The fat man then yelled something at Hanlin. We could not hear what it was.
Hanlin then yelled at us, What we want is the horse! We don’t want to shoot the horse, but we’ll shoot any of you that stands in the way!
The fat man then yelled something else at Hanlin.
Hanlin got a earful of that and then told us, We will not shoot the kids but we will shoot Pacheco!
Preacher Dob asked Mr Pacheco, Did you pay them counterfeit.
Mr Pacheco said yes, he did.
Preacher Dob said, Why did you do that.
Mr Pacheco said he had no other kind of money to pay them. He had got the bills for ten cents on the dollar in Matamoros and they was made in Havana. He said the horse was taken from him by Cortina’s ombrays. He said, Would you let that fat man ride your prize horse.
Preacher Dob said, He did purchase it fairly, did he not.
Mr Pacheco allowed Cortina’s hombres would not of made a gift of the horse.
The three men on the far side was making plans amongst theirselves.
Hanlin then yelled, Me and Mr Samuels here will be coming around the end of the canyon to get his horse and my hundred US dollars and to get back my gun that Pacheco took from me and give to the boy! Mr Rarick here is a member of the state militia! He is going to stay here and keep you all four in his aim! Uncle Dob, keep a eye on Pacheco! If he tries to run, shoot him!
Preacher Dob yelled over, I am not going to shoot him, Clarence! I am a preacher and a man of God! And Mr Pacheco does not have a hundred dollars! You are a idiot to of ever thought he did!
The man on the chestnut, who was the law, said, Hold up! You said you are a preacher! Is that you, Preacher Dob!
Preacher Dob said, Yes, I am Preacher Dob!
The man said, I did not know that! They said we was looking for Dobson Beck traveling with a Mexican, but I did not know that was you! Do you not remember me! You counseled me on a private matter! It was in Bell County! My name is Tom Rarick!
Preacher Dob said, I recall you well!
The man said, She returned the skillet to the peddler!
Preacher Dob said, I am delighted to hear that, Tom! She has made herself right with the Lord!
The fat man then fired a shot over our heads to show he meant business.
Sam thought he was shooting at us and fired a shot back at him with the pepperbox, but missed.
Mr Pacheco’s hands was in the air but when the shots was fired he went for his pistol, ducked in the tall grass, and taken aim at Hanlin. Hanlin jumped off the dun, ducked in the tall grass over there, and taken aim back at Mr Pacheco. I aimed Hanlin’s own Colt’s at him, as I figured if he was to fire on Mr Pacheco I would have to take action, although I did not know what that might be, as I was reluctant to shoot even so bad a man as Clarence Hanlin that was not shooting at me.
Preacher Dob shouted, Hold up, hold up! Stop everything! There’s no reason for folks to get killed!
I wished I could of still been wearing Preacher Dob’s spectacles and seen things better. I made out that the fat man had his rifle aimed at Mr Pacheco. He was still seated on his horse and looked quite fat there. The lawman, Mr Tom Rarick, had his musket skyward and was not aiming at anybody. Hanlin was hunkered somewhat down in the grass. I figured his pistol was borrowed, on account I had his. It was in his left hand, I guess on account of his right was done up in a bandage on account of the gone finger. He switched his aim back and forth between Sam and Mr Pacheco and me. The grass was as high over there as it was on our side, so it was hard to see exactly what he was doing, but I could see who he was aiming at.
We fell silent to take stock of our situation.
It was then we heard the dog bawling. The sound come from some distance off and we knew Zechariah was long gone and onto the panther’s track once more in a sure way. Sam did not give me a glance, nor hesitate for nothing. Before the sound of the second bawl she had her hands on the reins of the pinto and was pulling herself into the saddle. By the third bawl she was reined about and headed off in a dead charge in the direction of the dog.
Mr Pacheco took off after her afoot.
Hanlin fired a shot at him.
Preacher Dob’s horse of a sudden become dead weight and dropped with Preacher Dob still in the saddle. It did not thrash about nor make a sound. One minute the horse was having its breakfast of Indian grass whilst we was hollering over the canyon, and the next it lay on the ground with Preacher Dob seated upon it in a state of surprise as to what had happened.
