Bones

Chapter 1: Boys Will Be Boys

Every story has a place and a beginning. The Ohlone Indians were said to believe that the world was once covered with water except for the mountain peaks now known as Pico Blanco in the south near the Big Sur coast and Mount Diablo in the north on the edge of the great Central Valley. On these mountain peaks lived three beings; Eagle, Coyote, and Hummingbird. Eagle was strong, wise, and powerful; he spent his days hunting. Coyote and Hummingbird were of a different sort. Old Man Coyote was full of tricks and very irresponsible. Hummingbird was efficient and usually able to get the better of Coyote in most things. It is said that Muwekma, the first people, descended from Coyote. It is entirely commonplace for Old Man Coyote to get himself mixed up in any kind of story including this one you are about to read.

Henry and Darius were sitting on the porch sorting through a pile of baseball cards. Henry held up one the cards and frowned. “I’m not sure about this guy. Remember that drug investigation story we saw on the news? He’s a free agent now and Dad said no one will want to sign him because he makes trouble for other players” “Well, I like him and I think he will be back” Darius responded. The boys were arguing the merits of certain players for inclusion in their newly created Wall of Fame. They had lately acquired a four by six foot bulletin board made of cork and they intended to mount the cards on the board for display on Henry’s porch.

They were both nine years old and besides being next door neighbors, both were assigned to Mrs. Studebaker’s third grade class at Bufkin Elementary school. Darius’ family had recently moved to the area from Illinois right after the school year started. On his first day at school, Henry had volunteered to be the “buddy” who would help Darius understood what was expected of him in class.

“Darius, what do you know about baseball anyway? Your team hasn’t won a World Series in what, a hundred years?” Henry was smiling when he said this and Darius didn’t bother to respond. He had taken the suspect player’s card from Henry to examine the statistics on the back of the card. “We’ll put him on the board. It was my turn, right?” “Sure” Henry said and the matter was resolved.

From a distance the boys could see two figures approaching on dirt bikes. “Do you know those guys?” Darius asked. The newcomers arrived at Garrett Ranch Court and began amusing themselves by jumping the curbs and bouncing back on to the street. Finally they cut across the grass island in the middle of the street and came to a skidding halt in front of Henry’s driveway.

Scott and Wayne were also third graders at Bufkin Elementary school but they were in Mr. Wilson’s third and fourth grade combo class. Henry had once been friends with Scott but lately they had become rivals. Mr. Wilson’s boys had recently defeated Mrs. Studebaker’s team in a softball game on the lunch hour. Although the Wilson team had the advantage of fielding some older fourth grade players, the boys would not consider this on account of pride and class spirit. The final score was all that mattered and the Wilson team was winning by a score of eight to four when the bell rang at the end of lunch period. “Too much emphasis on competition” Henry’s Mom had said when she heard about it. Henry’s Dad was more interested to know if the Studebaker team had pulled together and tried their best. He wouldn’t admit it, but he loved competition and Henrywas growing up to be the same way.

“What’s up?” Wayne said with a really smug look on his face. “I think I’ve got more cards at home than what you have in that shoe box” said Scott. “Didn’t Henry lose some of his cards in that marble game last week?” said Wayne as he held his hand up in the air to receive a high-five slap from his buddy. Henry and Darius stayed quiet and waited. It was becoming obvious to them that there was probably some other reason for this visit. Scott and Wayne wouldn’t usually come down on to Garrett Ranch court; instead they preferred to ride their bikes along the railroad tracks. On this day, they had come to establish some new bragging rights.

