THE ADVENTURES OF
LOREN AND DON |
ON CADDO LAKE |
IF MARK
TWAIN HAD BEEN BORN ON CADDO LAKE INSTEAD OF IN
HANNIBAL, MISSOURI HE MIGHT HAVE WRITTEN THE
ADVENTURES OF LOREN AND DON INSTEAD OF TOM SAWYER
AND HUCKLEBERRY FINN.
CHAPTER
1
LOREN
WAS TWELVE YEARS OLD THE SUMMER OF THE YEAR OF OUR
LORD NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE. HE LIVED WITH
HIS GRANDMOTHER NANA TUCKER ON THE BANK OF CADDO
LAKE. HIS GRANDMOTHER RAN A SMALL FISHING CAMP.
SHE HAD TWO SMALL CABINS AND TEN FLAT BOTTOM JON
BOATS TO RENT. SHE ALSO HAD A RAMP FOR LAUNCHING
BOATS THAT SHE CHARGED TO USE.
LOREN’S
PARENTS HAD BEEN KILLED IN A CAR ACCIDENT AND HIS
GRAND MOTHER WAS NOW RAISING HIM. GRANDMA TUCKER
WAS IN HER SIXTIES AND HAD BEEN RUNNING THE CAMP BY
HERSELF EVERY SINCE GRANDPA TUCKER HAD BEEN KILLED
BY LIGHTNING OUT ON THE LAKE.
LOREN
HAD TO HELP HIS GRANDMOTHER AROUND THE CAMP BY
MOWING THE GRASS, KEEPING THE RENTAL BOATS CLEAN AND
HELPING THE PEOPLE THAT RENTED THE BOATS. THIS
USUALLY MEANT HELPING THEM CARRY THEIR FISHING GEAR
TO THE BOAT AND HELPING THEM UNLOAD THE BOAT WHEN
THEY CAME BACK IN.
SOMETIMES THEY WOULD TIP HIM A DIME FOR HELPING THEM
AND HE WAS ALWAYS CAREFUL TO SAY THANK YOU WHEN THEY
DID.
CHAPTER 2
DON WAS
LOREN’S BEST FRIEND AND HE LIVED WITH HIS
GRANDMOTHER AND GRANDFATHER, BONNY AND WAYNE
FREEMAN. THEIR HOUSE WAS ACROSS THE ROAD FROM
TUCKERS CAMP. WAYNE WAS A COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN AND
MADE JUST ENOUGH MONEY FROM THAT TO KEEP FROM HAVING
TO GO TO WORK AT A REAL JOB.
SOMETIMES HE WOULD MAKE DON GO WITH HIM TO BAIT AND
RUN HIS TROTLINES. THERE WERE TIMES WHEN WAYNE WAS
READY TO GO RUN HIS LINES WHEN HE COULDN’T FIND DON
AND HE WOULD HAVE TO GO BY HIMSELF.
ANY TIME
THAT DON KNEW WAYNE WOULD WANT TO RUN HIS LINES, HE
WOULD MAKE SURE WAYNE DIDN’T KNOW WHERE HE WAS. DON
DIDN’T LIKE BAITING TROTLINES BECAUSE WAYNE ALWAYS
MADE HIM DO THE BAITING AND THAT CATFISH BAIT STANK
TO HIGH HEAVEN. THE SMELL WOULD STAY ON YOUR HANDS
FOR DAYS REGARDLESS OF HOW MUCH YOU WASHED THEM.
BONNY
KEPT CHICKENS AND DON HAD TO FEED THEM AND GATHER
THE EGGS EACH MORNING. AT LEAST HE GOT TO EAT EGGS
FOR BREAKFAST. ALL HE EVER GOT FOR DINNER WAS A
PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH AND MOST OF THE TIME HE HAD
TO EAT FISH FOR SUPPER. BUT THAT WAS ALL RIGHT
BECAUSE HE LIKED FISH.
CHAPTER
3
ONE DAY
WHEN DON AND LOREN WERE ON THEIR OWN THEY DECIDED TO
TAKE ONE OF THE JON BOATS AND GO FISHING. THEY GOT
THEIR FISHING POLES AND A CAN OF WORMS AND PADDLED
OUT TO BIRD ISLAND. NOW BIRD ISLAND IS NOT AN
ISLAND AT ALL. IT IS A BUNCH OF REAL THICK CYPRESS
TREES WITH ABOUT THREE FEET OF WATER UNDER THEM.
