The Devil's Sinkhole

by Bill Wittliff

  WHEN SHE WAS ALL DONE WITH IT, Papa said, that Little o’Wrinkled Up Lady throwed that Rag had all the Fester on it in the Fire and Oh they come up a Smoke from it bout blinded you and when I Looked again Why she and her o’Blind Panther was both gone and I got to thinking Well maybe She and Him both is some a’them Shimmery People I been a’Seeing here off and on my Whole Life, he said, but I didn’t have no idea Was she or not and I had Other Fish to Fry any how and that was to take Good Care a’my o’Amigo Calley Pearsall til he either come back a’live all the Way or Died from the Fevers one. So, Papa said, I went over there and pulled the Saddle Blankets off a’Firefoot and o’Edward and wrapped o’Calley up in em best I could to keep him warm but the Fevers still had him and Oh he was a’shaking so Bad I thought his Bones was gonna jump out his body and go to running off somewheres in the Dark so I put my self down on top a’him like I was another Saddle Blanket and o’Fritz did too but o’Calley went to shaking moren ever now and I thought Well he is gonna throw us off like some o’Bucking Horse out in the Pasture ain’t he but we helt on like that all Day or all Night which ever one it was til, Papa said, Mister Pearsall went total Still under us and then I looked over there and Why here come Mister Pegleg and three four Shimmery People from out the Dark somewheres and they clustered round o’Calley and I seen No he wadn’t even breathing no more and, he said, I thought Well I reckon my o’Amigo just up and Died didn’t he and went to crying bout it even if I was there in a Dream. And Oh I reckon he had Died too, Papa said, cause now here come this Other Calley a’trying to Shimmer his self right out the top a’his own Head but ever time he did Why them Shimmery People’d shake they Fingers No No No at him then poke him right on back down in his Head again til he finally give it up for good and went on back in his body cause he seen they just wadn’t gonna let him Die.

  I PULLED THEM SADDLE BLANKETS OFF HIM, Papa said, cause now I knowed my o’Amigo was gonna Live and I was fraid them Blankets was gonna make him too hot and burn him up. After that, he said, I grabbed me up a Fire Stick and me and o’Fritz went a’looking round in there to see what all else we could see and first thing I seen was some more a’them Pitchurs drawed up there on the Wall showed that Poor Girl a’running off with that little Baby in her Arms and all them other Pitchurs a’People on they Horses a’chasing her with they Ropes and Guns and Pitch Forks. And Oh, Papa said, them Pitchurs chased the Pitchur a’that Poor Girl with the Baby all up and down the Wall and through the Pitchurs a’Trees and cross the Pitchurs a’Rivers and all up and down the Pitchurs a’Hills and Gullies but that Girl just kep a’running fast as she could with that little Baby there in her Arms and wouldn’t let go for nothing but then, he said, all them Pitchurs went in this Hole in the Wall and me and o’Fritz went in the Hole behind em with my Fire Stick to see what they was gonna do next and Oh they was this little Hump a’Dirt out there in the middle a’the Room had River Shells and Pretty Rocks all on it and ever Pitchur drawed up there on the Wall now was a’that Poor Girl a’kneeling down on her Knees just a’Crying her Eyes out bout some thing or other and they must a’been a hunderd Pitchurs a’her just like that drawed up there on the Wall all round that Hump a’Dirt on the Floor and Oh, Papa said, I didn’t have no Idea why but Tears just come to my Eyes and went a’running down my Face cause they was just so much Sad Feelings in there you couldn’t hardly wipe it off you. And me and o’Fritz might still be a’crying bout it, he said, cep bout that time o’Calley give out a Holler and we run back in there to see What was a’going on with him now.

