Chapter 9 #2
He waited for me at the corner, and we walked across the street and entered through the arched entryway to the park, which stated the town was founded in 1881.
I remembered the centennial celebration the town had held when I was a kid.
At the time, the idea that the town was a hundred years old seemed amazing to me.
How could anything be so old? Now, I marveled how quickly a hundred years must really go.
Especially with all the changes that had occurred in this small town to alter its destiny.
We walked down the steep sidewalk into the heart of the ten-acre park.
In the center stood the bandstand. Built on several feet of round stones, the white columns gleamed as they gave way to a shingled dome that testified to better times.
On either side of the sidewalk, and on the terraced back side of the bandstand, were wooden benches interspersed with wide areas of open grass set aside for blankets and lawn chairs when concerts and events would take place in the park.
During the annual town picnic, this was the heart of the festivities, often with a B-listed country star headlining, although once in a while the city council had managed to snag a headliner to help draw in more of a crowd.
We reached the bandstand, and just like when we were kids, we walked around it, running our hands over the smooth stones and trying to peer in the small triangle windows in the rock.
“Remember Justin Hare?” Donnie asked as he bent over to try to get a better look into the dark space.
“Of course I do. Couldn’t stand that kid.
” I fingered a hollow in the cement where a small rock used to reside in the pillar at the base of the stair leading up to the stage.
“Remember when he ran away in fourth grade and Jessica sent around the petition for all of us to sign saying we would pray for him?”
Donnie laughed. “Wow! I’d forgotten that!” He shook his head, still amused. “Guess more of us should have signed that. Last I heard, he got himself put in jail a few years back. Not sure why.”
“Really?” We continued around the bandstand, looking in the windows every few steps, never seeing anything. “Did he ever admit to it?”
Donnie didn’t need an explanation. “Not that I know of. Although I am sure he did it. Even if he wasn’t just getting his kicks from hurting bats, he would have loved all the ruckus he caused the town.”
Underneath the bandstand was the entrance to an underground tunnel that ran though part of the downtown, or at least that is what everyone always said.
In that tunnel there was supposed to be a family of bats.
Some say their breed is an endangered species, but who really knows.
One summer, several bats were found outside the bandstand, their heads seemingly bitten off and taken.
Some people said it was one of the Satanist groups that lived on the outskirts of town.
(Sometimes on Halloween, people would find one of their cow’s or sheep’s heads cut off and put on their fence post. Therefore, there must be a Satanist club somewhere within the vicinity.) Other people said there must be a group of people trying to become vampires.
Most, though, blamed the act on Ozzy Osbourne’s influential stage display of biting bats’ heads off.
Donnie and I were always convinced it had been Justin and his band of morons, just trying to cause a stir.
“Did I ever tell you Mom blamed that on me one time?”
Donnie jerked his head to look at me. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. In one of her moods, you know.” My voice trailed off. I hadn’t meant to say that. I hadn’t told anyone about that night. I had managed not to think of it in years. “Let’s get some water. Don’t remember the last time I had that.”
“Okay.” Donnie’s voice was quiet. It seemed like he wanted to ask more questions, but he just nodded and headed over to the springs.
The spring was directly beside the bandstand. A small arch of cement steps led down to an open circle of rock walls and a stone floor. At the very back of the wall, underneath a larger stone inscribed with 1906 commemorating the spring, jutted two small rusted copper pipes.
El Dorado Springs had originally been the location of a sacred spring for the Osage Indians.
Of course, before too long, the white man laid claim to the power of the spring.
People traveled from far and wide to drink the water.
Many people had sicknesses that were claimed to be cured by the habitual drinking of the spring’s water.
People began to stay because of the power of the spring.
It was said to be the fountain of youth.
Soon El Dorado was founded and dubbed “The City of Gold.” For a time, the water was even bottled and shipped out so others could partake in the documented modern-day miracle.