THEY ARE SO THICK THAT THERE IS ONLY THREE PLACES
AROUND IT THAT YOU CAN GET INSIDE. AFTER YOU GET
INSIDE THE TREES OPEN UP SO YOU CAN MOVE AROUND IN
THERE.
THERE
WAS ALWAYS A BUNCH OF BREAM THERE AND THAT’S WHAT
LOREN AND DON WERE FISHING FOR. AS THEY DRIFTED
ALONG SLOW FROM ONE TREE TO THE NEXT THEY WOULD
CATCH TWO OR THREE BREAM AT EVERY TREE. THEY HAD A
FIVE-GALLON BUCKET THEY WERE PUTTING THEIR FISH IN
AS THEY CAUGHT THEM.
AFTER A
COUPLE OF HOURS FISHING THEY HAD A BUCKET FULL OF
FISH. SO THEY STOPPED FISHING AND JUST SAT THERE IN
THE SHADE OF THE TREES. DON SAT DOWN IN THE BOTTOM
OF THE BOAT AND PROPPED HIS FEET UP ON THE SIDE.
THEY HAD BEEN TALKING ABOUT WHAT THEY WANTED TO DO
WHEN THEY GREW UP.
ALL OF A
SUDDEN DON STARTED SNORING. LOREN SAID WELL SHOOT
AND HE LAY DOWN IN HIS END OF THE BOAT AND WENT TO
SLEEP ALSO. WHEN THEY WOKE UP, THE BIRDS WERE
SINGING AND FLYING AROUND CLOSE TO THE BOAT. LOREN
SAW THAT SOME BIRDS HAD EVEN TURNED OVER THE CAN OF
WORMS AND EATEN EVERY ONE OF THEM. DON AND LOREN
SAW IT WAS GETTING CLOSE TO SUN DOWN SO THEY PADDLED
BACK TO CAMP AND CLEANED THEIR FISH.
LOREN
TOOK THEM IN TO GRANDMOTHER TUCKER AND SHE COOKED
THEM FOR SUPPER. DON EAT SUPPER WITH THEM THAT
EVENING AND BETWEEN THE THREE OF THEM THEY ATE EVERY
ONE OF THE FISH. DON SAID GOOD NIGHT AND WHEN
HOME. LOREN WENT DOWN TO THE BOATS AND SAT DOWN ON
ONE OF THEM TO LISTEN TO THE NIGHT SOUNDS,
THERE
WERE LOTS OF CRICKETS AND TREE FROGS SINGING. ONCE
IN A WHILE A BIG BULLFROG WOULD CHIME IN WITH HIS
SONG. AFTER A WHILE THE OWLS STARTED THEIR CALLING
TO ONE AND OTHER. LOREN DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO GO
TO BED.
CHAPTER
4
LIFE
WENT ON PRETTY MUCH AS USUAL FOR SEVERAL DAYS AND
THEN LOREN AND DON HAD A CHANCE TO GO FISHING
AGAIN. THIS TIME THEY PADDLED OUT TO TWIN ISLANDS.
AGAIN THESE ARE NOT ISLANDS BUT THICK BUNCHES OF
CYPRESS TREES. AS LOREN AND DON WORKED THEIR BOAT
INTO THE TREES A SNAKE DROPPED INTO THE BOAT FROM AN
OVER HANGING LIMB.
WHEN DON
HEARD THE SNAKE PLOP ON TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BOAT HE
TURNED AROUND TO SEE WHAT THAT NOISE WAS AND SAW THE
SNAKE. HE LET OUT A YELL AND GRABBED THE FIRST TREE
HE COULD REACH AND ABANDONED SHIP.
