Devil's Canyon: Spanish Gold (Book One)

Chapter 1

The Fishing Hole

It was a cool misty morning in the fall of 1967. My mother was driving me to a new friend’s house to go fishing. We became friends when six of us from the 6th grade were asked to play on the 7th grade football team because of our size and speed, this was the first time in school history that this was done, so we felt special and we were proud to have that honor.

The girls in school were like aliens and talked in a language none of us could understand. They wouldn’t have anything to with us boys and looked at us like people from an unknown planet so the boys would spend their spare time playing sports or hunting and fishing.

Being raised in a farm community kids grow up fast, they have to. It’s not your age or sex but your size, if you can reach the clutch and brake of a tractor, that's when you begin adult work on the farm.

Cody Payne lived north of town on the south edge of the North Salt Fork of the Red River. This would be the first time I had seen Cody's house and I had never met his parents. I knew his father was some kind of food salesman, but I knew nothing about his mother. They were quiet people that kept to themselves. Cody had told me about a pond that nobody ever fished and invited me to come along.

We turned onto a small dirt road that led to a big two-story house. The fog seemed to intensify the closer we got to the river. We pulled up to the house and I got out of the car.

Be careful and watch out for the snakes, Mom said.

I grabbed my fishing pole and a couple of sandwiches my mother had made.

Bye mom, and I’ll call you when we get back.

I started to walk towards the house when I began to get a strange feeling but continued my stride.

It was a beautiful two-story white house with three giant pillars supporting part of the second floor from the porch. There were lattices wrapped around the bottom of the porch with a well-kept flowerbed across the front.

I knocked on the door and waited while I waved goodbye to my mom as she drove away. I waited until somebody open the door only by three or four inches and I felt the most eerie feeling of my young life come over me. I stood there for a couple minutes when I pushed the door open and called out to Cody.

Be right down Kirk, he yelled from the upstairs.

I’ll wait for you on the porch.

There was no way I was going into that house. I walked across the porch and sat down on one of the steps.

I was enjoying the freshness of a heavy dew morning, when Cody came busting out the front door.

Ready to go Kirk?

Hell yes, I replied. I followed Cody as he walked toward the stable.

Ever rode a horse before? Cody asked.

I’ve rode several and we’ve owned a few, why?

Well, do you want to walk over a mile to get to the pond? Cody asked.

No way, was my response.

We walked into the corral and there were two horses, one was a solid black stud horse and the other one was the most beautiful mare I’d ever seen. She was a palomino with a full white mane and tail.

What are their names, I asked.

That black one’s King and that gold one is Dunce.

I thought for a minute and said, Why in the world would you call such a pretty mare Dunce?

She walked over to me and started to rub her head up against my shoulder.

Because she is stupid and crazy and she’ll throw you in a New York minute without any warning, Cody answered.

I started to rub her nose when Cody said, That’s why I’ll ride her.

Cody opened the door to the tack room and we went inside.

That’s King’s saddle, blanket, and here’s his bridle.

I grabbed the bridle and walked over to King. I tried to put it on, when King started bobbing his head up and down backing away from me.

Cody I don’t think King likes me so why don’t you ride him and I’ll ride Dunce.

Cody began to laugh and said, Okay, but don’t get mad at me for laughing my ass off while you're laid out flat on the ground.

I walked over to Cody and handed him King’s bridle. After we saddled the horses, we headed towards the river, which was only 600 to 700 feet from the barn. I had no problems mounting Dunce and I couldn’t believe a horse this calm would do anything unless she was provoked.

There was a trail across the river apparently made by Cody. We started down the south bank with no problems and made it to the riverbed. In the fall, there is little rain in this area, so the riverbed is almost dry.

We rode up the other bank and when I was about halfway up Dunce began to act up. I stopped and rubbed her neck thinking it was because she wasn’t accustomed to me as a rider. I dismounted and led her up the bank, I didn’t want to be bucked off and then roll down a 20-foot embankment.

As we approached the top of the bank, I could see Cody snickering and he said, What’s the matter, why didn’t you ride Dunce to top?

I remounted her and said, Don’t worry about us, we’ll be okay.

Cody turned King around and headed north. We crossed a plowed wheat field that hadn’t been plowed in a while. We came to a road that divided the properties and started to cross into pasture of thick mesquite trees.

I hated the trees, because they had sharp thorns that could slash your skin open just by rubbing across the thorn or maybe because the mesquites seemed to be the favorite hang out for locusts in August that signaled the end of summer, which meant the beginning of SCHOOL.

I looked north at the plateau that was once the bank of the river. It was amazing to me that this river at one time was over a mile wide and 50 foot deep.

Where’s this great fishing place? I asked.

Cody turned on his horse and said, "It’s at the top of the plateau and about 600 or 700 feet beyond the ridge.

I started thinking about how Cody and I met. The only reason we knew each other was because of our size. Cody was about 5’9 and about 145 pounds and I was 5'11 with about 20 more pounds. We were big kids for our age and that was the reason we were on the 7th grade football team.

