. . . I seen all them People o’Arlon Murdered a’swimming long side . . .
WELL THEY AIN’T NOTHING LEFT TO DO, o’Calley said, cep go back and get my Pela Rosa in San Antoneya and start our Happy Life together. And Annie too I said, Papa said. We ain’t a’leaving her in Senyora Garza’s Place to Sing and Dance for her suppers neither. No we ain’t, o’Calley said, you don’t have to worry bout that. Course we gotta get out a’here first I reckon don’t you, he said. So, Papa said, I hollered We’s a’coming Amigo at o’Fritz so he’d hush his crying up at the Top and we went to climbing the wall to where o’Calley left our Rope to climb back out the Devil’s Sinkhole on but Oh No, Papa said, when we got up there Why our Rope wadn’t there no more but was a’dangling out over the Hole bout six miles out our Reach. Well this is a piece a’Bad Luck ain’t it, Calley said, I reckon them Hungry Bats knocked it a’loose on the way to get they Suppers. Maybe I can jump for it, Papa said. No Sir you ain’t a Grass Hopper and I don’t wanna have to climb down there again and fish you out the Bat Poot. Well what you reckon we gonna do then, Papa said. I don’t have no Idea in the World what, Calley said. You tell me if you come up with some thing and I’ll listen to ever word you say. No Sir, I don’t have no Idea neither, Papa said. So we just set there bout a hour and then I said I don’t wanna hurt your Feelings Mister Pearsall but wadn’t you the one said Whatever you a’looking for in this World is some wheres out there in the World a’looking for you too. I ain’t sure I ever said that or not, o’Calley said, I’m just trying to concentrate on the Future right now and not the Pass if you please Sir. Well the reason I ask it, Papa said, is we just setting here on this Rock a’looking for a way to get holt a’our Rope so we can climb on out the Sinkhole on it ain’t that Right. I couldn’t a’put it no Better my self, Calley said. Well I said, Papa said, Here it comes. Oh and then o’Calley looked where I was pointing at and our Rope started a’swinging Back and Forth Back and Forth out over the Hole and ever time it did Why it come closer and closer to where we could reach out and Grab it but not Quite. Oh and then Some body hollered up there at the Top a’the Hole Yall better grab that Rope I’m bout all wore out up here a’swinging it and Oh, Papa said, it was o’Marcellus a’doing the Hollering and the Rope Swinging both and next time the Rope come a’Swinging in close Why o’Calley jumped for it and grabbed a’holt but Oh went a’sliding on down the Rope and only thing saved him was the knot at the End broke his slide and then here in a minute he had a good Holt on the Rope and was a’pumping Back and Forth Back and Forth then come a’Swinging over to get me but Right then, Papa said, here come all them Bats back in the Sinkhole after they All Night Suppers and they was so many a’em I total lost o’Calley to sight but then I heared him a’hollering When I say Jump you Jump you hear me and then fore I could say Yes Sir I do hear you he hollered JUMP and Oh Boy Hidy, Papa said, I jumped just when o’Calley come to view through all them Bats.
BUT I JUMPED A LITTLE LOW, Papa said, and all I got holt of was o’Calley’s Spurs and Oh now they really did go Ching e Ching e ChingChingChing and I all but lost my holt cause they was Twirling in my Hands but o’Calley reached down with one hand and pulled me up then squeezed me tight to him. You might wanna jump a’little Higher next time Mister he said and I said Yes Sir I will, Papa said, then we just hanged on tight as we could to each other with them screeching Bats bout to beat us to Death with they Wings just a’Flapping to get on back Home fore the Sun come up in the Morning. Oh and then, he said, of a sudden they was a little shake on the Rope and then next thing it started a’pulling us Up Up Up through all them Flapping Bats and Calley hollered Hang On Hang On and Oh I did Hang On for my Life and in just bout a year why we was up and out the Devil’s Sinkhole and back in Texas again and now o’Fritz went to jumping on me and a’going Heh Heh Heh and then I seen o’Marcellus pulled us up out the Hole by tying our Rope on his Saddle Horn and o’Edward a’walking off with it. How’d you ever find us, Mister Pearsall said. O’Jeffey tole me to just keep a’going South til I seen this big o’Whirled Wind a’Bats and that’d be yall at the bottom of it