The Promise

The Promise

Be it known far and wide

To all who bend an ear

This waterfall -- our golden dear

The slide of the Ballyhide

"What's a Ballyhide?" asked McGlochlin, the crusty prospector, as he spat a cheekful of tobacco juice at the sign. "Man, this falls sure is bright!"

"Derned if I know," answered Gruel, his sidekick, known for his strong dislike for water. "But you're right. She's so bright I can hardly see."

"Well," chewed McGlochlin, brewing up another batch, "I'm near, ain't bend'n no ear, and I see no Ballyhide nor anyone else except you and me and this brightness, so patooey on it all. I'm taking my monthly constitutional, and if any Ballyhide slides on top of me while I'm bathing, it'll be his downfall , not his waterfall!"

The Ballyhides, invisible to humans, who loved to laugh, dance, and sing like all their fairy brethren, watched the prospectors closely.

"You know what?" asked Salvatore, who was no larger than a split pea to those who can see sprites, "they're bugs. That's what they look like, plain ole bugs." And he danced like a June Bug on the water.

A chorus of fellow Ballyhides joined the fun. "Bugs, bugs, you're nothing but bugs."

But the prospectors heard nothing, which was unfortunate, for they, like most humans, were deaf to the happy songs of the fairies.

"What are we going to do, Durthmire?" asked a young Ballyhide. "Won't they ruin our slide by bathing? I mean, all that ...human-ness!"

"Not to worry, little one," chuckled the Ballyhide Chief. "Olivia has blessed our falls. Tis Sacred Property, and as long as we're here, the blessing will reign forever."

"Yes, yes," squeaked Libbyinth, "but Durthmire, what if they ...pollute?"

"Pooh and blitherstones," laughed Durthmire, blowing himself up to a full-sized pea. "Olivia's Promise will protect everything."

"Durthmire," asked little Libbyinth sweetly, "just whatisOlivia's

The great Chief leaned over the wee sprite and whispered, "If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret, now, would it?" and he laughed heartily.

The other Ballyhides hadn't heard Durthmire's answer, so they bent their ears foreword.

But instead of speaking, Durthmire whisped to the top of the falls.

"Libbyinth, what did Chief Durthmire tell you?"

And, never telling a lie, the pretty sprite repeated, "If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret now, would it?" That simply threw the invisible creatures into a froth. The dust-covered, sweatie prospector bathing in the pool saw the foam as Nature's soap.

That night, McGlochlin and Gruel were awake the full night. What kept them wide-eyed was the sprites endless sliding. What the prospectors thought was water falling down a hundred-foot drop was really the joy of happy sprites.

The next morning, blurry-eyed from lack of sleep, McGlochlin took another bath. "It'll be a hot, dry spell before we get back to civilization," he explained. But he could have saved his breath, because Gruel not only did not care for baths, he was preoccupied by a very shiny nugget at the edge of the pool. As his eyes climbed the falls, every inch brought a larger smile.

"McGlochlin, my friend," Gruel muttered half-coherently, "methinks you are indulging in the world's most expensive tub."

"The sun's made you daffy, Gruel," growled the red-haired, red-bearded McGlochlin. "Methinks, you say? Indulging? Man, something's got into you and your tongue!"

"Indeed," chuckled the human fly bait. "And whatever it is, it's shiny and yellow and worth its weight in itself at any assay office."

McGlochlin stopped splashing.

"You found gold?"

"Why else this brightness in the middle of the gray-dry desert? My guess is if we chip behind that wall of water, we'll find the mother of lodes." At that, Gruel, though pathologically adverse to water, thrust his grimy hand in the clear pool. He removed a nugget the size of a golf ball.

"By the saints, the gods, and all that's above, look at that, will you! We've found it. We're RICH!"

Both splashed with joy.

Laughing uncontrollably, the two made a golden ring of nuggets around the pool.

"My God, man!" yelled the red-head. "They're too many! We'll never be able to haul them away!"

"Aye," answered Gruel. "We'll have to bury them. Come back later. We'll buy the land, build a fort around the falls, and never let a soul know."

"Now you're talking, Gruel!"

As the two rejoiced, the sprites looked on invisibly.

"Durthmire," asked Salvatore, "what does this mean? Will the humans ruin our Sacred falls? Will they tear it down and destroy the blessing?"

"I can't bear the thought," moaned Libbyinth.

"Worry not," said the Chief. "You forget, Great Olivia has given the falls to us. Her blessing is all-powerful. Humans just make a lot of noise."

"And smells," added Salvatore, holding his nose.