THIS
LEFT LOREN TO FIGHT THE SNAKE BY HIMSELF. LOREN
ALREADY HAD HIS PADDLE IN HIS HANDS SO HE STARTED
BEATING AT THE SNAKE WITH IT. THE POOR SNAKE WAS
JUST TRYING TO GET AWAY WHEN HE RAN TO THE BACK OF
THE BOAT WHERE LOREN WAS SITTING. LOREN HAD BROKEN
HIS PADDLE AND DIDN’T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO USE FOR
A WEAPON SO HE JUMPED OVER BOARD.
NOW DON
WAS SAFE IN THE TREE AND WHEN HE SAW LOREN FIGHTING
THE SNAKE UNTIL HE BROKE HIS PADDLE AND JUMP OVER
BOARD HE STARTED LAUGHING. HE WAS LAUGHING SO HARD
HE LOST HIS HOLD ON THE TREE AND FELL INTO THE WATER
ALSO. NOW LOREN STARTED LAUGHING AT HIM.
THEY
BOTH CLIMBED BACK IN THE BOAT JUST AS SOON AS THEY
SAW THE SNAKE CRAWL OVER THE SIDE AND DISAPPEAR
UNDER THE WATER. THEY DECIDED THEY WEREN’T ALL THAT
INTERESTED IN FISHING THAT DAY AND LOREN MADE DON
PADDLE BACK TO CAMP. AFTER ALL HIS PADDLE WAS
BROKEN.
CHAPTER
5
THE NEXT
TIME THEY HAD A CHANCE TO GO FISHING, THEY DECIDED
THEY WOULD PUT OUT SOME LIMB LINES. THEY CAUGHT
SOME SMALL BREAM TO USE FOR BAIT BECAUSE THEY WANTED
TO CATCH A BIG CATFISH. LOREN HAD FOUND SOME OF
GRANDFATHER TUCKER’S LINES WITH BIG HOOKS AND STRONG
LINE.
THEY
PADDLED OUT TO SOME CYPRESS TREES AND TIED THE LIMB
LINES ON LOW HANGING LIMBS. THEN THEY BAITED THEM
WITH THE BREAM THEY HAD CAUGHT AND PADDLED BACK TO
CAMP. THEY AGREED TO MEET AT THE BOAT AT DAY BREAK
THE NEXT MORNING TO RUN THEIR LINES.
THE NEXT
MORNING JUST BEFORE THE SUN CAME UP THEY WERE ON
THEIR WAY TO THE FIRST LINE. LOREN HAD BROUGHT A
BIG NET THAT HIS GRANDFATHER USED TO LAND BIG FISH.
THEY WERE FULL OF ANTICIPATION AS THEY GOT TO THE
FIRST LINE. BUT IT DIDN’T HAVE A FISH ON IT AND THE
BAIT WAS GONE.
SAME
THING ON THE NEXT SIX LINES THEN AS THEY PADDLED TO
THE NEXT TREE THEY COULD SEE THE LIMB JERKING UP AND
DOWN. THE LINE WAS CUTTING CIRCLES IN THE WATER AND
THEY KNEW THEY HAD A BIG FISH ON THIS LINE.
LOREN
GOT HOLD OF THE LINE AND DON GOT THE NET. LOREN
TOLD DON WHEN HE GOT THE FISH PULLED UP TO THE
SURFACE HE SHOULD NET HIM QUICK BEFORE HE GOT OFF
THE HOOK.
AS LOREN
PULLED ON THE LINE THE FISH MADE A STRONG LUNGE THAT
AIMED IT STRAIGHT TOWARD THE TREE. JUST AS THE FISH
GOT TO THE TREE IT JUMPED OUT OF THE WATER. LOREN
WAS STILL PULLING ON THE LINE AND THIS MADE THE FISH
JUMP STRAIGHT UP THE TREE TRUNK. IT WENT UP THE
TREE ABOUT FOUR FEET IN THE AIR.
ALL THIS
TIME DON WAS STANDING THERE WITH THE NET WAITING TO
NET THE FISH. WHEN THE FISH JUMPED INTO THE AIR DON
FOLLOWED IT UP WITH THE NET AND CAUGHT IT WHEN IT
FELL BACK. HE PULLED IT IN THE BOAT AND LOOKED AT
IT. IT WASN’T A CATFISH, IT WAS A GAR AND THEY
DIDN’T EAT GAR.