Some even claimed the spring helped women who struggled with fertility issues, going so far as to say the springs promoted the birth of twins.
Over the political history of the town, members of the Republican Party claimed the north spout, while the Democrats laid claim to the southern spout.
Donnie and I had always loved drinking from the spring.
The chilled water awakened our senses, and the tangy metallic taste tingled against our teeth.
I had thought that drinking the rust-colored water was what had made my hair red.
I chose to ignore the fact Donnie drank as much of the water as I did, and his dark hair had never gotten any redder.
I supported myself by putting my hand on the spout, lowered my head near to the ground, and let my mouth fill up with the crisp water.
I stood and swallowed. “Ugh!” I spit into the grate where the water pooled and then traveled through the middle of the stone pavers of the circle.
“That’s disgusting! Tastes like I just drank dirty cotton! ” I spit again.
Donnie doubled over in laughter.
“Has it changed that much since we were kids? What happened?”
Still laughing, Donnie sat back on one of the steps that led down to the fountain.
“That was priceless. The look on your face!” He let out another hoot, pointing at me.
“I thought you might have that reaction. It was almost the same for me when I got back from college. I bet it’s worse for you, being used to all your Colorado mountain water and such.
” He sighed, his laughter ebbing. “I like it more now, but still not to the level when we were kids.”
I swiped my sleeve across my mouth, wiping it clean. “Unbelievable.” I looked at Donnie and grimaced. “The one thing I actually was looking forward to. That just shattered some memories.”
“Well, thanks a lot.” A forced hurt look came across Donnie’s face. “The dirty water was the one thing you were looking forward to? I might as well just head home and let you find your own way back to Maudra’s.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “You know what I mean, dork. But, by all means, take off. I am sure I can manage to walk the five blocks back to Maudra’s.”
Donnie bent down and got a drink from the fountain.
“Can’t get enough, huh? Don’t blame me when you get lead poisoning.”
Donnie straightened up, and the glint in his eye warned me, but not soon enough. He spit a stream of water right at my face. I flinched backward, and the water splashed against my chest. The chill of it made me gasp.
Donnie burst out laughing again.
“Keep laughing at my expense and I will just head back to Colorado, and you can have my mother all to yourself to take care of.”
“Nah, I’ll just ship her to you, express.” He walked over to me and slung his arm over my shoulders. “Come on, drama queen.”
“Drama queen, really?”
“Hey, told ya, been holding back a long time. It is gonna take years to catch up.” Laughing again, he led me back up the steps out of the fountain. The weight of his muscled arm was comforting. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed Donnie. However, his touch made Jed’s absence more tangible.
We went around to the back of the railing that followed the perimeter of the fountain and began walking up the vertical sidewalk that led to the upper level of the park. Donnie and I used to run full sprint up the hill, laughing and yelling the entire time. The thought of it made me feel winded.
“Wow, it’s changed a lot.” The sight at the top of the park made me a little sad. They had a whole new playground, with upgraded swings, chrome merry-go-round, and a larger sand box.
“Yeah, couple years back. They must have got a grant or something. It is pretty nice. A lot of the stuff was getting pretty sketchy. They even redid the surface of the tennis courts.” He motioned beyond the playground.
“And they left the slide, just fixed it up a bit; some of the steps on the ladder were getting kinda scary. Mom wouldn’t let the grandkids go up it. ”
Sure enough, as he pointed it out, I could see that it was indeed the same slide.
That made me feel better. I had always loved that slide.
It was huge and narrow. I had always gotten such a thrill climbing up the ladder, and my stomach would soar to my throat as I zoomed down the wavy slope.
Even now, it seemed like the one thing that hadn’t shrunk.
It was huge. I couldn’t believe I had actually had the nerve to climb it when I’d been a kid.
I unintentionally wandered away from Donnie, walked over to the slide, and ran my hand over the rough metal steps. Another place in town I’d been able to put the details of my life out of my mind and simply focus on laughing and living.