Wayne nudged Scott, “Are you going to tell ‘em?” he asked. “We were at the creek in that spot near the field, you know, behind the church. So Wayne was digging and look what we found!” Scott held his hand in a fist and opened his palm, revealing a couple of stones that had obviously been worked into a pointed shape. “These are real Indian arrowheads!” Henry and Darius both leaned forward to have a look, but Scott pulled his hand away and then he reached into his pack. “There’s more. Look at this” he said. What Scott held in his hand now caused both Henry and Darius to take a step back. It appeared to be a large fragment of bone, perhaps a piece partial skull. Was it human? Henry and Darius weren’t sure but they reacted with a sense of excitement mixed with fear. “Are you crazy?” Henry said. “That kind of thing doesn’t belong in your backpack! “ Darius told them. Scott and Wayne both smiled. “We’re thinking about going to the newspaper people to tell them how we found Indian bones and arrowheads. Totally cool!” Wayne boasted.

While Wayne was speaking, no one had noticed a small boy approaching from behind. Suddenly the newcomer grabbed the bone fragment from Scott’s hand and ran away.

Donnie was smaller than most third graders, but he usually found a way to make a big splash whenever he got involved with anything. He had moved to the ranch with his Aunt a couple of years before and the rumor was that his parents had split up before he was born and that he didn’t even know his Father. He lived with his Aunt and his cousin Jeb, a teenager who was old enough to drive a car and smoke cigarettes. Donnie was now stooped behind a tree in his backyard and showing off the item he had just stolen to his friend Melanie. “Eeeeew” was her first reaction, but she couldn’t take her eyes off it either. “It’s part of a human skull and we need to find the rest of it. We’ll have the best Halloween display in town!” Donnie told the wide-eyed young girl. Melanie started jumping up and down excitedly as she spoke: “Yeah that was funny. Those boys were so mad but they couldn’t catch you. That was funny!” Donnie had told his cousin that the other boys were picking on him. Melanie was still gushing with goofy laughter about the situation. “Jeb was, like ah, getting in their faces and scaring them, wasn’t he?” she said. Donnie became serious. “They went away but they might come back later when Jeb isn’t here. We need to think of some story to tell. Hey maybe if we find the rest of the skull, we can say it belonged to us and they had stolen it. It belongs to me, you know it.” “OK” Melanie responded lamely. There was a flash of concern on her brow but she knew Donnie was testing the limits and he usually managed to survive without any serious scars. Donnie was good at collecting lectures but the whole process would usually turn out to be waste of time for everyone involved. In fact, it was to his advantage that he didn’t understand half the things that people tried to tell him.

After Wayne and Scott had left, Henry was unsure what to do. They couldn’t let those boys take credit for knowing anything about American Indian history. “They won’t even know how to explain what they’ve found anyway” Henry thought. “Hey Darius, we need to go to the creek ourselves and see what else may be there.” Darius nodded in agreement. “I know a secret path” Henry told him. The boys decided that they absolutely must go to the site right away. They both dreamed of obtaining a collection of arrowheads and beads. “But Henry, don’t you think it was wrong for them to dig up the bones? That may have come from a person’s grave” Darius asked. The boys exchanged worried looks and then glanced over at Donnie’s house. “He’s crazy” said Henry. “It won’t do any good to talk to him about it. Besides if he thinks we are interested in this bone stuff, he’ll only want to find a way to draw more attention to himself no matter what kind of trouble it causes.”

The creek was actually not far from the Garrett Ranch housing development, but they would need to use a shortcut to get there, otherwise, they would have to go out on the main road and risk being observed by other children. Henry and Darius had hopes of keeping their journey a secret. The shortcut involved hopping over a fence from someone’s backyard and then passing through a small farm that was behind the Garrett Ranch complex. Henry had explored the territory and knew there was a gate leading into the farm just behind that fence. His Dad had told him that at one time the Garret family and the farmers were next door neighbors. The gate provided a private entrance to the farm from the Garrett property. It had been abandoned when the old ranch house was torn down to make room for the new housing community. Henry had never been on the other side of that fence and he wasn’t sure if it would be OK to walk through the farm either, but it was the fastest way to get to the creek. He was worried about missing out whatever mysteries lay out in that field that Scott and Wayne may have overlooked.

