The Devil's Sinkhole

by Bill Wittliff

  THEN ME AND PELA ROSA grabbed us up a bucket a’water and run over there right quick and put the Fire out on o’Pelo’s Head, Papa said, and Oh he just set there with his Face a’smoking and giving Saint Lalo a ugly look. You know I think maybe this Little Saint here tried to burn me up on purpose don’t you, he said. Turn Bout’s Fair Play ain’t it, Calley said from over there where his hands was still tied back hind his Back. I reckon it’s what you get for burning her Daddy up in that House Fire you set. Oh it was Hard to look at o’Pelo, Papa said, his skin was all bubbled up and a’hanging down off his face like one a’Miz Choat’s curtains on the Winder and they wadn’t enough hairs left to run a comb through on top a’his head. Where is my Amigos the Buzzerds, o’Pelo said. They left the Country with they Pants on Fire, Papa said, and it don’t look like they ever coming back neither. O’Pelo went to crying then, he said, then went to crying some more ever time one a’his tears run down cross his burned off face it hurt so Bad and Pela went to dabbing em away with her shirt soon as they come out his eyes to save him the Hurt. I hope yall ain’t forgot bout me over here while yall a’doctoring on that o’SonofaBitch over there, Calley said. He sounded irritated bout it too, Papa said, so I run over there and undone his hands for him quick as I could. Good to see you again Amigo, Calley said, My Goodness you bout all growed up since I last seen you ain’t you. O’Pelo’s bout all burned up over there too I said, Papa said, I ain’t never seen nothing like it. Well it don’t Break my Heart any, Calley said. Generally speaking a Man pretty much gets back what ever it is he put out there in the World so I reckon he had it coming. Well, Papa said, o’Pelo must a’done something Good in his Life too cause Look over yonder at how Pela’s trying to make him feel better now. It was true, he said, she was over there a’doctoring his face with big Dabs a’Bee Honey she got outta a little pot with her Finger. I believe I’d a’just let him sizzle til they wadn’t nothing left but a little Crispy Thing, Calley said. I don’t know how he ever earned him a Tender Touch. I give o’Calley a Look then, Papa said, and Oh his eyes was just two little slits and his Jaw Bone was clomped down tight. Mister Pearsall I said, Papa said, I believe you a’growing you a Mean Streak here lately ain’t you. Oh I growed me a Mean Streak long time ago, Calley said. I just try not to let it get out its Cage no moren I have to. But If and When it does, he said, Why then you and me both better run find us a place to hide quick as we can cause you don’t never know what it’s liable to do.

  FIRST THING Calley said when he went over there and seen o’Pelo’s burned up Face, Papa said, was Well you wadn’t nothing Pretty to look at in the First Place was you. We got to save him, Pela said, he needs our Help. Don’t matter we save him or not, Calley said, they gonna Hang him any how. You ask me they oughta do it with his own Noose too. Ain’t Nobody going to Hang me you just wait and see, o’Pelo said. Yes Sir well you just might be surprised bout that, Calley said. Then this big Sadness come over o’Pelo, Papa said, and he said I already been Hanged oncet, Me and my Daddy both at the same time. I admit that’s one a’the Saddest Stories I ever did hear in all my Life, Calley said, I don’t know that I ever heared one no Sadder. Too bad you didn’t learn a Lesson from it and go to living Right in sted a’going round the County Hanging People like you been a’doing, he said. Oh and then o’Pelo give Calley a Look wadn’t nothing in it but Froze Ice. I will live to Hang you too Senyor, he said, then we will see how much you like it. Oh I already like it, Calley said, if all I got to worry bout in this World is you a’Hanging me. Oh and then o’Pelo’s Eye Lids went to fluttering, Papa said, I reckon cause bout half of em was burnt off and then here in a minute he give Calley one last Ugly Look and went on off to sleep like he didn’t have no Troubles in the World. I think maybe he’s going to hold a Grudge on you Mister Pearsall I said, Papa said, then Calley reached over and took Pela’s Hand in his own and give it a little Squeeze. And maybe one on you too, he said, cause a’you and me having this Feeling bout one another like we do. Oh and then I seen her give Calley’s Hand a little Squeeze back. I know it, she said, but I can’t leave him. I give him my Word on it. Yes to save me, Calley said, But that Promise ain’t gonna mean nothing oncet this o’SonofaBitch gets through paying with his Life what he owes for Hanging all them other People. And then, Papa said, o’Calley put his other hand on top a’hers like they was making a Bargain on it and I won’t never know for sure but I think right then I seen o’Pelo open his Eye for just a Wink or two to see Calley and Pela Rosa a’setting there right in front a’him a’holding hands like that. You better get you some Sleep now, Calley said to Pela, I reckon we got us a long ride back to Civilazation tomorrow. Then Calley give her Hand one more little Squeeze and she did his and then me and him went back over there to where o’Fritz was a’chewing on a Buzzerd Feather and put our self down to get some Sleep and Oh, Papa said, I wish we a’hadn’t.