THEY
CHECKED THE REST OF THEIR LINES BUT THEY WERE ALL
EMPTY. SO THEY TOOK THEIR GAR AND WENT BACK TO
CAMP. WHEN THEY GOT THERE THEY HAD THEIR GAR OUT ON
THE GROUND LOOKING AT IT. THEY WERE TRYING TO
DECIDE WHAT TO DO WITH IT WHEN WAYNE WALKED UP TO
SEE WHAT THE BOYS WERE DOING.
WHEN
WAYNE SAW THE GAR HE TOLD THE BOYS HE KNEW WHERE HE
COULD SELL IT AND HE REACHED DOWN AND PICKED IT UP
AND WALKED OFF. DON KNEW THEY WOULDN’T BE GETTING
ANY OF THE MONEY AND HE TOLD LOREN SO.
DON WENT
HOME TO FEED BONNY’S CHICKENS AND EAT BREAKFAST.
LOREN CLEANED UP THE BOAT AND PUT THE NET AWAY AND
WENT IN THE HOUSE FOR HIS BREAKFAST.
CHAPTER
6
GRANDMOTHER TUCKER FINALLY AGREED TO LET LOREN USE
THE LITTLE THREE HORSE JOHNSON OUT BOARD MOTOR THAT
HAD BEEN GRANDFATHERS. THIS MEANT THAT DON AND HE
COULD GO FURTHER OUT INTO THE LAKE TO DO THEIR
FISHING. THEY WOULD PUT THE MOTOR ON ONE OF THE JON
BOATS AND PUTT PUTTED ALONG UNTIL THEY WERE OUT IN
THE MIDDLE OF THE LAKE.
ONE DAY
WHEN THEY COULD GET AWAY FOR A WHILE THEY PUTT
PUTTED OUT TO SOME DUCK BLINDS. THERE WERE ALWAYS
LOTS OF BIG BREAM AROUND THE DUCK BLINDS AND THEY
CAUGHT A BUNCH THAT DAY. THE ONLY PROBLEM THEY HAD
WAS GETTING THEIR LINES CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE UNDER
WATER BRUSH WHERE THE FISH WERE. THE BRUSH ON TOP
OF THE BLIND KEPT GETTING IN THE WAY.
WHEN
THEY GOT BACK TO CAMP AND CLEANED THEIR FISH, THEY
PUT THEM IN GRANDMOTHERS FREEZER UNTIL THEY WERE
READY TO EAT THEM. DON SAID THE NEXT TIME THEY WENT
TO THE DUCK BLIND TO FISH HE WOULD TAKE CARE OF THE
PROBLEM ON THE BRUSH BEING IN THE WAY. LOREN
FIGURED HE WAS GOING TO TAKE A SAW AND CUT SOME OF
THE BRUSH OUT OF THE WAY. BOY WAS HE GOING TO BE IN
FOR A BIG SURPRISE.
DON HAD
TO HELP HIS GRANDPA BAIT TROT LINES FOR THE NEXT
SEVERAL DAYS AND LOREN HAD TO MOW ALL THE GRASS
AROUND THE CABINS AND HOUSE. IT WAS A WEEK BEFORE
THEY GOT A CHANCE TO GO FISHING AGAIN. THEY PUT THE
MOTOR ON ONE OF THE BOATS AND LOREN FILLED IT WITH
GASOLINE FROM THE CAN IN THE STORAGE BUILDING.
THEY
MOTORED BACK OUT TO THE DUCK BLIND AND GOT READY TO
FISH. LOREN NOTICED DON HAD NOT BROUGHT A SAW AND
HE FIGURED DON HAD JUST FORGOT TO. DON WAS IN THE
FRONT OF THE BOAT AND HE PADDLED UP TO THE BLIND AND
REACHED INTO HIS POCKET AND PULLED OUT A MATCH. HE
STRUCK THE MATCH AND HELD IT TO THE BRUSH ON THE
DUCK BLIND.
