eye.
What does he want, Sam said.
The preacher shooed him away from the window but he come back. The preacher then let him in and ordered him harshly to sit by the fire. He done so but kept his eye on Sam all the while.
The preacher sat at the table with us and struck up a conversation with Mr Pacheco. They figured out they had traveled some of the same places out west. The preacher had hauled freight for trappers and fur traders out in New Mexico in his younger days. He had journeyed along some of the same trails as Mr Pacheco. He said he was born in Tennessee but went west and was a freighter until he come to visit his sister in Texas and got in with the wrong crowd and come near dying in a calamity of bad judgment but survived it. He give up his life of hauling furs and whatnot and married a nice lady and settled near his sister, who was a good woman despite that she had gave birth to a heartless boy such as Clarence. Later on he was changed into a man of God and become a preacher about the area and spread the word of the Lord. In the years since, his wife had passed on.
Now the war has split up the country and folks in it, he said. Even my son, Alfred, has joined the Sesesh. I have my thoughts about that. On the other hand, he’s a soldier fighting honorably off in Maryland somewhere, unlike this worthless cousin of his who hangs about tormenting the locals. Innocent folks is not free even to ride about anymore, and those I preached to in years past is headed to Mexico or hiding out in the shrubs from the likes of this miscreant Clarence.
Hanlin made a attempt to speak up for hisself but the preacher said, If you speak against any word I have said in my own house, I will turn you out. If you attempt to make a excuse for yourself it had better be to tell me what happened on the Julian. I would like to know if there’s any word I can pass along to the grieving families that might give them some peace. Some of them hanged was men of God, and I would bet they had words for their loved ones before meeting their Maker.
Hanlin said, I told you I did not see them hang. We intercepted them heading to Mexico without permits and told them to surrender their arms and come with us to Camp Verde. They give up their arms and come with us. We stopped on the Julian for the night, and some of the boys took them off and done what they done. I had nothing to do with that mischief.
You was picking their pockets at daybreak, I said. Preacher, you can believe me or not, but I happened upon it. I seen it myself.
The pockets was already picked, Hanlin said. I took nothing. And picking pockets ain’t hanging.
The preacher said, You was indeed picking the pockets. I believe this boy. It is just like you to have done such a thing. And you was also in on the hanging. Is there no bottom to your lies. What has possessed you to be this sordid person you have become.
Hanlin attempted to stare him down, but the preacher won out.
The preacher then inquired as to me and Sam’s faith and Mr Pacheco’s. I told him Sam and me had not seen much of churches nor heard much of camp speeches. Mr Pacheco showed him a cross on a chain out of his pocket that was a rosary, and they had a discussion that was not entirely friendly.
Mr Pacheco said, No matter about that, as we have come on business about the dog.
The preacher said he would entertain none about the dog.
Mr Pacheco asked if he was indeed a panther dog.
The preacher said, He is a famous panther dog.
Mr Pacheco inquired as to how many panthers he had tracked and the preacher said he had tracked more than fifty. Mr Pacheco then inquired of the dog’s talents, as they was not apparent.
The preacher said he did not know of the talents, as he had not hunted with Zechariah hisself. The dog had been his companion for seven years and had not hunted in that time.
Sam said, How do you know he’s tracked more than fifty if you ain’t been along.
The preacher said he knew it by good authority, as what man would pin a note with a lie to his chest in the moments before he breathes his last. He said, The man who first owned the dog was a known tracker named Percy that lived by hisself over on Sister Creek and come to some of my sermons when I went there to preach. When his time to die come, he sent a neighbor to fetch me, but I got there too late and found him passed. He had pinned a note on his shirt.
The preacher got up and got the note out of a jar to show us. It was hard to make out. It said, Please take care of my dog. He is a good tracker. Has tracked more than fifty panthers. Lost his eye to a panther. Take care of him. It was signed, M Percy. It did not say the dog’s name. I suppose when a man is perishing he does not have time for particulars.
Mr Pacheco give thought to the note and the dog.
My own thoughts was thus. I did not think it a good idea to go after the panther with a one-eyed dog that none of us seen hunt. He did not look fit, and he was agitating to Sam.
I said, I think he is not the dog for us.
Hanlin said, Goddamn it, I done my part. I earned my pay. I brought you here. I can’t help it if the dog ain’t to your liking and don’t get along with your sister.
The preacher become puzzled about how Samantha was my sister. I had to explain that my mother had passed and my father had taken up with a Negro named Juda who give birth to Sam and got done in by a panther, the very same cat which come back to our place and took two kids the night before last and which we was wanting to track down.
Hanlin made a attempt to get the preacher to give us the dog, whether we might want it or not. He told him, The Mexican has got money and he will pay for use of the dog.
My dog is not for hire, the preacher held.
Hanlin said, They are giving me a hundred dollars for bringing them here, and they will give you the same.