Henry and Darius gathered some tool in their backpacks and were about ready to leave when they were interrupted by Melanie and Donnie. “What are you doing?” Melanie asked in her usual manner. She always sounded as if she was accusing someone of a crime, but it was really just her way of butting in on other people’s business. She didn’t really consider Donnie to be a close friend, but he could be counted on to make something happen even on the most boring day. “What are you doing!” she demanded again. Melanie could tell that Henry and Darius were packed up to go somewhere.

Henry paused a moment and whispered to Darius who then addressed the other children. “Why don’t you come with us? We’re going on a treasure hunt. Donnie, you can bring that bone thing with you.” Darius was smiling because he knew Donnie would take the bait. “Yeah, maybe we’ll find the rest of that skull for you” Henry added. Donnie and Melanie were both jumping with excitement like preschoolers at a party. Donnie could easily imagine that he was going to be the coolest boy in the third grade. “Besides” he thought, “I’ll need some way to keep Scott and Wayne off my back”.

Chapter 2: King Tom

On the other side of the Garrett Ranch fence and behind the gate there was a small farm of about ten acres and on that farm lived one of the most fearsome creatures a group of suburban school children were ever likely to encounter. Meleagris Gallopavo is the scientific name for this creature, but his owner named him King Tom. King Tom was a turkey. He was born in the wild and had come to this farm to forage and gotten separated from the flock when a coyote attacked them. The farmer’s wife had found him in the orchard and raised him from a small chick. Eventually he was let loose from his cage and allowed to roam free. King Tom enjoyed himself so much that he never bothered to leave the farm from that day onward. On this particular day, the farmer and his wife were busy elsewhere while King Tom was patrolling the property as he usually did.

King Tom stood about four feet tall. He had grown to massive girth and weighed more than fifty pounds. He was about twice as large as any wild turkey. His feathers and body were dark shades of black, brown, and grey. His feet were clawed and very sharp. The crown of his head and forehead were white and his nape was blue. His two most striking features were his throat which was bright red and his eyes which were blacker than coal. These eyes were wild and when disturbed, they conveyed the thickest concentration of anger that ever existed in a single creature.

Tom’s job, as he saw it, was to protect the farm and himself from any intruders. He paid special attention to driveway in the front and the fence along the back. It had been many years since he’d encountered any person along the back fence but he had managed to scare off raccoons and even a coyote once. Watching him from afar, you wouldn’t immediately know that King Tom had a propensity for violence. He appeared to be a large ground-walking bird that simply went about foraging for acorns, berries, leaves, or the occasional small insect. King Tom was very mischievous though. He walked about slowly, stopping often to lean down and pick something off the ground to eat. He didn’t appear to be alert, but behind those eyes lurked a mastermind of danger.

The four children found easy passage through a neighbor’s yard, where they helped each other climb over the back wall. In a moment they had arrived and were now looking into a different world than what they were used to. The old farm house was about fifty yards distant and from where they stood they could see the back porch. The back portion of the farm was mostly just an old apple orchard with various ladders and baskets strewn about. They could see an old truck parked around the side of the house, but no sign of movement. The farm was a very quiet place. There was a wire fence between the wall and the orchard. Just as Henry had mentioned, there was a gate that led into the orchard.

Donnie led the way toward the gate, followed closely by Melanie with Darius and Henry lagging behind. Donnie was eager to get across to the creek and Melanie followed close behind him. Suddenly Henry stopped in this tracks. He was staring at something in the driveway. King Tom had noticed the children immediately and was moving nonchalantly in their direction. Donnie opened the gate without care. Both he and Melanie began walking through the orchard. Henry and Darius were still behind the gate. “Do you see it?” Henry asked. “Yep” Darius replied. “I don’t think we ought to go in there. Hey Donnie, come back! Melanie stop!” Neither paid any attention to Henry’s warning. Henry continued to plead with them, but he was also remembering something his Mom had told him. She said that not to follow other children into dangerous places or not to stick around if it looked like they were about to try something that was obviously stupid.