and here you are. I’m surprised Miz Choat even let you go, Papa said. No she never, Marcellus said, I just up and went on my own. Well may be you better get on back fore she comes a’looking for you with her Bird Gun, Papa said, I wouldn’t put it pass her. Ain’t yall coming long with me, Marcellus said. It’s hard to talk to just o’Edward all day. We headed up to San Antoneya first, Calley said, They’s a’couple a’Ladies waiting for us there. O’Jeffey tole me she better not never catch me a’going in a Place like that or she gonna skin me a’live and throw the rest a’me to the Piggies. It ain’t a Place like that Mister, o’Calley said, And Shame on you for ever a’thinking it. I wadn’t thinking nothing Mister Pearsall, Marcellus said, if that’s what you was a’thinking. No I didn’t think you was, Calley said. But it don’t never hurt to make sure does it. So, Papa said, we walked on back over there to where we left o’Firefoot and Sister yesterday when they wouldn’t go no more and best we could tell they was glad to see us and we was them too. Well let’s get a’going, o’Calley said, they’s many the mile tween here and Senyora Garza’s Place back in San Antoneya ain’t they. So o’Fritz jumped up on Sister with me and a’way we all did go and then, Papa said, o’Marcellus said Mister Pearsall if Senyora Garza’s Place ain’t the kind a’Place I wadn’t thinking it was then what kind a’Place is it. Well you gonna see for you self what kind a’Place it is here in a bit, Calley said, so stop worrying bout it so much okay. You mean they gonna let me in there Mister Pearsall, Marcellus said. No I mean if they won’t let you in there, Calley said, why then by god I’m gonna let you in there my self.
WE COME A’RIDING INTO SAN ANTONEYA next day by where they Mexkin Market is, Papa said, and when we went a’riding by the Man a’selling the Sombreros I could tell o’Marcellus wanted him one cause there me and o’Calley was wearing our John Bs and him with just some o’Hand Me Down on his Head. Marcellus, Mister Pearsall said, I been wanting to treat you with some thing for a’getting us out the Sinkhole and it just come to me I might could do it by getting you a new Hat. You reckon that’d be okay with you. Oh Yes Sir, Marcellus said. You talking bout one like yall got huh. Well I reckon I could be if you don’t like any a’them Fancy Dan Straw Sombreros that Mexkin got right over there. I usted to wear one just like that my self, Calley said, but the Pretty Girls wouldn’t let me a’lone and I had to give it a’way almost fore it got broke in good. So we went over there, Papa said, and Marcellus picked him out one so big you couldn’t hardly even tell they was some body under it. I like this one here, he said and o’Calley said, Yes Sir and it’s gonna look a’lot better when you get a new pair a’Boots on your Feet to go long with it ain’t it. And then, Papa said, we went over to a’nother Mexkin and o’Calley treated Marcellus to a pair a’Boots and Why o’Marcellus throwed his shoulders back and went to strutting round like o’Genral Lee just give him a Medal. I wish I had me some Spurs to put on these Boots here like you got Mister Pearsall, he said. Well Marcellus you work hard and save your money like I did and maybe one day you can go buy you self a Pair fore you get too old to wear em, o’Calley said. Course they ain’t cheap, he said, and it may take you a’while but it’ll give you some thing to do with your Life won’t it. Yes Sir less you give me that pair you got when they wear out and you go buy you a new pair. Well now Marcellus I’m fraid that ain’t never gonna happen, Calley said, cause I wouldn’t have a pair a’Spurs that’d ever wear out on me in the First Place. You understand what I’m saying. Yes Sir I believe I do, Marcellus said, You a’saying I ain’t getting no Spurs today am I. We ain’t got time to talk bout it no more any how, Calley said, we got to get on down to Senyora Garza’s Place and surprise the Ladies. So, Papa said, a’way we went on down the Street then here in a minute me and o’Calley put our John B’s over our Heart cause we was bout to go pass the Alamo cause it was the Holiest Place in Texas and then Marcellus did his too but Oh then, he said, o’Fri
tz let out a Yelp and jumped off o’Sister and run over there behind a Bush and when he come back out a’gain, Papa said, Why he had o’Possum with him and Oh Boy Hidy we was glad to see him and he was us.