HE SAID
THEY WOULD JUST BURN A LITTLE OF THE BRUSH OUT OF
OUR WAY AND THE SPLASH SOME WATER ON THE FIRE AND
PUT IT OUT. WE WEREN’T GOING TO BURN ANY OF THE
WOODEN PART OF THE BLIND. THE BRUSH WAS OLD AND DRY
SO IT BLAZED UP IN A HURRY. DON STARTED HOLLERING
TO START SPLASHING WATER ON THE FIRE. DON WAS
THROWING WATER ON THE FIRE WITH THE FIVE GALLON
BUCKET THEY USED TO PUT THEIR FISH IN. LOREN WAS
TRYING TO SPLASH WATER ON THE FIRE WITH HIS PADDLE.
BUT
NOTHING THEY DID STOPPED THE FIRE. IT KEPT GETTING
BIGGER AND THE SMOKE WAS REACHING HIGH INTO THE
AIR. LOREN TOLD DON TO FORGET IT THEY WERE GETTING
OUT OF THERE BEFORE SOMEONE SAW THE SMOKE AND CAME
TO INVESTIGATE. LOREN CRANKED THE MOTOR AND THEY
MADE A RUN FOR SOME CYPRESS TREES TO HIDE THEIR
GETAWAY.
THE NEXT
TIME THEY WENT TO THAT DUCK BLIND TO FISH THEY
DIDN’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT BRUSH GETTING IN THE
WAY. IN FACT THEY DIDN’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE
DUCK BLIND GETTING IN THE WAY. EVERYTHING WAS
BURNED DOWN TO THE SURFACE OF THE WATER. SO THEY
STARTED GOING TO ANOTHER BLIND TO FISH.
CHAPTER
7
ONE DAY
WHEN THEY WERE ABLE TO GET AWAY THEY DECIDED THEY
WOULD GO EXPLORING. THEY PUT THE MOTOR ON ONE OF
THE BOATS AND TOOK OFF UP THE LAKE. THEY WENT UP
THE OLD RIVER BED FOR A WHILE AND THEN TURNED LEFT
THROUGH A CUT IN THE BANK THAT HAD A SIGN THAT SAID
IT WAS “STAR DITCH.”
THIS
DITCH RAN ABOUT ¼ OF A MILE AND THEY CAME OUT IN
ANOTHER PART OF THE LAKE. THEY FOLLOWED A BOAT ROAD
THROUGH THE LILLY PADS FOR A COUPLE OF MILES AND
CAME TO ANOTHER FISHING CAMP. THEY STOPPED THERE
ABD ASKED THEM WHAT CAMP THAT WAS AND THEY TOLD THEM
IT WAS CRIP’S CAMP.
OK, SO
THEY HAD LEARNED SOMETHING ABOUT THE LAKE THAT WAS
NEW TO THEM. THEY WERE EXCITED TO LEARN MORE SO WE
TOOK OFF BACK DOWN THE BOAT ROAD. WHEN THEY GOT
BACK TO STAR DITCH, THEY DIDN’T TURN IN BUT KEPT
GOING. NOW THE BOAT ROAD TOOK THEM CLOSE TO THE
SOUTH SHORE AND THEY COULD SEE A ROCK HOUSE.
BUT JUST
THEN THE MOTOR STOPPED RUNNING. IT HAD RUN OUT OF
GAS AND THEY HADN’T BROUGHT ANY MORE WITH THEM.
THEY PADDLED OVER TO THE BANK WHERE THE ROCK HOUSE
WAS, HOPING THEY COULD BORROW SOME THERE.
BUT WHEN
THEY GOT THERE THEY SAW A SIGN THAT SAID “NO
TRESPASSING GOVERNMENT PROPERTY” AND THE HOUSE WAS
EMPTY. LOREN AND DON THOUGHT THEY DIDN’T HAVE ANY
CHOICE. THEY WERE OUT OF GAS AND DIDN’T REALLY KNOW
WHERE THEY WERE. SO THEY STARTED WALKING UP THE
DIRT ROAD FROM THE HOUSE.
AFTER
THEY HAD WALKED A MILE THEY SAW AN ARMY JEEP COMING
DOWN THE ROAD. THE JEEP PULLED UP IN FRONT OF THEM
AND THESE TWO SOLDIERS WITH WHITE ARM BANDS THAT
SAID “M P” ON THEM GOT OUT OF THE JEEP WITH RIFLES.