I looked about me, confounded. Alongside me I seen Preacher Dob seated on the prone horse. Behind me I seen Sam heading off on the pinto into a black sky, and Mr Pacheco making a bee line afoot after her through the tall grass. I seen a flash of lightning. Across the way I seen Hanlin stand up from where he was hunkered down in the grass, as there was no longer a gun aimed at him, except mine, which was his, and I guess he figured I was not going to shoot it.
He hollered, Uncle Dob, I am sorry! Did I shoot your horse! I did not mean to! I was aiming at Pacheco, not your horse! I had to shoot left-handed on account of my right is missing the finger! Is the horse dead! I am sorry!
He did appear regretful.
Preacher Dob got hisself up off the saddle and looked at his horse and found it to be shot in the head. There was no life in the horse at all. The only part of the horse moving was his tail and his mane, which was blown about somewhat by the wind. The Hawken was half under the horse and the stock appeared to be busted clean off.
Preacher Dob and me had to ponder fast. We had a dead horse wearing a good saddle that I was pretty sure Preacher Dob did not want left on the edge of a canyon he was likely not to return to for some time, if ever. We had people across the canyon who was well armed and of intentions that was not to our benefit. We had Sam, the pinto, Mr Pacheco, and Zechariah heading off over the field in pursuit of a panther that might, or might not, be worth a third of two thousand dollars to each of us, depending on if we could get hold of the hide.
My biggest concern was Sam. She was a heap of trouble to me and yet I did care about her. I believe Preacher Dob felt a obligation to take care of her, whether he had a fondness for her or not. He was also worried for his dog. Also, a dead horse is a dead horse and no use at all, no matter that he was a use at one time, and a good horse, and still wearing a saddle.
I mounted the mare in haste. Preacher Dob seized upon what was left of his Hawken from under his horse and run toward me with a evident limp. The fall had done him no good. He did not have a easy time mounting behind me and yet done so in what could be called a jiffy.
We neither of us had a question about which direction to go. The dog was on the trail of the panther, Sam was on the trail of the dog, Mr Pacheco was on the trail of Sam and the pinto, and we was all traveling as fast as we was able in the direction of the bawling. I would of felt a whole lot more at ease if I had not known that the fat man and Hanlin, and maybe the law—though I was not so sure about him anymore—would be chasing after all of us as soon as they come around the end of the canyon, however far off or near that might be, and would have no question which way we was headed, as the bawling was a sure pointer.
I was yet a boy of fourteen years old, not a large one, and Preacher Dob was neither tall nor heavy. Yet I am sure my mare did not have a easy go of it to carry us both. Bless her, she was a good mare, and is a good mare to this day, and I suppose she had never forgot the kindness my father paid her when he found her, left as she was on a trail, and patched up her hind end, and nursed her back to life after Indians used her up and nearly done her in. Other than her bad habit to take a chunk out of whoever might lay a hand on her rump, she is as noble as mares are made.
She carried us straight into the wind at a good speed.
Chapter 11
Dear Judge,
I sit here tonight in a slow and rueful frame of mind. It is sweltering hot in here but I don’t dare crack the door for air, as who knows what might come in. Sam
is sound asleep. As much as I tire of hearing her talk, there is times at night I wish she would wake up and start at it again. It gets lonely with just me and the shadow of my head from the trifling light of this lantern. I recall nights it was Sam and me and my father, and cold out, and we had us a fire going.
I wish you was here in person.
I am almost to the end of the tale. I will miss the tale when I find it over. I will miss writing to you.
Goodnight, sir, to you.
Yours kindly,
Benjamin Shreve
MY TESTAMENT
Preacher Dob and me rode at the storm headlong on the mare whilst the storm come headlong at us, the wind whipping our faces hard and the sky before us dark as night but for the lightning streaking top to bottom. I could hardly tell what was the pounding of the mare’s hooves under us from what was thunder off before us, as the world was all a rumble. I did not like the cold but was glad for the fresh smell after being all day in the canyon with Zechariah.