WELL POSSUM YOU A SURPRISE AIN’T YOU I said, Papa said, Where’s o’Wasskum and his Daddy a’keeping they self these days. But No, he said, o’Possum just set there while him and o’Fritz was a’sniffing round on each others Behind to say Hidy. I hope some thing ain’t happened to em, Calley said. You don’t never know do you. Well I don’t believe o’Wasskum’d just run off and leave o’Possum to his self do you, Papa said. Not the o’Wasskum I know he wouldn’t, Marcellus said, No Sir. So, Papa said, we looked all round for em but didn’t have no Luck and figgured they went on back Home to Philadelphia but o’Possum didn’t wanna go and just stayed here at Home. Well Calley said nothing left to do but get on over to Senyora Garza’s Place and watch Pela Rosa fall down Dead when she sees me come a’walking in the Door and then, Papa said, we went a’riding on down the street o’Calley just a’grinning at the Future and I reckon me and o’Marcellus was too. What’s the First Thing you gonna say when you see her Mister Pearsall, Marcellus said, You been planning on some thing. I’m probably gonna say Why Pela you a sight for sore Eyes ain’t you, Calley said, you know some thing Sweet like that I reckon. Then o’Calley looked over at me, Papa said, and said How bout you Mister what you gonna say to you own little Sweet Heart. I don’t know I might not say nothing, Papa said, I might wanna see what Annie got to say First. Oh No you don’t never want a Woman to get the First Word in on you or you gonna be standing there til next Tuesday a’chewing on your Tongue cause they won’t be nothing else to do with it, Calley said and Why o’Marcellus just went to laughing bout it. What you laughing bout, Papa said, you don’t know nothing bout no Womens. Well I do now, Marcellus said, and I ain’t gonna forget it neither. Oh and then, Papa said, o’Calley pulled o’Firefoot up short and said Why Lookee yonder by god and when we looked what we seen was that Little Bear tied to that Hitching Rail again like the first time me and o’Wasskum ever seen him but now he had some kind a’Iron contraption round his Head so he couldn’t bite no body and one a’his Eyes was put out and that same Man a’wearing that High Hat was a’Poking him with his Pointy Stick again and laughing bout it and Calley reached out with his Foot and give that Man a little Kick on his Butt to get his attention and said I bet that little Bear don’t like it you a’Poking him with that Stick like that but the Man just laughed and said Well how bout you mine your own Bidness Mister Fancy John B Stetson Hat. Course, Papa said, they was Men a’standing all round and they went to laughing at what that Man called Calley but o’Calley just stepped down off o’Firefoot easy as you please and said Any Body ever Poked you with a Sharp Stick like that Mister and the Man laughed like it was the funniest thing he ever did hear in his Life and said Nope and won’t Never and then, Papa said, o’Calley said Well here’s what it feels like Mister and Oh, Papa said, Why then o’Calley’s Hand flew out like a Rattlesnake Bite and grapped that Pointy Stick right out the Man’s Hand and give him a good Poke with it and Oh then a’nother and a’nother and a’nother and Oh Listen here, he said, that Man took off a’running down the Street to get a’way from all them Pokes but o’Calley run right after him just a’Poking and a’Poking him on his Butt til the Man slipped and fell down in some Horse Do and then went to crying bout it like some body’s little Baby Boy and course, Papa said, all them other Men went to laughing at him all up and down the street to where you couldn’t hardly keep from laughing at him you self. Oh I never seen nothing like it in all my Life, Papa said, and Marcellus hadn’t neither cause him and Fritz and o’Possum all three was over there a’laughing too. And then, Papa said, Calley went over there and took that Contraption off from round that Little Bear’s Head and undid the knot to set him Free but No that Little One Eyed Bear didn’t wanna go Free cause he had him a Friend now and he wadn’t bout to run off and leave him. You sure give that Man a whupping gonna last him a time didn’t you Mister Pearsall, Papa said. Well, Calley said, they say First Thing o’Saint Peter asks you when you get up to the Gate is How was you with the Animals Mister and I didn’t want that Bear Poking Son of a Bitch to slip by.