  OH, PAPA SAID, Why yonder cross the Room that Little o’Wrinkled Up Lady was a’trying to pull o’Calley’s Pants off him and him just a’swatting at her with his Hat to keep her from it. And Oh then she grabbed the Hat right out his Hand and went to swatting him back with it One Two Three Four Five times like that and it surprised o’Calley so much he total give up and just set there a’looking at her til she had his Pants off him and went over there to the Puddle and put em in the water to wash the Fester out. You see that, he said, you see her take my Hat right out my Hand and go to swatting me with it. You see that, he said. Yes Sir I did see that, Papa said, She bout give you a good whupping didn’t she I said then o’Calley give a big Grin like some o’Possum a’setting there and said By god she is sure nough one Spunky Little Missey ain’t she. Well ain’t she, he said. And Oh I could see he admired her for it. Yes Sir she is, Papa said. She sure is. And I admired her for it too, he said, same as him. Then o’Calley raised his self up best he could on his elbow and give that Bullet Hole in his Leg a Look and said Well that don’t look so Bad as I xpected Where’d you find me a Doctor. No I never, Papa said, she found you then I pointed over to the Puddle where that Little Missey was still a’washing the Fester out his Pants. O’Calley give her a’nother Grin then seen all them Pitchurs up on the Wall and went to nodding his Head like he knowed it all the Time. Well that’s Her sure enough ain’t it, he said, Can’t be no Other in the whole World I don’t reckon. Her Who, Papa said. Why Her the Wild Woman a’the Navidad, Calley said. Where you been all your Life not to know bout her. Well I mostly been with you here lately Mister Pearsall, Papa said, and this is the First Time I ever heared you say one Word bout some o’Wild Woman a’the Navidad. It’s a River, Calley said, The Navidad River bout two three hunderd miles or so over yonder somewheres round Jackson County. What’s she doing here, Papa said. Well they was People back there a’trying to Catch her and Whup her and maybe even Hang her off a Limb, Calley said, I reckon that’s Why she come a’Running up here. What’d she do to make em so Mad, Papa said. She stole a Baby and run off with it that’s What, Calley said.

  WHOSE BABY WAS IT, Papa said. Why it was her Baby, Calley said. I never heared a’no such thing in my Life, Papa said. How you gonna steal you own Baby. She was a Slave Girl, Calley said, and didn’t her Baby or nothing else in this World belong to her. Shhh, Papa said, she gonna hear you talking bout her. So what if she does, Calley said, I don’t reckon She speaks our Language. The way I know the Story, he said, is she come off the Slave Boat at Mada Gorda then set right down on the Dock and out come this Little Baby Boy just pretty as you please and the o’Slaver said Well look a’here I’m already a’making Money on this one ain’t I. Then he give the Little Baby Boy over to some Old Woman or other to raise so the Momma could go on and start a’working out there in the Field ever day and wouldn’t have to fool with it. Sounds like my mean o’Daddy don’t it, Papa said. Oh listen here, Calley said, they was enough Mean in them days to go all the way round the World and come back again. They’s Stories So Bad make your hairs Stand up on your head and Cry. Any how, he said, that very night when wadn’t nobody a’looking that little Momma went in there where they had her Baby a’sleeping on some Rags and stole it back and went a’running off in the Woods with it cause she didn’t want her Little Baby to grow up being a Slave no moren she wanted to be a Slave her self. Was a Little Boy, Calley said, and worth a’lot moren if it’d a’been a Little Girl so Yes Sir next morning they brung out they Big Mean Dogs and went a’chasing her cause they wadn’t nothing in them Days make you look so Bad to your Neighbor as some dam little o’Slave Girl a’running off on you with your Property and you not able to catch her and bring her back for a good Whupping. How’d she get away I said, Papa said. I seen Miss Gusa when she first had her Baby that night and it wore her out so Bad she just up and died from it over at Fischer Hall. Well this Little Momma wadn’t hardly no biggern you are now, Calley said, and she didn’t get a’way with it Not that first Time she run off with her Baby and Not all them other Times she tried it neither one. Oh they dam near beat her to Death for her Sass and locked a big Iron Basket on her head to where she couldn’t crawl through a Fence and they chained her to a Stump at night and I don’t know what all else they done but then there she’d go again First Chance she got a’trying to run off with her Little Baby. And she finally did too huh, Papa said, even after all them Bad Things they done to her. Yes Sir she did, Calley said, S
he run off in the Woods with her Little Baby Son one night and course all them Slave Owners went to chasing her on they Horses and her a’holding that Little Baby Boy to her Heart and just a’Running Running Running til she bout fell down Dead with ever step she took and Oh it was Sad Sad Sad the Saddest god dam thing you ever seen in the World and it was so Sad even the Trees went to Crying bout it and big o’Tears come a’rolling off they Leaves like Rain in a Rain Storm and the Creeks come up in a big Flood but them Slavers just went on a’swinging they Loops and a’laughing and a’carrying on cause it was so much Fun to be a’chasing that Slave Girl and her Little Baby that way but it made the Trees so Mad to see such a god dam terrible thing they just went to Jumping and Shaking bout it and then here in a minute they was a’Jumping and a’Shaking so hard Why they Limbs went to falling down everwheres on top a’them Slavers and they couldn’t get out from under em Quick nough and Oh Limbs come Down Down Down all over on top of em and give em Broke Arms and Broke Legs and Bloody Noses and busted they Heads like a Watermelon and here and there took a Ear off or a Nose and they Horses went to jumping and bucking and throwed ever god dam one a’them SonsaBitches off in the Cactuses and then them that could took off a’running back Home fast as they could go cause they done had all the Fun they wanted in they whole Life and didn’t want no more. Is that a True Story, Papa said. Well I won’t say it’s a Fact Story, Calley said, but Yes Sir I will say it is for god dam sure a True Story. I looked over there at that Little o’Wild Woman a’the Navidad by the Puddle then, Papa said, and it bout made me Cry to think a’all the things she been through in her Life to get here with her Little Son and I hoped he growed up Big and Strong and went on off some wheres to start him a new Life a’his own, Papa said. But No, he said, I knowed in my Heart that Little Baby Boy is a’sleeping under that Hump a’Dirt I seen in there a minute ago and that’s what all them Pitchurs of his Momma is Crying bout.