Mr Pacheco had a good lead on us afoot. However, the law was in full chase and Mr Pacheco had no horse, as Sam was gone off on his pinto, if it even was his pinto, as it might of belonged to the fat man depending on how you felt about that. So things was stacked against him as he run through the tall yellow grass. He was afoot, he was in trouble, he was likely a horse thief, and even if I was to ride up and give him my mare, he could not go fast enough on her to catch up with Sam on the pinto. However, one thing I should of known about him by then was that he knew how to act in perilous times.
What he done was come to a halt and whistled. I do not know how the pinto heard the whistle, as he did not have the wind of it and he was a good bit ahead of Mr Pacheco. But he come to a full stop from a dead run, and Sam went hastily over his head and onto the ground. However, in haste she was back in the saddle. She commenced to kick and slap at the pinto to encourage him forward, but the horse did not budge. He did not move a peg. It was like his hooves was nailed to the ground. Sam might as well of tried to ride a pile of rocks for all the movement that horse made. Up run Mr Pacheco and got hisself in the saddle behind her, and off they went into the wind before us.
So there the four of us was, on two horses, in a dead charge at the storm and the dog’s bawling. I looked behind long enough to see the law was not caught up with us yet, and was nowhere to be seen, as I guess the canyon they was trying to get around was a big one.
We was not even across the field to a line of cedars on the far side when the bawling turned to a fixed barking. Preacher Dob yelled into my ear that I might hear him over the wind, saying, Zechariah has treed something for sure!
Mr Pacheco and Sam was a fair distance ahead of us. I had thought Mr Pacheco might want to strike out in another direction to evade the law that was after him, but I guess he wanted the panther more than he feared the law.
We could not tell the exact place the barking come from on account of the wind tugging the sound. Mr Pacheco and Sam appeared like they was having the same trouble. They turned the pinto this way and that on approaching the trees, which was a thick cedar break. My mare give it her all to catch them but by the time we got to the cedars Mr Pacheco and Sam was already dismounted and leading the pinto through the break and down into a canyon.
We dismounted to follow them. It was not a deep canyon but a rocky one. Preacher Dob sucked his breath and flinched a good bit from the harm done when his horse dropped on his leg. He hung on to what he had of the Hawken although it was no use to him until he might fix it, as who cares to lose their shoulder firing a gun without a stock.
I hollered to Sam and Mr Pacheco to wait for us. I do not believe either of them known Preacher Dob’s horse was dead, as they had took off before that happened.
I hollered, Hanlin shot Preacher Dob’s horse! It’s dead! Preacher Dob’s hurt!
I do not think Sam slowed down nor even so much as looked about when she heard me yell that. She was deep into the cedars and I could not see her to know for sure, but it sounded to me like she just kept on going. You would think she would give some thought to the fact it was Preacher Dob and his dog that had got her thus far on the hunt for the panther. You would think she might feel a obligation to help out. But that was not the case.
If there was any of us with the right to go off and leave Preacher Dob it was Mr Pacheco, on account of him being chased by the law and now having got back his pinto that could outrun it. However, he had two reasons not to run off. One was he wanted the bounty. Another was he was polite and good hearted and not likely to leave a hurt companion behind him, unlike Sam, who was in the act of it.
Mr Pacheco come shoving his way back through the cedars at us and inquired of Preacher Dob if he was in need of help.
Preacher Dob, not being a man of weak disposition nor gutless, said he thought he could walk.
We made our way down into the canyon, leading the horses. We had a good whiff of skunk and was able to hear the dog barking, so we knew we was going right. None of us, nor the horses, was happy to be scratched by so many cedars close about, but there was not a lot of complaining amongst us, as we did not want to make noise if we was approaching the cat.
We did not get free of the cedars until we reached the canyon floor. It was a dry bottom and only about ten yards across. Sam was already down there when we got there. The rain had commenced, although not yet in earnest.