The preacher then hollered at him about being immoral and good for nothing. He said, Your mother has wept buckets over you and cursed herself for bringing you into the world. Your father would likely shoot you if he was to run across you. You are the worst seed I ever saw. We known it when you drowned them cats for the fun. You are not right. How can you bring your sorry self to take money from these kids.
Hanlin said, It ain’t the kids that has it, it’s the Mexican. He has got plenty.
The preacher said he did not care who had it, if there was money about, then us kids should end up with it, and not Hanlin. His dog was not for hire to anybody, for any amount. He was not seeking money. The only thing he wanted out of the situation was for Hanlin to get out of his house.
Hanlin begun to yell so loud he spit. He beat the table with his hand that had all the fingers and said, I ain’t leaving without my money! If I leave now you’ll work a deal and give them use of the dog for free, and I’ll get nothing!
The kids outside come to look in the windows when they heard him holler.
Sam taken to screaming, Get away from them windows!
Ida went to the door and told them to get, and two of them run off. However, Jackson the Mexican Indian boy did not want to get. He kept looking at Sam. His eyes was mournful. Mr Pacheco spoke to him in Spanish through the window. I do not know what it was he said but it sounded kindly. Then Jackson went off.
After that disturbance had calmed down, the preacher repeated that nobody would be allowed use of
the dog. He had not parted with the dog as long as he had owned him and would not do so now. The dog was a comfort to him and not a young dog and he would not send him off with strangers on a perilous quest.
I said, We will not take your dog.
Sam said, You are speaking for you and not me. I don’t like the dog, but what other chance do I have. I ain’t leaving this house without him.
The preacher said, Well then, little girl, take your seat by the fire and be at home.
Mr Pacheco was silent all this time, watching the dog. Finally he said, The dog looks at la neenya as if he knows something. I believe he knows a panther has wounded her, the same as a panther has wounded him. I believe we have misjudged him. Then he shook his head and got up and put his hat on as if it was time we should take our leave. He said, What a shame that the demon will go free.
That got the preacher’s solemn attention all of a sudden. Things become so quiet it seemed like I could hear flames licking the pots in the fire. Me and Sam and the preacher and Hanlin was at the table, Ida stood alongside with a rag in her hand, the dog stared at Sam from next to the fire, and Mr Pacheco stood there shaking his head.
The preacher said, What demon do you refer to.
Mr Pacheco said, El Demonio de Dos Dedos. The Demon of Two Toes. The panther we are seeking.
The preacher did not care to be drawn in. He was not a gullible preacher. He said, You are trying to bait me.
Mr Pacheco said, Or perhaps it is God who is trying to bait you. Perhaps God brought us here to pursue the demon.
It was my nephew brought you here, and he is a far cry from the Lord, said the preacher. However, the Lord does make use of unlikely agents. I have two questions for you, Mr Pacheco. Why is the cat called a demon, and why would you offer to put forth money like that to hunt it down. Explain what you are up to. If I sense you are trying to work me, I will be done with you.
Mr Pacheco removed his hat and give us a speech I wish I could write strictly, as it was a powerful speech. He said El Demonio de Dos Dedos was a enormous unnatural cat that preyed on farms and ranches and feasted on livestock, taking whatever was easy and killing creatures for sport. The cat was a terror to people from here to Mexico, and mostly along the border down by Piedras Negras. He said me and Sam was not safe, as the panther was sure to come again and take from where he had taken before, and we could not purchase powder nor lead to defend our animals nor ourselves from it. He said, I look at la neenya’s face, and I do not believe God would say she should turn the other cheek to the panther. He said his motives was neither selfish nor pure. His ranch was gone, his horses stole, his vaqueros gone like the wind. He had nothing left to show for his life but a pocked face and gray hair and a good horse and a long past and what money he had in his satchel. He said if he would kill the panther, it might win him favor with God and he was certain someday to need that favor. The cat was worth a hundred dollars to him, and more, which he would gladly give the preacher along with a promise to care for the dog and bring it back in a healthy state if that should be possible. He would ask nothing from us in return but the hide, as he wanted to take it down south to prove to the people that El Demonio was not to be feared any longer.
I thought at this time Sam would cut loose again on the matter about the hide and who should get it, but she was quiet for the time being, and kept her fingers out of that pie, as they say, as I guess she knew it was sticky.
The preacher sat at the table and give considerable thought. He said he did not want money and would not lend the dog. And yet he gone on thinking. After he weighed the matter some more and come up empty of any answer, he turned to the dog and said, Zechariah, what say you.
Judge, I am sworn to be frank. I am telling the truth when I say the dog answered as if he spoke. It was the long squint in his eye. He regarded Sam with a hard stare and then regarded the preacher. We none of us had a question that there was meaning behind the stare. There was a message in it. Then he got up and walked to the door and stood with his nose to it. He all but said he was ready to go.
The preacher said, All right, then. He said, That’s clear. He said, But I won’t let the dog go without me along too. Could you do without me a day or two, Ida.
She said, If you’ll leave me the double rifle in case of trouble.