Donnie was soon looking straight into the eyes of the largest turkey any of them had ever seen. King Tom was only about fifty feet away and he slyly lowered his head and made a garbled noise that sounded like “tut, gut, tut”. “Ha! I’ll whack him if he comes any closer to me” Donnie announced loudly. He had been taking karate lessons for a few months and now assumed a fighting stance he’d been taught. “Ai-Yaaaaaah!” he yelled. King Tom was not impressed. He lifted his head up and prepared to charge. A light went on in Melanie’s head and she began moving away from Donnie. King Tom started beating his wings rapidly and came at Donnie like airplane going down the runway. It was a powerful sight to see! The big bird was partially airborne and had become a ferocious ball of energy. Donnie tried to kick but old Tom easily overpowered him and knocked him down. For a few horrifying seconds King Tom stood above Donnie, grabbing and clawing his long hair. Donnie rolled over and managed to get up. He tried to run but King Tom was on him again in a flash, this time tearing at his pocket and ripping off a piece of his jeans. Although everything happened quickly, Darius noticed that the bone fragment had fallen out of Donnie’s pocket in the scuffle.

Melanie ran back toward the gate screaming like a banshee. Unfortunately the noise attracted the attention of old Tom. He whirled about and came after her. Henry picked up a rock and threw it at the crazed turkey, but his aim was off. Another throw and this time it was on target! The rock made a loud thunk as it hit the side of the turkey. King Tom was now standing between Donnie and Melanie, looking confused. Seeing an opportunity, Darius opened the gate and came into the orchard. He stood there waving his arms and hollering. “Come on! Bring it on!” Darius yelled. Henry was astounded! He would have to find a way to save his friends. He groped around on the ground, hoping to find a few more large stones!

Melanie tried to make a run for the gate and almost made it, but King Tom raced after her and managed to catch her with one last lunge. “Help!” Melanie screamed and she cried uncontrollably while King Tom grabbed at her ankle and then tore a shoe off her foot.

Darius ran over to where the bone fragment had fallen and picked it up. “I have to return it” he was thinking and his faced was glazed with a robotic expression. Donnie was standing nearby petrified while watching as the wild turkey appeared ready to gobble down one little girl. When the shoe came off, Melanie was momentarily free from the turkey’s grasp. King Tom gave the shoe a mighty shake and flung it aside. Suddenly everyone could hear a loud “thunk”. Henry had scored another direct hit on the turkey and was now throwing stones one after another from the area near the gate. His father would have been proud if he could have seen how these dire circumstances had brought out evidence of a potentially great baseball pitcher.

Melanie made it safely to gate minus one shoe. She stood beside Henry and the two of them were screaming at King Tom. Donnie made a mad dash toward the gate but King Tom was just too fast! The turkey pushed at Donnie from behind and momentarily trapped him by grabbing his jeans. When a large shred ripped off, Donnie broke free and finally made it to safety behind the gate.

King Tom stood near the gate and stared down his enemies. Henry had run out of rocks and was unsure what to do next. Darius was in the orchard alone with only one thing in his favor. Old Tom had forgotten about him. Instead of turning back toward Darius, the turkey charged at the fence, chortling at the other children and scaring them back. However a turkey might reason things, King Tom was obviously pleased with his performance. Though he might have taken a few lumps, he’d given these intruders something to remember. Look at them moving back away! “Get outta here!” he chortled in the international language of turkeys. After one last ferocious call, King Tom turned and very casually began walking toward the house. There was a woman in the backyard calling to him. “Tom! Yeeeeeeeeeeew! Tom! I’ve got feed for ya!” the woman shouted.