  . . . next thing they was a big Whoosh and o’Pelo’s Hair was all on Fire . . .

  NEXT MORNING O’CALLEY HOLLERED WAKE UP wake up, Papa said, and me and Fritz come up wide awake both at the same time. They gone, Calley said, Lit a Shuck outta here some time in the night when we was a’sleeping I reckon. I thought o’Pelo was bout Dead, Papa said, I don’t see how he could a’got off somewheres like that. He had him some Help is how, Calley said, much as I hate to say it. You think Pela helped him I said, Papa said. I ain’t saying she did it On Purpose, Calley said. More Likely he forced her to it with that Promise she made. I don’t reckon she’d a’just gone off on her own with him do you. I could see he was working hard not to believe it neither. No Sir I wouldn’t never believe that bout her in my Life I said, Papa said. No Sir not you or me neither one, Calley said, I didn’t have no idea til just this minute how much she come to mean to me in such a short time.

  Then Fritz started barking from over there where they’d been, Papa said, and we went over there and Oh first thing we seen was o’Pelo’d gone and chopped poor little o’Saint Lalo up in bout a hunderd pieces fore he and Pela went off to where ever they went off to. Wooo I ain’t a’that religion and not no other I know of neither, Calley said, but Bessa my Coola I don’t believe I’d ever go to chopping up somebody else’s Little Saint in pieces like that. No Sir, he said, that’s Bad Pookie if ever I seen it. They ain’t no telling what’s gonna come back on o’Pelo for that you know it. Course, he said, he’s gonna have to answer to me First any how and Ever Body else just gonna have to stand in line way back there behind me some wheres. Where you reckon they gone off to, Papa said. I don’t have no idea Calley said and so, Papa said, we went to looking all over for a sign to what direction they took and then here in a minute Calley hollered from over there They’s a Big Cave over here and me and Fritz run over there right quick to see, Papa said, and sure enough they was a Cave in the Wall big enough a Man could walk through it a’standing straight up on his own two Feet and his Horse too. Where you reckon it goes, Papa said, and Calley said I don’t care so much Where it goes as I do Where it comes out and how Quick we can get there fore he takes Pela Rosa off some wheres else to where we might never find her again. And then, Papa said, he looked in his big o’Pistola to see he had plenty a’Bullets when he needed em and then stuck it way back down his Pants where it come from.

  WE MADE US SOME FIRE STICKS to light up our way, Papa said, and went on in the Cave a’leading our Horses and o’Fritz a’follering long behind. Oh it was Dark in there, Papa said, and they was Bats and little Creatures a’one kind or a’nother just a’scooting round everwheres you stepped. They ain’t gonna bite us are they Mister Pearsall, I said. They might, Calley said, If I was you I’d keep my Shoes on. We went On and On in that Cave and then of a sudden it come to me I ain’t seen Fritz in a good long while. You seen Fritz here lately I said, Papa said. He’s over there somewheres a’licking on his Hiney I reckon, Calley said, I wouldn’t worry bout him. Well No Sir I am worried bout him I said, Papa said, then went to hollering loud as I could Fritz Fritz Fritz Where are you Fritz and then
in a minute here he come a’Barking back at me from way off down yonder somewheres. Sounds like he found him something don’t it Calley said and we started going in and out a’side Caves a’follering his Yips and Barks til of a sudden we come up on him a’Growling at some Thing a’setting over there against the Wall. Git back behind me, Calley said, then pulled his big Pistola outta his Pants and raised up his Fire Stick to have a Look and Why setting there was this Olden Man wadn’t no moren Bones wearing him a Iron Suit and Hat and they was a Letter he left scratched up there on the Wall behind him for Ever Body to read if they happen to come long this way. What’s it say I said, Papa said. Calley looked up at it and said, It says Hello my name is Santiago Miguel Juarez Luis Nacho Flores How are you I come here from somewheres over cross the Big Water to find Gold and Silver and Whatnot to make me rich and Now I got the Gold and Silver but o’poor me now I am Lost in this Cave where I am gonna die and I miss my Momma and my Daddy and all my Little Brothers and Sisters and my Aunts and Uncles and don’t forget my o’Granma and Granpa and fore I forget it my Pet Donkey Silvester too. That’s what it says, Calley said. No it don’t, Papa said. Course it don’t, Calley said. How in Hell would I know what it says. You think I can read ever old Antique Ancient Language some body scribbles up on a Rock Wall somewheres, he said. Why you being so Ugly to me, Papa said, I ain’t done nothing. Calley put his Pistola back down his pants and said I guess I’m just Peeved at my self for letting that o’SonofaBitch get off with Pela like that and was just taking it out on You when I should a’been taking it out on Me. You ain’t done nothing Bad Mister Pearsall, Papa said. What I’m a’scared of, Calley said, is I gone and made it possible for o’Pelo to do something Bad to Pela Rosa less me and you catch him fore he does. I thought he just wanted to Marry her, Papa said. Yes Sir, Calley said, that is xactly what I’m a’talking bout.

