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Sunday, April 30, 2023

CHAPTER 2: LOST N FOUND

Art by Powell? And taken from a issue of nature boy comics


 So the day came, Pee-Pa had come to the decision to move him and his family all the way across Texas, some folks say he was looking for fortune, others say he was looking for a better life and some even say that he was just adventurous and possibly looking for a new thing to fight, ultimately though, this resulted in Pecos's family in its entirety uprooting and moving on their way.


So Pecos, his siblings, his Mee-Ma and Pee-Pa hitched up their wagon and began their long journey, but, less then a day into the journey they were passing the Pecos River, and his father gave a holler.


Pee-Pa: KIDS LOOK, that eright there is the Pecos River, the thing Little Bill was named after.


So all the kids looked for a second, and quickly lost interest and went back to ruff housing, playing and just doing what they were doing, all except Bill, who was mesmerized by the glistening river, so mesmerized in fact that he was soon staring at the twisting line of shimmering water across the landscape with almost his entire body out of the wagon, didn't take much to knock Bill out of the cart and send him tumbling without anyone the wiser as the wagon hit a rock and Bill went a rolling.


So Bill began bouncing down, down and down, until finally, Little Bill fell into the river, now Bill was a tough little dude as drinking them thirty bottles of hard alcohol had shown, but that river might have just been tougher, Bill was swimming as hard as he could but to no avail, truly, the situation looked hopeless as Bill began blacking out and sinking in the inhospitable torrents and undercurrent of the rushing river, as it tried to claim the poor baby.


Until from above Bill, came a shadow, that shadow nipped baby Bill by the scruff of his neck and quickly took him to shore, and when Bill got to dry land once more and began breathing again, he was able to see his savior.


It was a coyote, which was odd, considering that Bill could have sworn he saw a man be the one who grabbed him, but Bill wasn't too concerned about that, just grateful to be breathing again, then the coyote spoke.


Coyote: Hello little guy, my name is Coyote, it seems like you got yourself into quite a bad situation, so I decided to help ya out of it, say, mind telling me your name little guy.


Bill gave Coyote a strange look, cocked head and all, but soon pointed to the river and back to himself, not exactly having the whole speaking thing down yet.


Coyote: Hmmm, that river, that river has had many names over the years but I'm guessing your name is the same as the things most recent name, so, nice to meet you Pecos.


Coyote was met with a giggling happy Pecos who began clapping his hands together at the mention of his name.


Coyote: Alright then, Little Pecos, do ya know where your kin is?


Pecos stopped clapping and began looking around upset as can be, he had been so preoccupied with the moment that he had nearly forgotten about his family, as he looked around nothing looked familiar to where he had been, the only thing he saw that he really recognized was the river which little did Bill know, didn't just nearly drown him but swept him far away from where his families wagon was, so quickly panic for Baby Bill turned to sadness as Bill began to cry.


Of course this worried Coyote, but Coyote quickly hatched an idea in that clever brain of his.


Coyote: No wait, don't cry little Pecos, I gotta idea, how about I take you in, ya heard me right, I'll take you in as one of my own little one, and help keep you safe till I find your kin, is that ok with you.


Soon Coyote's worries were no more as Bill slowly stopped sobbing and looked at coyote with his big green eyes, and quickly before Coyote could even see it coming, the old trickster was being given a massive hug by the infant, a hug so strong that it could easily crack a red wood in two as Bill said his first words.


Little Pecos: Papag.


And so, Coyote took the young Bill as his adopted son, but after that back cracking hug coyote knew Bill was going to be a handful and a half, but he only had one hand to spare, so he would have to find someone else to assist him in raising this wild child, and he knew just the friend to help.


Badger: So this here is the little one you were talkin bout.


Now Badger was fierce to a fault, oftentimes quite abrasive and even down right mean, not knowing when to back down and rarely the one to be up for shenanigans and nonsense, which made her close friendship with the cackling trickster Coyote all the more strange, hell a little bit of Coyote's tricksterness rubbed off on Badger, even if she didn't like to admit it.


Among her many ferocious traits was another kind of fierceness though, that being of course a fierce maternal instinct and protective streek, this being something Coyote was all to aware of given how long they had been friends, and this was something Coyote was counting on when introducing baby Pecos to his old friend.


Coyote: yup, Pecos here was bout to drown in the Pecos, Pecos the river that is, not the baby, but I was able to nab him before that happened.


Badger: So Little guy's name is Pecos, be honest, did you just start calling him that cause that's where ya found him.


Coyote: no ma'am, little tyke told me himself by pointing at the river when I asked his name.