Darius walked over near the gate, picked up Melanie’s shoe, and joined his friends. “Wasn’t that cool?” he told Henry and then took the bone fragment out of his pocket and showed it to him. “Finders keepers” Darius said when he noticed that Donnie watching. “I think we better go back home now” said Henry. For once there was no argument.

Chapter 3: Coyote Comes In a Dream

Later that afternoon, there was a knock on Henry’s door and the little black mutt Kirby ran toward the front of the house barking his head off. Henry came to the top of the stairs and looked out the window. It was Darius, but he didn’t wait there long enough. Darius was afraid of dogs. It didn’t matter what kind of dog it was or who it belonged to, the presence of a dog always made him nervous. Dogs could sense this fear. With some of them, the prey instinct would take over and the dog might growl or bark at Darius, thus completing a cycle that ended with Darius being scared out of his wits.

“Hey Darius!” Henry yelled from an upstairs window. “I’m coming down. Wait!” When Darius had gotten a sufficient distance from the house, he stopped and waited for Henry to join him. “When are we going to the creek? I don’t want to keep this thing.” Darius was carrying the bone fragment with him. “We should bring it back and bury it” he practically demanded and Henry wasn’t sure what to do. There really wasn’t enough time for them to try and go to the creek now. “Darius, it’s really too late.” Darius looked nervous. “Please Henry, can you take this skeleton bone? It scares me to even think about it”. Henry thought for a moment before answering. “We can’t risk that my Dad will find out. He’s already upset. Melanie’s parents were here earlier and somehow it became my fault that something happened to her and Donnie.” “I know” Darius replied. “Donnie is never responsible for anything.” Henry nodded in agreement and then suggested they would ride their bikes to the creek the next morning. “Well Henry, my Dad is coming home tomorrow afternoon, so we’ll need to get back before my Mom is ready to drive to the airport.” Darius walked back toward his home and went around the house through the back gate. He very carefully hid the bone fragment beneath some leaves in the backyard and ran inside the house. There were tears in his eyes.

That night, Darius had great difficulty in trying to sleep. His mind was full of fear and now he wished with all his heart he had not gotten involved. When he finally fell asleep, he had a dream of a fierce coyote that was stalking him. It chased him through a field of tall grass and when Darius came to the edge of a creek, there was no where else to run. He used his remaining strength to climb on top of a large rock and he clung there completely out of breath. The coyote growled and advanced menacingly toward him and then it leaped up, attempting to grab his leg and pull him from the relative safety of the rock. Suddenly Darius lost his grip and fell. He quickly rolled on to his stomach and buried his face and closed his arms around his neck to protect his face. The coyote snarled and bit at his fingers and then everything became quiet.

The images in the dream changed and the coyote was loping across a field. Several times it stopped to look around, as though anticipating an intruder. Darius heard the voices, but could not understand them. He was filled with apprehension and then he had a sensation of his body being restricted. Darius was unable to move his arms or legs! “I’ve been swallowed whole by the coyote” he thought and it seemed that he was now only a brain without a body.

He tried to remember his Mom and after a bit he could hear her voice. It was a voice filled with worry and words of warning about things that little boys should not do.
The last images of the dream involved a group of people gathered around a fire. Everyone was shouting and the coyote was there too, lying outside an encampment in the tall grass. Its eyes were glowing as the wind moved the blades of grass across its face. Its long nose sniffed at the breeze and its ears stood attentive to any sound.