  FRITZ WAS OVER THERE nawing on that Olden Man’s leg bone, Papa said, and I said Leave go a’that o’Bone Fritz we on a Hunt for Pela Rosa and ain’t got time for no Suppers. He give it one more little Lick then follered me and Calley and our Horses in and out a’Caves all down the Way, he said, and in a minute I got scared and said Mister Pearsall you think we ever gonna find our way out a’this o’Cave a’Live. I been a’wondering bout that my self, Calley said. We wouldn’t like it if we was to end up just Bones like that poor o’Fella back there would we, Papa said. No Sir not me, Calley said. Then he give me a Look and said, Course it ain’t no secret we just as Lost as he ever was. Lost, Papa said, Lost. I didn’t know we was Lost. Oh Yes Sir we been Lost a good long while now, Calley said, and I got some more Bad News for you too he said, Our Fire Sticks is bout to burn out and when they do it’s gonna be Darkern six foot up a Possum’s Butt in here. Oh and right then I heared somebody a’Crying way off back yonder somewheres EeeeEeeeEeee like that, Papa said, and I said Is that Pela Rosa a’Crying. It sounds like it don’t it, Calley said, or some thing else. Well what else, Papa said. If I tell you, Calley said, you got to promise me you ain’t gonna jump up and go a’running off on me. Yes Sir I promise I said, Papa said, Then here it come again but it sounded to me like it was getting Closer Closer Closer. EeeeEeeeEeee. EeeeEeeeEeee. It’s getting closer ain’t it, Calley said, like maybe some thing gonna jump on us here in a minute. Yes Sir it does I said, Papa said. Well tell me what is it, he said, It’s like you scared to. Oh and then, he said, here it come again and this time it was just round the corner back behind us and coming on at a Run. EeeeEeeeEeeeEeee. What is it, Papa said, I’m starting to think you don’t even know you self. Oh Yes Sir Mister I do know, Calley said. It’s a god dam Panther is what it is he said. A Panther, Papa said. A Panther. Yes Sir a Panther and he’s a’looking for his Suppers and I reckon he’s a’thinking you and me is it. Can I jump up and go to running now, I said, but fore o’Calley could answer me back Why I grabbed o’Fritz up in my arm and give o’Edward a slap on his Bottom and away we went fast as we could go with o’Calley a’hollering Run Run Run when he passed us by and then, he said, we run round this corner and they was Sun Light coming in at the other end a’the Cave and of a sudden we was out the Cave and didn’t hear that o’Panther a’chasing us no more. Where you reckon it went I said, Papa said. What I’m a’worrying bout, Calley said, is Where you reckon it’s gonna be when we come back this way with Pela Rosa. I don’t have no idea, Papa said. No Sir and not me neither, Calley said, I guess that’s just something we gonna have to Worry bout in our Spare Time when we get some.