Badger: Pecos.


Badger said as she got close to the baby to get a closer look at him, Pecos was cute but clearly scraped up, banged up and exhausted from the day's events.


Badger: Poor baby, we'll be sure to get ya all better and start teachin' all ya need to know.


And at that moment Bill outstretched his arm which Badger met with a paw and Bill said his second word.


Little Pecos: Mamog.


Badger quickly replied to this by swaddling up the baby in a hug, and from that day forward, Bill had new parents that would raise and teach him everything that he would come to know as if he was one of their own.


And while on there way to what would become there home, a small cave in a rocky and wooded area near a stream and at the base of a mountain, Mamog and Papog were walking and talking about Bill, only referring to him as Pecos, this somewhat frustrated Bill, so Bill wanting to make sure his full name was known by his new parents summoned all the talking power he could and spoke his third and fourth words.


Bill: Pecogs Billb.


While pointing at himself and riding atop Coyote, the two looked at him, Badger beaming with joy at her baby's third and fourth words and Coyote quickly deduced what little Bill was trying to say.


Coyote: So your name ain't just Pecos after all, alright then, Pecos Bill, nice to finally know your full name.


Badger: My Bouncing Baby Bill.


Coyote: Our Bouncing Baby Bill.


Bill beamed with pride, chest puffed out at this acknowledgement, but soon after that he yawned and fell right asleep up on Coyote's back, as the sun began to set, and the group made it to their new home and finally, the three of them ended their first day as a newfound family, snuggled up in a cozy cave.


Now you might be wondering, what about Pee-Pa and Mee-Ma, aren't they freaking out at the loss of their youngest.


You'd think that but surprisingly that ain't exactly the case, as Pee-Pa and Mee-Ma upon discovering Bill was gone, they did start to panic, but, all of the sudden, a calmness came over them, it felt as if some sort of Divine comfort was placed on their souls and they quickly made peace with this loss, as deep in there guts, they both knew Pecos was ok, and that they'd see him again, and that he, was going to thrive where he was, and everything was exactly how it needed to be.


(authors note: this is the first story that really deviates from any of the publicly known and original Pecos Bill stories that I am aware of, granted it still shares the same bones as a lot of those stories, but the meat of my family's version is fundamentally different, with Bill being taken in by not just any ordinary coyote but the Coyote of Indigenous myth, as well as the inclusion of Badger.


Now upon starting this project I wasn't as aware or familiar with stories involving Badger or badgers from native folktales or mythology as I was with the stories of Coyote, but after doing some research I discovered a handful of recorded stories as well as The symbolism some tribes ascribed to Badger or the badger.


With some of the symbolism I was able to find connected to badgers including things like being protectors, being hardworking and being connected to medicine, things the badger in my family's Pecos Bill stories definitely shows off with her maternal instincts and helping Bill in later stories make things, but having him work hard to get those things made, which I thought was pretty cool after making that connection.


Although I haven't been able to really dig into or read any of the stories involving Badger or badgers from indigenous folktale or myth yet due to either, the stories being contained in a book that I haven't gotten around to getting or been able to purchase, or for some stories that I have been able to find already available free online I end up getting distracted with other research I'm doing. 


Like on days I plan to sit down and actually read those stories I end up getting distracted with tangents of other mythological tales, golden age superheroes or other such things, but at some point I will get around to reading them and getting the books, It's just a matter of time and patience you know.


Also I feel it's interesting that Badger was chosen by my family to be Coyote's counterpart in the parenting of Bill, given how badgers and coyotes work together to hunt in real life.


I wouldn't put it past my family to be somewhat aware of this and include this dynamic as a direct nod to that real life dynamic, especially since to my knowledge my grandpa worked with coyotes to some degree and Might have been aware of it from seeing it happen in real life.


Overall one of the most interesting things I've had to do with this project is not just remembering these stories and talking to family members about these stories as a part of my research, but also independently researching the potential influences for these stories. 


It's like a mix between genealogy, archeology and a puzzle.


Figuring out how this folktale influenced that, uncovering some forgotten or obscure myth that connects to this, finding the one strange puzzle piece which at first seems like it wouldn't fit anywhere but as more pieces are put into place it becomes more and more clear how this strange piece fits into the grand scheme of things.


And while figuring this all out I'm also realizing and figuring out parts of myself in a way, really connecting to my heritage, all of it and the family ties I didn't exactly know I had, the kind of connections that wouldn't show up on any genealogy test cause these family ties were not made with blood but friendship and love.


Anyways I think that's what I got to say about this particular chapter and the interesting things I noticed about it while researching and writing it down)

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