Darius woke up frightened and shivering uncontrollably. First the thoughts of the creepy skeleton to keep him awake and now this wild dog haunting his sleep! He wanted to go to his Mom for help but he believed she’d be disappointed if she found out he had been involved in an incident with the other children. Hadn’t she mentioned on more than one occasion that he should stay away from Donnie? Darius got up out of bed, still trembling as he fumbled through the process of getting dressed. He came downstairs to the living room and curled up on the couch with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

It was only after his Mom had come down and fixed him a bowl of warm oatmeal with raisons that he was finally able to steady himself. The oatmeal was delicious and there was fresh orange juice too! Darius was grateful for this place of refuge. He wished his Father were home. Wouldn’t it be nice if they could team up with Henry’s family and go hiking? Unfortunately, his father was almost completely out of the family picture these days. The family had moved from the Midwest after his father accepted a position as an executive at a large software company. Right now his father was back east and had been on a business trip for over a week. Even when he was at home, he got up early for work and didn’t usually return home until at least eight in evening. He seldom shared dinner with his wife and son these days. More often than not, his busy schedule also included going in to work on the weekends with the only accommodation being that he might eat breakfast with the family on Sunday mornings. There was always a crisis at work or a new project to push through. He was definitely not the same man that Darius had admired for jogging along the shores of Lake Michigan when they lived near Chicago. Darius used to ride alongside on his bike and amazed at how difficult it was to keep up with his father. Now it seemed to Darius that his father was becoming slower, fatter, and grumpier every time he saw him.


Chapter 4: The Dig

Earlier that morning a research team from Pacific Western University arrived at Broadway Baptist Church. The team consisted of members of the faculty from both the Physical and Cultural Anthropology departments along with a group of student volunteers. They had received permission to excavate the field beside the church in hopes of recovering evidence of an aboriginal settlement in the area.

Around the same time, Darius went out to meet Henryin front of the Garrett Ranch tower and they prepared to go to the area near the creek that Wayne and Scott had described. Darius was carrying the “skeleton”, as he now referred to the bone fragment, in his backpack. Darius was now convinced that it would be bad for all of them if they did not return the skeleton back to where it came from.

Donnie stood on this front porch directly across the street and watched Darius and Henry. He could not resist an urge to taunt them. “I can tell Henry’s Dad what you are doing and you guys will be in trouble”. Henry knew that Donnie was bluffing. He would not really consider approaching a grown-up person to tell them anything beyond “I don’t know” or “I didn’t do it”. “Why don’t you ask your Aunt to bring you out shopping? Don’t you need a new pair of jeans?” Darius asked him. “Looks like that turkey did a good job with your hair Donnie” Henry said. “Are you kidding, his hair always looks like it was styled by a turkey!” Darius added and the boys shared a good laugh. Ignoring Donnie, they rode off down the court on their bikes and turned on to Broadway Boulevard... They jumped over the railroad tracks and raced as fast as they could toward the creek bridge and took the creek path that ran behind Broadway Baptist church.

When Henry and Darius arrived near the field, they were stunned to find a large group of people gathered around a stack of equipment and tools. “Uh-oh” Henry said. “Maybe we’ll be more trouble now. We better leave before they see us. “No!” Darius shouted. “We have to return the skeleton, even if we have to ask these people for help”. Henryknew that his friend was determined enough to go on without him, so he decided to press on. The boys rode straight up to where the group had assembled.

Two of the men were discussing something and one of them was waving his arms as he spoke. “Before we begin, I want to make sure you understand the county law concerning the recovery of artifacts. If there is any evidence of ceremonial burial, we’ll need to inform the county as well as the Muwekma tribal council!” The other man was much older and Darius noticed that he looked like a real archeologist. The older man answered in a very dismissive tone. “Professor Murphy, as long as this doesn’t impede on the real work being done here, I’ll leave it to folks like you to sort out the politics”. Professor Murphy was disappointed at the other man’s lack of respect for the cultural viewpoint. “Professor McAllister, I don’t know if its true, but I heard that one time a Muwekma tribal elder grabbed a shovel away from an archeologist and threatened to clobber him with it. You might want to treat this subject a little more seriously”. The two men stood facing one another and neither was sure where the confrontation might be headed.