  WONDER WHAT HAPPENED to her little Baby Boy, Papa said, to not a’growed up. Ain’t no telling, Calley said, Might a’got a Cold and coughed his self to Death or maybe a Scorpyen come out from under a Rock one night and give him a Bite on his Toe. Makes me Sad to think a’all the things might a’got him But what ever it was, he said, I reckon it broke his little o’Momma’s Heart don’t you. Yes Sir I reckon, Papa said. Breaks mine just to think bout it. Course some time later, o’Calley said, she found that o’Panther some wheres to keep her company so she ain’t been just all by her self in here her whole Life I don’t reckon. That o’Panther ain’t no Spring Chicken neither, Papa said, and not only that he’s Blind as a Bat to boot. Well looks like he gets round all right even if he is, Calley said. But I don’t know what she’s gonna do when the Day comes her o’Friend can’t get up on his Feet no more. That’s gonna be a Hard Day for him and her both ain’t it, he said. Where you reckon Panthers go when they Die, Papa said. I don’t have no idea, Calley said. Maybe same place your o’Amigo Mister Pegleg went with all them Shimmery People you been a’seeing ever now and again. Well you seen em too ain’t you, Papa said. No Sir never seen a’one of em in my Life, Calley said, Course I can’t say I been a’looking for em neither. Well whatta you do in your Dream ever night then, Papa said, That’s when I see em. Oh I don’t know, Calley said, it varies a great deal I reckon. Most times I don’t even remember what my Dream was. Yes Sir but when you do, Papa said. Well here lately I been a’seeing Pela Rosa in my Dream when I remember it, he said. Was she Shimmering, Papa said. No Sir not like you mean, o’Calley said. Well How then I said, Papa said, and Calley said No Sir you too Little for me to be a’telling you things like that so let’s just Hush bout it til you growed up some and even then I ain’t a’gonna tell you bout it and no body else neither. It’s Private just tween her and me, he said. I didn’t never know you was so Private Mister Pearsall, Papa said, Seems to me like you always go on and say What Ever comes to your mine. No not always I don’t, Calley said, Maybe some time I do but No not always I don’t. Best to keep a few things just to you self the way I see it, he said. You might wanna remember that Might come in Handy to you some Day. Like keep What just to my self, Papa said. Well like What I’m keeping just to my self right now, o’Calley said, that’s What. Yes Sir but I don’t know what That is, Papa said, How’m I gonna know what kind a’things to keep just to my self if I ain’t got no idea what kind a’things you a’keeping just to you self. If I was to tell you, o’Calley said, then I wouldn’t be a’keeping it just to my self no more and we wouldn’t have nothing to Talk bout no more would we. Then, Papa said, we looked over there to where that little Wild Woman usted to be just a minute ago but she wadn’t there no more and neither was her o’Blind Panther.

  . . . her a’holding that Little Baby Boy to her Heart and just a’Running Running Running . . .