And guess what we laid eyes on. Halfway up on the far side, in full sight, not fifteen yards off, on a branch of a big anacua tree hemmed in by a bunch of scrubby cedars, stood our panther.
Judge, I will tell you what. It was a shock to have such a plain view of that huge cat. It was the first time I had a chance to look at him and breathe at the same time. We could not see Zechariah, as he was at the base of the tree and there was thick cedars around him, but we knew he was there from his fit of barking.
The anacua had three or four wide trunks to it, joined together. The branches mostly grew upward, but there was one that spread nearly straight out, and the panther stood upon that one, amongst the leaves but not much hidden by those, and looking down at Zechariah. We gazed up at the full length of him. I could not take my eyes away. He was more than eight feet long nose to tail. I had a good view of his round head and sturdy jaw that had squeezed the life out of Juda. He did not appear concerned much about Zechariah who he could pounce on if he wanted to, although he did twitch his long fat tail at the very tip, so I guess he was feeling some agitation at being barked at like that.
He terrified me. Even so, I wished I had Preacher Dob’s spectacles to see him better. I thought I might ask to borrow them. However, before I done so, the pepperbox gone off nearly in my ear. I let out a whoop at the noise it made, as it was a shock to me to hear that. The panther taken one look at us and crouched in readiness to leap out of the tree. He did not appear to be hurt but did seem about ready to take his leave of the situation, as I guess he figured it was one thing to wait out a barking dog and another to stand there and be a target for armed people.
I don’t recall what I hollered at Sam, but I did holler at her.
Mr Pacheco drew his pistol and took a shot at the panther with the aim to bring him down in haste before he leapt. He likely would of hit him, but Sam jumped at him and shoved his arm as he pulled the trigger, and sent the shot afoul. The ball could of hit one of us or the horses, but Sam did not care about that. She only cared it did not hit the panther, as she wanted to shoot him herself.
We all hollered at her.
Then Zechariah gone up the tree in pursuit of the panther. I do not know what that dog was thinking. Maybe he figured out that the panther was about to leap and that when he done so we was liable to lose him for good, as the rain was falling in earnest now and whatever scent might be picked up was about to get washed off. I guess maybe the dog foresaw that. Or maybe he just figured he had been patient long enough, and we was not acting right, and he was going to have to take care of the matter hisself. Whatever his reasons, he w
as on his way up the anacua.
Sam tried to squeeze off another shot with the pepperbox, but Preacher Dob got hold of her by the hair and snatched the gun out of her hand. She had proved she could not be trusted, and I guess he thought she might shoot the dog in a rush instead of the panther, which was likely. There was a scuffle between them. In haste me and Mr Pacheco got her off Preacher Dob and got a good hold of her. Preacher Dob kept the pepperbox high up out of her reach. The panther was further along the branch now and crouched low and the dog was about up to him. Then the panther leapt. He landed amongst the cedars and took off down the canyon. Mr Pacheco fired a shot after him but the cat was moving too fast and no harm was done him.
Sam commenced to screech at us. She said, I hate you, every one of you! I could of got him! I had two more shots left! He aught to be dead! If I could of been left to myself I would of hit him! She yelled at Mr Pacheco that he did not have the right, and at Preacher Dob that he was a Indian giver, and at me for having my head in her way and making her miss. She screamed at Zechariah, What are you doing up in the tree! Why ain’t you chasing after the panther! How dumb a dog are you to climb that tree! Are you stuck!
He did appear to be stuck. It is a well known fact that a dog can climb up a tree but can’t climb down one. How Zechariah had not learned that, old as he was, is a mystery to me. I guess maybe he just got overexcited and took the chance that come.
I will say this. He did get awfully close to that panther’s tail before the cat leapt. What he would of done if he had got hold of the cat, I don’t know, as it was pretty clear which of those two would of come out the better. Now the panther was long gone down the canyon and Zechariah was left stuck on a empty branch, in the rain, with no way to get down. A jump for him would not of been so easy as for the panther nor without serious costs we did not want.
The Which Way Tree Page 15