“Wait! Please! Wait!” Henry shouted. The group was startled by the sound of the young boy’s voice. “We need your help” Darius pleaded. He produced the bone fragment and held it up for Professor McAllister to look at. “It‘s this skeleton sir, some boys found it right here in this field. Can you help us?” Professor McAllister was the kind of man who believed that emotion should not take the place of reason and the desperate look in the little boy’s face was enough to convince him he should try to understand what had made him so upset. He took the bone fragment from Darius who continued speaking with a choked voice. “Mister, I think this is part of a human skull, isn’t it?” Darius and Henry waited anxiously to see what the verdict might be. Professor McAllister examined the bone fragment for a moment and then smiled at them. “Boys, this is definitely not part of a human skull. It more likely belongs to a coyote. It’s not something to get worked up about, ok?”

The professor then turned and addressed the students, ignoring Professor Murphy who always managed to antagonize him with issues that were not related to science as he saw it. He held the bone up for his students and pointed out some of the features that indicated origin. Although he had the reputation as one of the foremost researcher scientists on the west coast, Professor McAllister enjoying working with his students and showing them a practical application of the scientific method.

After Professor McAllister had passed the bone around and completed his discussion, Henry came over and tapped his shoulder. “Are you looking for Indian bones?” Henry asked him. “Well, it’s definitely not bones I’m interested in. We’d like to find out more about how the people lived in this place a long, long time ago”.

The boys asked the archeology students to keep the bone fragment and for a little while, they stayed around to watch the progress of the dig. Ultimately they found the whole process to be very tedious without yielding even so much as another coyote bone. The boys could not understand why Professor McAllister obsessed over every minute detail of the excavation.

On their way back home, Darius told Henry about his dream of being swallowed by a wild dog. “So maybe it had something to do with that coyote bone” Henry said. “It sounds scary to me too. I’m glad we were able to leave this kind of thing for Professor McAllister to deal with. He didn’t seem to worry much about it, did he?” Darius was deep in thought. “Darius?” Henry wanted to know if his friend was going to be ok. “Henry, you are right, but I’m still afraid of nightmares and dogs too.” As they rode back home, Henry was thinking about the awful dream. “Darius, I have something that may help you.”

After they had returned home, Henry came met Darius outside and he was carrying something that looked like a large spider web. It was made with thick string and sticks with two feathers. Henry handed it to Darius. “This is a Dream Catcher. Put it near where you sleep and any bad dream will be caught in the web and die in the morning when the sun shines on the web. The old coyote will not come back to disturb your sleep”. Darius took the Dream Catcher and held it toward the sky, looking through the web and out into the distant hills. He wasn’t sure if it would work, but it looked cool anyway. “Where did this come from anyway?” “I got it from an Indian in the market at the pow-wow near Gilroy last year” Henry answered. “Darius, maybe you can come with me if we go back again. We can get Indian fry bread with strawberries and cream and watch the ceremonial dances. You’ll really like the drummers too!”.

Chapter 5: Little Dogs

The next afternoon was a typical Sunday on Garrett Ranch Court. All the children were busy riding their bikes and playing at games on the grass. “Henry!” It was his Mom calling out. “It’s time to leave now”. Henry raced over to join her. He was so excited he could hardly contain himself. Today was the day he had waited for since he was a toddler. He was going to have a puppy of his own! His Dad came out and joined them at the car. They were just about ready to take off when Henry spotted Darius coming out of his front door. “Wait!” he shouted. “Mom, Dad, lets ask if Darius can come with us. Can we?” Receiving permission to pursue this idea, Henry exited the car. “Darius, we are going up in the mountains to get the new puppy for me. Would you like to come with us?” Darius had never had an opportunity to see a litter of puppies before. His Mom came out on the front porch and the boys asked her if Darius could come along with Henry’s family. “It wouldn’t hurt for him to get a little more used to the dogs”, she said. “Sure, you can go”. The boys climbed into the back of the truck and off they went!