SO NOW, Papa said, we was a Man and two Boys and three Horses and two Dogs and one little o’One Eyed Bear a’going down the Street there in San Antoneya to Senyora Garza’s Place and when we got there, he said, Why they was People all lined up to get in and that poor o’Loonie with his twisted up Face was a’setting out there on the Board Walk a’Wiggling his little fat Fingers at the end a’his Fins but wadn’t no body a’dropping any Coins in his Tin Pan no moren they was that First Time we ever seen him over by the Joske Brothers Store. But course o’Calley dropped some Coins in his Pan, Papa said, and said Good to see you again Mister. Been a’while ain’t it. Oh and then, Papa said, Why that little o’One Eyed Bear crawled up on the Board Walk and set down right there side that Loonie and then o’Possum set his self down on the other side and they both went to giving his o’Twisted up Face some Licks and when they did, he said, Why that o’Fella started a’wiggling his Fingers and tried to hug em he liked it so much and then all Three of em started Howling bout it like they was Singers in the Choir and Oh then People went to clapping and dropping they Coins in his Tin Pan cause they ain’t never heared nothing like it in all they Life and didn’t never want it to stop. Well he got him some Friends now ain’t he, Calley said, even if one of em’s a One Eyed Bear and the other one’s a Flop Eared Dog. Then, Papa said, we pushed our way on in Senyora Garza’s Place and when we did Why o’Fritz took off a’Running and Jumped up on the Bar where Pela Rosa and Annie was a’Dancing to and Fro just pretty as you please and a’singing Beautiful Dreamer and I bout fell over it was so good to see Annie on top a’the World like this. But then, he said, some Man drunk on some thing or other reached his Hand out and took a’holt a’Pela’s Foot when she danced by then give it a little Shake and said You come Home with me Darling I’ll show you a’nother Dance you ain’t never gonna forget But Oh fore he could say it o’Calley give him a good knock on his Head that put him down on the Floor then tipped his John B and give Pela that big Smile. Hidy Pela, he said, I been a’waiting for you all my whole Life and now Here I am. Then, Papa said, o’Calley reached out his arms to her but No she just went a’Singing and a’Dancing on down the Bar and a’scooping up the Coins and didn’t even look back. I thought she was gonna be your Wife Mister Pearsall, Marcellus said, Ain’t that what you thought. Yes Sir I said, Papa said, but Pela Rosa just danced on off down the Bar and then I seen o’Calley a’going out the Front Door in the other Direction and I knowed we was both Wrong.
WE FOUND O’CALLEY A’SETTING out there in front a’the Alamo on a Bench with his Heart Broke in two, Papa said, and I never seen no body look no Sadder. She picked her a’nother Life over me didn’t she, he said and I said, Yes Sir I believe she did, and then Marcellus said, Yes Sir I believe she did too. And then, Papa said, of a sudden this big o’Dark Cloud come a’rolling over my own Heart and I said Well I reckon o’Annie picked her a’nother Life too didn’t she but right then, he said, here come o’Fritz just a’running out the Dark and wadn’t but a second and Why here come Annie too and I was so glad to see her I didn’t know what to do. I was fraid I was gonna find you gone a’gain, she said, like you was that other time then she put her Hands to her Face and went to crying bout it and I stepped over and give her a Hug cause I felt the same way bout her. Oh Annie, I said, Oh Annie I am so glad to see you here. I thought you was Lost to me For Ever. No, she said, I won’t never be Lost to you For Ever. What bout the Singing and Dancing, Papa said, it ain’t gonna take you a’way like it did Pela Rosa is it. I love to Sing and Dance moren any thing in the World, Annie said, but it don’t own me. Well what you reckon we gonna do next then Annie, Papa said. I just want be with you is all, Annie said. Yes me too Annie, Papa said, then I looked over there and seen o’Calley a’watching us. Dam if the D
oor don’t shut on one Man but what it opens on a’nother just down the Hall, he said. Oh and then here come Senyora Garza out the Dark and stepped up to o’Calley a’setting there on the Bench. You a’looking for a Job Mister or you just passing through Town like most other Men I ever knowed in my Life, she said. I don’t know what I’m a’doing any more, Calley said. I reckon the Good Days is all behind me now. Well why don’t you come work for me then, Senyora Garza said. I could use a Hand with the Rowdys when they go to Drinking and a’Whooping it up. Well I don’t know what Pela’d have to say bout that, Calley said, she hardly even give me a Look. Why she’s the one tole me to come ask you, Senyora Garza said. It ain’t that she don’t Love you, she said, she just don’t wanna go traipsing round the Country like a Gipsy no more is all. Oh it was like the Sun come up on o’Calley then, Papa said, and he was so Happy he just couldn’t get out from under it. I’ll take the Job Senyora, he said, Yes Ma’am and be glad of it. Oh and then, Papa said, here come Pela Rosa a’stepping out the Dark and she give o’Calley a Look and he give her a Look back and then they hugged one another and went off in the Night together back behind the Alamo some wheres and we didn’t hear another Peep out of em.
The Devil's Sinkhole Page 22