We continued to navigate through trees, which were getting denser.

Cody, are you sure there’s a trail through this pasture? I questioned.

Cody turned in his saddle and said, I know there is I’ve been up here a hundred times.

We came to the base of the plateau that was about thirty to forty feet high. Cody dismounted and said, We’ll have to lead the horses up this cliff.

I wasn’t going to argue, because it was pretty steep. We topped the cliff without incident and to what, more mesquite trees.

I remembered my grandad use to tell me, 'Son, there’s two things that rattle snakes seem to like, mesquite trees and clay soil so be careful.' "

We mounted our horses and headed north. We came to the bank of the pond and rode to the top.

What the hell, this is your great fishing hole? This is nothing but a cow pond, a mud hole.

Cody dismounted and said, There’s fish in here cause I’ve caught'em.

I began to laugh and said, The only thing you’ve caught out of this pond is a cow turd.

I dismounted when Cody said, Just wait, you’ll see.

I walked over to the edge of the water and continued to tease Cody. I’ll bet this pond is no more than three foot deep at its deepest point.

You don’t have to fish here, you can take Dunce back to the barn.

Okay, Bernice don’t get your panties in a wad, I was just teasing you, but I still don’t think we're going to catch anything.

We started unloading our fishing tackle; I had stuck my two-piece rod and reel in the rifle holster (scabbard) the name some people use. It seems to be a fine rod holder. I began to put my rod together and string the line through the rod eyes.

What kind of bait did you bring? I asked.

Oh shit, I forgot the bait, Cody murmured.

What the hell are we going to fish with, I know that there’s not any bass in here, so we can’t use lures.

I guess we’ll have to catch some frogs and use them.

I looked at Cody and said, Frogs?

I shook my head and said, Where in the world do you see frogs? Oh I get it, were going to use your imaginary frogs to catch your imaginary fish.

Cody gave me a go to hell look. I don’t know what came over me that morning, but I just couldn’t stop joshing Cody, it was just too easy. I laid down my fishing rod and said, Let’s try to find some grasshoppers and use them, but watch out for snakes. I walked toward an area where I could see a few grasshoppers.

You don’t have to remind me, I hate the damn things.

After using our caps to trap a few grasshoppers, we baited our hooks and tossed them in the water. It was about eleven in the morning and I began to get hungry. I walked over to the horses that we had tied to an elm tree, the only one for miles, and I reached into the saddlebag and removed the sandwiches.

I returned to the edge of the water when Cody asked, What’s that?

Sandwiches, didn’t you bring anything to eat?

No, I’m going to eat what I catch, Cody said.

I shook my head and said, I hate to tell you this, but you're going to starve to death.

I reached into the paper bag and grabbed one of the sandwiches. Here, Cody, take this, I said while handing him a sandwich.

No man, I can’t take your last one.

Don’t worry about it, I’ll eat part of the fish that you’re going to catch, I said giggling.

Cody grabbed the sandwich, smiled and said, Go to hell.

We fished for about three hours with not even a hint of a bite. Cody this is a losing battle and we’re not going to catch anything.

He stood up and said, I guess they're not biting.

I started laughing and said, But the mosquitoes are.

I stood and walked over to the horses and said, We probably should water the horses before we head back.

I untied the reins and walked them over to edge of the water.

Are you sure you don’t want to stay a little longer and try to catch something?

I laughed and said, In all honesty, I think we could have the same luck casting into that pasture.

I suggested we go back and fish one of the ponds in the river.

Cody started to reel in his line when he said, I guess we can try that we have plenty of daylight left.

We loaded all our tackle onto the horses and headed back. We came to the edge of the plateau and looked down. It looked farther down than I had remembered.

I’ll have to lead King and Dunce down, Cody said.

We dismounted and I said, I haven’t had any problems with Dunce, so I think I should lead her down and by the way, I hate that name.

We started down the bank and Cody said, Well, it fits her.

No it doesn’t, she been nothing but a lady and from here forward I proclaim her new name to be Goldie, no, Princess Goldie.

You can’t do that it’s my horse.

At the bottom of the hill I said, I just did and who named her Dunce?

I did because IT’S MY HORSE, Cody barked back.

Okay Bernice, don’t hit me with your purse, I joked.

In my orneriest way I said, This is the prettiest horse I have ever seen, HENCE, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD I PROCLAIM HER NAME SHALL BE PRINCESS GOLDIE, SO IT IS WRITTEN, SO IT SHALL BE DONE.

Bullshit, Cody said.

We passed through the mesquite pasture and started across the plowed field.

Kirk, have you ever fished the river?

I’ve fished the south fork of the river and done pretty well, I answered.

Where are the fishing holes?

The closest one I know of is about four or five miles west of town, I replied.

How did you get there?

I walked and it’s a long way, that’s the reason I don’t go there much.

Too bad you don’t have horses, Cody said.

We reached the river and I started Goldie down the