The preacher said he would leave her the double and the carbine and take his pistol and the Hawken. He stood up from the table and said, Zechariah and me will be at the Lord’s service together. The Lord will deliver the panther or not, according to what he thinks is a good idea. We should pack up now and head to these kids’ home and hope Zechariah can pick up a scent.
Hanlin then demanded his money and asked to borrow a horse.
The preacher said he could not spare a horse, as he had only his old gelding that he intended to ride hisself and a mare Ida would need use of.
Is this how a man of God treats a hurt victim! Hanlin shouted. I have been nothing but a help to the situation! I have brought them here for the dog! I have no finger! Do you not understand! I have got no goddamn finger!
Mr Pacheco counted the bills and handed them over.
Hanlin shoved them into a pocket of my father’s trousers that he was wearing. He told the preacher, Won’t you give me a ride to Camp Verde in the wagon.
The preacher said we did not have the time.
Hanlin said, Ida, won’t you.
She said, No. She give him jerked meat to sustain him and he set out afoot.
The preacher then told us we was to bow our heads. We done so. He said, Lord, we are about to depart on a journey. We ask that you might lay the path for us and light the way so we might see it. We ask that you might spare us tragedy and mishaps and poor judgment and revelations we do not want. We ask that you spare us encounters with deadly creatures and Indians of all kinds and other dangers. Please keep these children and this dog safe, and the Mexican too, and myself if you see fit. Amen.
He then commenced to prepare for our journey.
Chapter 9
Dear Judge,
I am sorry you have not heard from me lately. The man whose cows I helped capture when I was nearly snakebit hired me to help him build better fences, so I was working double time. There was not time for writing any more of this report. I would of stayed over with him at nights and saved the daily travel time, as my mare is about wore out, however I did not want to leave Sam on her own at night. She is chomping at the bit to take off and I fear might use any excuse.
I am grateful for your letter and suggestions as to her. I took a day and rode over to Bandera and talked with Mrs Callahan as you advised and it was a nice talk. However, she asked if Sam was a orderly person and would do some work. I told her Sam did not do much of anything useful or even otherwise for me but might likely change her ways if she was to have better instruction than I have been in the situation to give her. Mrs Callahan said she would think on the matter, however she figured she had enough trouble with her own kids without taking on a girl such as that.
A different day I went to Sisterdale and talked to Mrs Dieter, the woman you said to talk to. It was not easy, considering she did not speak a lot of English. She showed me the letter you wrote her saying Sam was a smart girl and might do well with instruction. It was a nice letter. Thank you for the compliments about me. My father would be proud to see that letter if he was not passed. Mrs Dieter give me a good meal and showed me her violin that she brought from Germany. She was not a stern German like some, and might of been good to Sam. However, she did not want her.
When I got home from my journeys you can bet I had words with Sam about being so lazy nobody will take her. She told me she would work hard for anybody but me, as she is tired of me bossing her and she is not yet tired of anybody else.
I said, Show me one week of hard work and I will believe you. I need some proof you can do it before I can assure somebody it is in any way likely.
However, she will not give me even a day of hard work. She is about as
useless a girl as they come and I can’t figure why that would be. Her mama was a hard worker. She was a mean woman but she did work. My first years was spent in a tidy house, and that was thanks to Juda. And now I am left with this girl who is a nuisance to me, as I am compelled to worry about her a great deal. What am I to do. Do you have another person I might pay a visit. I could go as far as New Braunfels if you know anyone over there. My mare is not in a good condition but she would do this for me. She would like to see Samantha gone nearly as much as I would, on account of it is her fault I have to ride to camp and back every day. Otherwise I could stay over some nights and save my mare the trouble.
But as to the matter at hand, which is Clarence Hanlin. When I read your letter I felt sorry that I had muddied the water about his guilt or innocence when I told you he had declared to Preacher Dob that he took no part in the hanging. The point that I did not make clear enough is that that was a lie. He did later admit to his part in the hanging in a unmistakable way, as you will see. There is no question about the fact that he done it. I was only laying the tracks so you will know the whole story start to finish and declare him guilty although drowned.
Meantime I am glad to know you appreciate my reports. My father used to come home wore out from work and I would tell him about what had gone on that day at home. We would sit before the fire and he would get a big kick out of my stories. So now I am having a good time writing to you, as he has been gone for so long. You have kept me company many nights, sir. However, I could sure do with a good pen.
As to your suggestion that I hold off and send the remainder of my testament all in one piece when it is done, on account of there might be so much of it, the situation about that is this. I would not feel right showing up for a visit and taking free strudel if I had no business with Mr Hildebrand. Do you think it is wrong for me to have the strudel. Mrs Hildebrand insists that I take it. If it is not wrong I would just as soon have it.
A man named Gus at the camp said he intends on going to Comfort and will take these pages to Mr Hildebrand if I will bring them tomorrow, as I am tied up with work and can’t be going there myself for a while. He has not had strudel before and that would be a real treat. He appears a reliable fellow. We agreed to share the strudel if it is offered. He will bring me half.
The Which Way Tree Page 11