  SHE COMES AND GOES AS SHE PLEASES don’t she, Calley said. Where you reckon they went I said, Papa said. Some wheres back in the Dark, Calley said, same place where they come out from I reckon. Last thing I seen, he said, was her a’looking at her self in the Puddle a’wearing your Hat and Oh just a’turning her Head this a’way and that a’way and ever other which a’way to see what she looks like in it. Course, o’Calley said, it’s way too big for her and bout bends her Ears down double on her Head. Well I’m glad she likes it, Papa said. Yes Sir and it’s a good thing you are, Calley said, cause you ain’t never gonna get it back. And I’ll tell you one more thing bout that Little Missey, he said. She don’t hold a Grudge or she wouldn’t a’never helped me after all them Bad Things People done to her in her Life. How’d she Fix my Leg any how. She put some Bee Honey on a Rag and run it In and Out the Hole til she run all that Yeller Fester out on the Floor, Papa said. I’d a’liked to a’seen that, Calley said. No Sir you wouldn’t, Papa said, It was so ugly it bout made me Urp up. Well I reckon it’s the Ugly in this o’World makes you Glad to see the Pretty when it finally comes around then huh, he said, ain’t that right. I think you already told me that two three times fore Mister Pearsall, Papa said, but Yes Sir I reckon so. Course, Calley said, they’s Pretty all over the place all the time any how ain’t they. You just gotta be a’looking for it to see it. All I been seeing here lately is Dark, Papa said, Nothing but Dark Dark Dark all round in here. Oh Hell, o’Calley said, Ever Body sees Dark but it’s what all Else you see in that Dark gonna make the Difference to you. Genrally speaking, he said, It’s in the Dark where People sees the most Good if they got the sense God give a Ball Headed Possum to Look for it. Then he rolled over to take him a’nother little Nap and when he did, Papa said, Why I went to looking in the Dark like he said and First Thing I seen was Firefoot and o’Edward and then Fritz all a’sleeping over there by the Fire and Yes Sir they was Pretty to see cause they was my Friends and I was glad of it. And then, he said, I went to looking Deeper and Deeper in the Dark and then Why I seen Some Body’s Shadow a’coming up on the Wall from way back behind me some wheres and they was a’hefting a Big o’Rock up to hit me on my Head with and Oh I bout Jumped and Run but then here that Big o’Rock come down on my Head but No it wadn’t no Big o’Rock at all but was my Hat o’Calley said that Little Missey was gonna run off with in sted. Mister Pearsall I said, Papa said, Little Missey ain’t no Hat Thief like you said she was But, he said, o’Calley was a’sleeping again and didn’t wanna talk bout all the things he knowed bout Womens and Hats no more.

  THAT WAS THE LAST we seen a’Little Missey for a good long while, Papa said, even if she was always a’sneaking Grass in for the Horses ever Morning and a Bowl a’Some thing or Other had Bugs in it for me and Calley and o’Fritz to eat and course I don’t know how she done it but they was always Wood on the Fire to keep us warm. She takes good care a’us don’t she, Calley said, and I said Yes Sir she does but then her and that o’Panther goes to hiding from us too don’t they. Well wouldn’t you go to hiding from us, Calley said, when ever other Human Being you ever seen in your Life was always a’trying to Whup you or Work you to Death or Nail you Feet to a Log to keep you fro
m a’Running a’way. Yes Sir I reckon I would, Papa said, and I’m sorry for what I said. I know she ain’t had no Easy Life and still ain’t. I know it, o’Calley said. And I don’t like it she probably ain’t gonna wanna go with us when we go. Why wouldn’t she wanna go with us when we go, Papa said. Cause she ain’t gonna wanna leave her o’Blind Amigo here just all by his self that’s Why, Calley said. I reckon they been Friends bout a hunderd years by now. Well he can come a’long and go with us too when we go can’t he, Papa said. He’s so old he can’t hardly get round on his own Feet no more as it is now, Calley said. You ever think bout that. Well you can’t neither Mister Pearsall, Papa said, but you planning to go ain’t you. Don’t be a Smarty Pants Mister, o’Calley said and I said, Well maybe he can ride up on o’Edward with me then How bout That, and Calley said, Well here’s How bout That. They’s Onery People out there in the world’d shoot that poor o’Blind Bugger right off the Saddle fore you could say Bessa my Coola. And if you wanna know another Sad Thing’d make you cry, he said, Them same People’d shoot Little Missey off the Saddle even fore they would him. Well we’d shoot em back for it wouldn’t we, Papa said. How we gonna do that, Calley said. I recall you a’telling me you let o’Pelo run off some wheres in the Dark with my Pistola. Yes Sir he did, Papa said. Well what you reckon we gonna shoot em with then, Calley said, our Finger or maybe a Stick. Listen here to me Mister, Calley said, you don’t never wanna go to shooting no body any how. It ain’t like chunking a Rock at a Pig. I wouldn’t never chunk a Rock at a Pig, Papa said. Well you might, Calley said, one of em go to Snorting and Grunting and Getting in your Way when all you trying to do is Slop em. Well I reckon I might then, Papa said, they don’t get out my Way when I’m trying to Slop em. Lot a’times they don’t, Calley said, If you know any thing bout a Pig you know that don’t you. Yes Sir I do, Papa said, Pretty much ever Pig I ever seen in my Life is that way. Course they just Hungry is Why they a’doing it, Calley said, You can’t hold it against em they just Hungry Pigs can you. I didn’t never hold it against em in the First Place, Papa said, You was the only one I know a’wanting to chunk a’Rock at em. Well I wadn’t choosing up Sides against a Pig, Calley said, Hell I was just trying to eat up some Time a’talking bout it til we can get on out a’here and go find my Pela Rosa. When you figgur that’s gonna be, Papa said. Soons I can climb back up on o’Firefoot again, he said, and Not fall off on the ground.