They took the freeway exit toward Mount Hamilton and drove up the twisting road for a few miles before turning down a side road that dead ended near a little mountain farm. “Here it is!” his Mom announced. A friendly looking woman with long grey hair came out to greet them and led them back near the barn. There inside a straw bed were two of the coolest looking little dogs Henry had ever seen. “They are part Australian Cattle and part Terrier” the woman told him. “But I thought there was just one” Henry said. “One for you” said the lady, “but you’ll have to pick him out. The other will need to go to someone else if we can find a good owner.”

Both of the puppies looked identical except for the grey and black spots that were patterned differently over a brown and somewhat shaggy undercoat. They were both male and one of the little pups leaped forward and stumbled onto Henry’s knee, making an easy choice for him. “I choose this one!” Henry announced. “Wait! I’ve got an idea. Mom do you think Darius should have a puppy?” Henry’s Mom considered the idea for a moment. “Well, Henry’s Dad, what do you think?” Henry’s Dad smiled and told the often repeated story of how he had been afraid of dogs when he was a boy until he had one day received the gift of a small puppy to be his pet. “What do you say, Darius?” Darius did not answer with words but he was busy playing with the other puppy.

Henry’s Mom called Darius’ Mom and after a rather lengthy discussion, an understanding was reached. “She has agreed to this. But you need to promise that you will help Darius. Won’t you do that?” Henry agreed and they loaded two puppies in one crate and drove back down the winding mountain road toward home. Darius had a look of wonderment on his face and could not take his eyes off the crate in the back of the truck. “Wow, Dad is going to be surprised!” was all he could think to say.

The End

Created by Bill Keys
billgkeys@yahoo.com
facebook.com/bill.keys

Autumn

Autumn

He waits in the gray quiet of dawn,
On a road bordered by green corn fields,
The headlights of a yellow bus approach.
He sinks low in the seat to avoid the stares.

California lingered on his mind like a stream,
Eight-lane highways crammed with cars,
The wild pacific crashing against the seacoast,
The golden color of summer in the hills.

Afternoon and the bus stopped by the roadway,
He stalks an empty path through the fields,
Companioned with an angry wind,
This strange wonder of not belonging.

He carries a pellet gun into the woods,
Aiming to kill and thinking himself alone,
But the barrel jams, breaking the coil,
An old crow taunts him from the fence.

He thought of the sharp templed preacher;
Hair slicked back and mouth contorted,
Hysterical voice on a rampage,
Chasing through the long Sunday morning.

Twilight and he emerges on the gridiron,
The line coach whistles the scrimmage,
He takes the ball and crashing forward,
Falling to the touch of cool green grass.

Regaining his feet, he comes back,
Pushing and shoving against the red jerseys;
Fighting back with desperate energy,
Until the greater number swallows him.

That night he wakes from a long dream,
His body shivers in the darkness;
He heard an owl weeping in the woods;
He stood up and looked out the window.

One by one the stars fade in the blue night.

Created by Bill Keys
billgkeys@yahoo.com
facebook.com/bill.keys

Henry and Star

This faded picture
Fingered with light touch,
My Grandfather,
With his Stevens fedora,
His eyes in the shadow of the brim,
Mounted on the horse called Star,
Dusty fields for background,
In Oklahoma

No, it was Cherokee Nation then,
Living a rough and ready life,
Ranch work; sunlight and moonlight,
But the story took another path,
Flames of greed across our nation,
The land divided against our will,
Lost to the lawyers at last,
In Oklahoma

The family straggled westward,
Became migrant workers,
Picking fruit in California,
Until the war brought better work,
A welder in an Oakland shipyard,
And war ended and he returned,
Spent the last days dying young,
In Oklahoma

Ask what there is to know,
Even Grandma won’t say much,
“Born in Indian territory”
Before Oklahoma
“Half Cherokee”
“Those were hard days”
Focus on the tattered image,
Horse and rider cast a long shadow

by Billy Keys
billgkeys@yahoo.com
facebook.com/bill.keys