American River Review 2022 - copy - Flipbook - Page 30
“Yeah, I don’t think that mule team will have the same problem like this
here automobile,” Clyde said. The way he said the word automobile was as if it
were two words. It was like it hurt Clyde’s mouth to pronounce it.
“Mules are smart creatures. You’ll see. Smart as hell. I once seen
fourteen horses led by two front mules haul three to four thousand pounds of
granite through mud that deep. Yup, those two front mules weren’t as strong as
those horses, but they were twice as smart, I tell you.”
The man in the gloves grew impatient from the looks of his body language.
“Bright animals. These two lead mules, you see, moved clear across the
street to the other intersection before they began to make the right-hand turn.
And like clockwork, I’ll be dammed; they made a perfect wide right-hand turn.
Smart animals, I tell you.”
“Mr. Briscoll, I sincerely thank you for your help,” Hudson said, avoiding any more small talk about mules and mud and not in the mood for an old
man’s pontifications.
“Well. Bible says, ‘Bear one another burdens, and so fulfill the law of
Christ.’ You, sir, have yourself a fine day,” Clyde said to Hudson as his eyes wandered toward the city’s edge, where he could see the mule team approaching
steadily.
“Here they come, Hudson. You best pull this auto as close to the edge of
the road and onto the grass if you don’t want to hold ‘em up.”
Hudson hopped back into the Runabout and pulled it closer to the
grass, bouncing back out to direct the caravan.
In these parts, the mark of a strong animal is its ability to haul rock.
Amador has some of the most robust mules in California. No one talks about it.
It just is. Some of these mule teams pull three to four times per week, sometimes fifteen or twenty miles round trip. The mule of the world should be an
expression to mean one who is overworked and invisible.
A mule is a cross between a jack and a mare. Someone took the best
parts of a male donkey and mixed them with the best interests of a female
horse. Mules are patient, more sure-footed, brighter than a donkey, and hardier
than a horse. Not many folks appreciate a good mule.
The sound of sixteen mules hauling lumber on a gravel road is
mind-numbing. The slow grind of wagon wheels crunching over aggregate
rock grows until you can’t hear a damned thing at all. This mule team was no
different than the thousand other mule
teams that come through before. If it
were not for that automobile, it would
have been just another day in Amador
County.
As the mule team approached
Main Street, the earth beneath our feet
steadily began to rumble more and
more violently as Bill Hudson guided
the lead driver, motioning a direction
for the mule team with his right arm to
the east. Mr Biscoll and the two men in
overalls stood by, evaluating Hudson’s
every move. With their arms crossed
over their chests, and their chests
puffed out with damning pride, Hudson
could feel the eyes of the town on him.
After all, he didn’t look like anyone we’d
ever seen before.
I walked over to Spinettis to
grab a soda pop and some candy. I
entered the store, my entrance announced by clanging bells attached to
the door jam. Jonah Hahn joined a few
seconds behind me and spotted me