Huck Out West(86)

“That must a been something to see!” I says. “A cretur with two members, joined up from a crane, prairie dog, goat and trout, plain stops me cold in my tracks, never mind the rest!”

Eeteh says he thought I warn’t going to bust in no more. I says again I was sorry, and I promised to keep my mouth shut, but I only wanted to know which parts come from which creturs so’s I could picture it, and whether or not they missed them when Coyote borrowed them. Eeteh says he’s really glad he didn’t try to tell me about Coyote in the Land of the Dead.

“Ain’t that a story about afterlife soul creturs? I thought you don’t take no stock in souls.”

Eeteh sighed and says that’s just what he means.

I was plumb lost. I reckoned we could start over around the camp fire tonight with them two talking members fighting, which also must be something to see. Eeteh hain’t said whether they was rassling or boxing or fighting any which way like boys do.

For now, I says how amazing it was it all turned out like it done.

Eeteh says he was amazed, too, so he asked Coyote about it. I didn’t ask him if he meant Coyote or his talking members. Coyote puzzled it out, Eeteh says, and what he finally says was, it was a pretty good story and stories was like that.

“It was only a story?”

“Story never ONLY, Hahza. YOUR story.”

“That warn’t exactly what Coyote told me.”

“What? Coyote talk to you?”

“Yep. It was whilst we was galloping across the plains and into the hills last night. Somehow he’d crawled up on Tongo’s croup and was riding behind me. I dasn’t turn round, fast as we was going, so I don’t know whether it was all of Coyote nor only his member, or members. Besides, it was pitch dark and I wouldn’t a seen nothing if I COULD turn round, though it most seemed like he was setting on my shoulder.”

“Hah! Then it is COYOTE story?”

“More his’n mine. If there’s a few stretchers in it, I ain’t to blame. I was surprised he’d talk to me who warn’t even a native, but he says don’t NOBODY own him, and I says that’s good, because don’t nobody own me nuther. He warn’t convinced a that and says him and Tongo was going to make me prove it. And that’s just what they done.”

I was afeard Eeteh’d be angry I smouched Coyote from him, but he was laughing. What he says is, it must a been Raven who’d flew up and landed on my shoulder. I must of felt his little feet. Raven was a trickster like Coyote, he says, and a considerable fraud and liar. It was easy to mix them up. Both Coyote’s talking members was bigger’n better than his’n, so Raven offered to fly up into the sky to gather up all Coyote’s body parts in trade for one of the members. Coyote had a spare, so he done that, but when he changed himself back together again, he found he only had half a member, and no head. Maybe Raven had forgot his head behind like he said, or maybe he’d played another trick. No matter. Coyote didn’t have no head, and that considerably disadvantaged him. Raven had the other half a member and says if Coyote give him his half, he’ll fly back out and collect his head.

I was lost again. I didn’t know if both halfs of Coyote’s member was still talking, and, if nuther of them warn’t, then who was, since Coyote himself didn’t have no head. It was like I’d left my own head somewheres and had fell backwards into the night. Eeteh had plain enough won Coyote back, and I let him. There was a crick down below us in the twilight without no prospectors on it, where we could probably fish up a supper. Best to make camp, I says to Eeteh, and muddytate on Coyote’s misfortunes over the last of Shadrack’s whisky, and my pard yayed that.

THE END. YOURS TRULY, HUCK FINN.