  SO WE COME OUT FROM THAT CAVE in the World again, Papa said, and they wadn’t nothing but Cactuses and Mesquites ever wheres you looked no matter how far. I don’t see nobody, Papa said. Calley was bout to cry. No Sir, he said, they just gone is all and they ain’t no Buzzerds in the Air to tell us where to neither. Calley didn’t say nothing more just set down in the Dirt and went to twirling his Spur Ching e Ching e ChingChingChing sounded something like that then started saying but just to his self Pela’s Gone Oh she’s Gone Gone Gone and then Fritz went over there to give him a little Lick to make him feel better but Calley give him a Push to get away and said Save your Licks for your own Hiney Mister I don’t want em. He don’t mean nothing by it, Papa said, he’s just trying to be Nice. Tell him to go be Nice somewheres else I don’t want no Nice right now and maybe not Never Again neither one. Fritz get over here Mister Pearsall said he don’t want no Nice right now I said, Papa said, so Fritz come over and give me some Licks in sted. You oughta think bout where that Tongue a’his been all day long fore you go to letting him Lick on you with it like that, Calley said. He’s my Friend, Papa said. Yes Sir I know it but that might be taking the Friendship a little too far you ask me, Calley said. Now you being Ugly to me and Fritz both ain’t you, Papa said, then Calley went to twirling his Spur again Ching e Ching e ChingChingChing and said I’m sorry. I reckon that’s just my o’Broken Heart a’talking and it don’t know no bettern to go and Hurt your Feelings like that. You hear what it’s a’saying to me now, he said. No Sir I don’t, Papa said. It’s a’saying Calley Pearsall you been a’looking for that Pretty Girl all your whole Life and here you finally find her and then you dumb Pecker Wood you lose her again. Yes Sir but we gonna go find her ain’t we, Papa said. Well ain’t we. Oh and then Calley looked out at all them Cactuses and Mesquites a’covering up the World and said Well I ain’t got no idea what Direction we oughta go to looking in do you. No Sir I ain’t got no Idea neither I said, Papa said. And if that ain’t Bad enough, Calley said, here’s another thing even more worsen that. Say Yes we do find her, he said, But what if she won’t go with me any how cause she already give her Word to o’Pelo to stay with him. What bout that. Well I don’t know What bout that, Papa said, What. And then, he said, o’Calley went to twirling his Spur again Ching e Ching e ChingChingChing Ching e Ching e ChingChingChing like that and said Why it’d Break my Heart in a hunderd more places that’s What. I’m sorry Mister Pearsall, Papa said, I wouldn’t wanna go walking round with a Broken Heart all the Time neither. Well, Calley said, I reckon its just part a’the Deal. How you ever gonna know you in Love in the First Place if you ain’t got a Broken Heart to prove it. Then, Papa said, of a sudden o’Calley squinted up his Eyes like he seen some thing way out yonder in the cactuses and stood back up on his Feet.

  WELL LET’S GO, Calley said, Let’s Go Let’s Go, We ain’t gonna find her a’setting here are we. I thought you didn’t know what Direction to go a’looking in, Papa said, I don’t see nothing out there but Cactuses and Mesquites and them thorns can sure bugger you up in a hurry you ain’t careful. You don’t have to be careful if you know where you a’going, Calley said, and sometimes you don’t know where you a’going til you get there. Ain’t nothing to it then, he said. Yes Sir but we don’t know where we a’going, Papa said, do we. Well we do now, Calley said, then pointed his Finger way out Yonder at something. What you reckon that is I’m a’pointing my Finger at, he said. Why it all looks the same to me, Papa said. Look harder, Calley said, Just foller my Finge
r. See it, he said, Just take particular notice a’any thing that don’t look like everthing else in the World and you’ll see it sure as shooting. Oh and then I seen something xactly where he was a’pointing his Finger to look. I see it I said, Papa said, but I ain’t got no idea what it is. It’s the Best News I ever got in my Life, Calley said, that’s what it is. So he give his Spur one more Ching e Ching e ChingChingChing but it was a Happy little Ching e Ching e ChingChingChing this time then jumped on o’Firefoot and run out in the Cactuses and Mesquites and me and Fritz done the best we could to catch up on o’Edward and when we got there Why o’Calley was a’reaching down to pull a little Rag off a Mesquites Thorn where it was a’hanging. I reckon you know what this is huh, Calley said. Yes Sir, Papa said, that’s a piece a’Pela’s Dress ain’t it. Oh Calley give it a touch like it was Shining Gold and said It’s moren that She’s a’leaving me a Map to foller to where ever it is o’Pelo’s a’taking her. And then Calley pointed his Finger way out yonder in the Cactuses and Mesquites again and said They’s another one, you see it. But fore I could say Yes Sir I do see it, Papa said, o’Calley was already a’heading that way fast as he could go and me and Edward and o’Fritz went a’Bumping long to keep up and then here in a minute we come up on Calley and there he was a’rubbing another piece a’Pela’s Dress on the first one he found like he was trying to conjure her up tween the two of em same as o’Jeffey might. I reckon you know what all this means don’t you, he said. You mean Means moren it means a Map, Papa said. Oh Yes Sir, Calley said, Means just a whole god dam lot moren it means a Map. No Sir I don’t know what else it Means moren it means a Map, Papa said, but I can tell what ever it is sure does make you Happy don’t it. What it means, Calley said, is Promise or No Promise to o’Pelo she’s a’sending me a Letter says Come On Cow Boy Come On.