ONE OF THE SOLDIERS ASKED LOREN AND DON WHAT THEY
WERE DOING TRESPASSING ON THE AMMUNITION PLANT
GROUNDS?
THEN IT
DAWNED ON LOREN WHERE THEY WERE. THEY WERE ON THE
“LONG HORN ORDINANCE PLANT” RESERVATION THAT BACKED
UP TO THE LAKE. HE HAD SEEN THE HIGH FENCES AROUND
THE GROUNDS OVER AT KARNACK. BUT THAT WAS MILES
FROM HERE AND HE COULDN’T UNDERSTAND HOW THEY HAD
GOTTEN ON THEIR RESERVATION.
LOREN
TOLD THEM ABOUT RUNNING OUT OF GAS IN THEIR MOTOR
AND PADDLING OVER TO THE HOUSE TO SEE IF THEY COULD
BORROW SOME. WHEN THEY FOUND THE HOUSE CLOSED UP
AND NO ONE THERE THEY STARTED WALKING ALONG THIS
ROAD. THAT’S WHEN WE SAW YOU COMING.
THE
SOLDIER ASKED LOREN HOW HE COULD KNOW THEY WEREN’T
RUSSIAN SPIES TRYING TO BLOW UP THE PLANT? LOREN
AND DON GOT REALLY SCARED THEN. THEY WERE AFRAID
THEY WOULD BE SHOT AS SPIES. THE SOLDIERS LOADED
THEM IN THE JEEP AND TOOK THEM TO AN OFFICER AND
TOLD HIM WHERE THEY HAD FOUND THEM.
THE
OFFICER QUESTIONED THEM AND THEY TOLD HIM THE SAME
STORY THEY HAD TOLD THE M P. HE ASKED LOREN IF
ANYONE COULD VOUCH FOR HIM AND HE SAID HIS
GRANDMOTHER COULD. THE OFFICER ASKED WHAT HIS
GRANDMOTHER’S NAME WAS AND HER TELEPHONE NUMBER.
WHEN LOREN GAVE THEM TO HIM, HE HAD THE SOLDIER TAKE
THEM OUT OF HIS OFFICE AND LOCK THEM IN A ROOM.
IN ABOUT
AN HOUR GRANDMOTHER TUCKER CAME AND GOT THEM AND
TOOK THEM HOME. SHE HAD BROUGHT A BOAT TRAILER AND
THEY TOOK THE BOAT WITH THEM.
CHAPTER
8
NEEDLESS
TO SAY THEY WERE GROUNDED FOR THE NEXT MONTH. NO
MORE GOING FISHING OR GOING ANY WHERE AWAY FROM THE
CAMP. LOREN COULDN’T USE THE BOATS ANY MORE EVEN IF
HE PADDLED OUT.
EACH
MORNING, AFTER BREAKFAST, HE HAD TO GO DOWN AND WASH
OUT THE BOATS. EVEN THOSE THAT HADN’T BEEN USED THE
DAY BEFORE. AFTER THAT LOREN HAD TO GO SWEEP OUT
THE CABINS AND MOP THE FLOORS, EVEN IF THEY HADN’T
BEEN RENTED.
THEN HE
WOULD HAVE TO SPEND THE REST OF THE DAY MOWING THE
GRASS. GRANDMOTHER HAD THE BEST LOOKING YARD IN THE
NEIGHBORHOOD. WELL THE SHORTEST GRASS OF ANY YARD
IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
BUSINESS
WAS SLOW BUT WHEN SOMEONE DID COME TO RENT A BOAT IT
GAVE LOREN A BREAK FROM MOWING AND HE WAS THANKFUL
FOR THAT.
LOREN
HADN’T SEEN DON IN DAYS BECAUSE HE WAS GROUNDED
TOO. THE ONLY TIME HE WAS ALLOWED TO LEAVE HIS
HOUSE WAS WHEN HE WENT WITH HIS GRANDPA TO BAIT TROT
LINES. HE WAS GIVEN EXTRA CHORES TO KEEP HIM BUSY
ALL DAY. GRANDPA WAYNE HAD BOUGHT A LOAD OF WOOD
FOR THEIR FIRE PLACE AND DON HAD TO SPLIT IT WITH AN
AXE.
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