"There's nothing to fear and I'll prove it. Tonight, instead of sliding, we'll ask Olivia what all this means."

"Olivia? Here? Oh!" shrieked little Libbyinth, spontaneously breaking into dance. "Olivia's coming, Durthmire said so. Oh, we get to see Olivia tonight!" The little sprite's joy was contageous: everyone followed. They easily forgot the greedy prospectors.

While the Ballyhides danced, pranced, chittered, and chattered, the prospectors leaped, bounded, heaped, and hounded. But amidst their merriment there was a tinge of fear, because the more gold they removed, the greater their dilemma grew. At one time they even threw the great nuggets back. Later, they tried burying them. They even hid the shiny metal under sagebrush and cacti and rocks and dust. Such fear!

"What if someone finds the falls before we get to town?"

"Or before we get back? They'll blast us in our tracks!"

"What if someone's already claimed her, got the deed and everything?"

"What if a horde of prospectors follow us and steals everything 'cause the assay office said there's more gold than grains of sand in the desert?"

Woe-moan-groan, whine-sigh-cry, McGlochlin and Gruel were beside themselves. Which was difficult for the red-head since next to him sat the foulest odor not yet dead.

That night the Great Queen Olivia descended. Dressed in Divine Light, her golden hair glistened brightly: no human has seen a more beautiful sight. Some Ballyhides thought the Queen's grand coiffure was the sun itself, so brilliant was its glow.

"Dear Olivia," said Durthmire bowing, "how wonderful to see you again. Thank you for coming."

"Are you enjoying the falls?" asked the Queen.

The Ballyhides burst into a chorus of appreciation.

"The most we can!

"Day and night!"

"Forever and ever!"

"Good, my dears. That is why I made and blessed them by the gold of my hair."

Durthmire said awkwardly, "Olivia, I asked you here to show you these prospectors. They have found the Sacred Falls and threaten its very existence. They want to take the gold and protect it with guns."

As the Chief spoke, grumbling McGlochlin poked his grimy friend. "Gruel, you fool, you said if we chip behind the wall of water we'll betrulyrich. What did you mean?"

"Well, where could those nuggets in the pool have come from but the rockbehindthe water? Think, my fellow billionaire. Shouldn't there amountainof gold where the waterbegins? The nuggetts had to fall fromsomewhere."

"Aye," said his companion, covering his eyes from the brightness of the falls which glowed like the full moon and midday sun combined. "We're rich beyond our wildest imaginations. But we've got to spend the gold wisely. Otherwise we'll be robbed and murdered. Now, my friend, we must come up with a plan." But the more they thought, the more they fretted, and the more they fretted, the less they slept.

And so went the night. The long, sleepless, fearful, endless night.

But the night was a great celebration for the Ballyhide sprites, for their Queen was among them. And when she heard of the prospectors and their greedy plans, she settled Durthmire, Salvatore, Libbyinth, and all the giggling sliders by her comforting heart.

"You have nothing to worry about," assured Olivia. "I have blessed you, the Falls, and the gold for as long as I live. That's all you need to know. So don't fret your dear souls, just enjoy your blessings. I'll take care of all the rest." And with that, the Queen transformed herself into a massive aura of pure Light and floated majestically into the sky.

The merry chorus broke out effervescently as golden rays shot through the clear water. The sprites sang joyfully.

"Don't fret."

"We have nothing to fear."

"Olivia will save us and the Falls."

The next morning McGlochlin and Gruel sagged like popped balloons. Only the brightness of the sun glaring off the golden water stirred them.

Gruel looked up from under his blanket. His blood-shot eyes searched the desert. He forced himself into the sitting position. Rising, then walking slowly, he peeked behind the great wall of water. In spite of his great fear, he stepped forward. Soon, from the top of the falls, the prospector hung his grimy head crying out loud.

"It's as we feared, McGlochlin. It's solid gold. Every last inch of it."

Delirious, red-headed McGlochlin climbed to his friend's side. He beheld the most magnificent sight any prospecting eye had beheld. It took a great deal of time before the two rethought their strategy. They knew they couldn't remove a single nugget for fear all would be discovered.

"Here's what we'll do," said McGlochlin, finally. "We'll go to town pretending we're still poor. Even ask a city dude for a grubstake: that should convince everyone. Then, nonchalantly, we'll get the deed. No excitement, no clue that we've found a thing."

"Yeah," blubbered Gruel, wiping grimy tears from his face and swishing the flies the water hadn't washed off, "we'll act like all poor prospectors."

"But once we get back here ..."

He never finished his sentence. Because at that moment, both gold diggers realized the same thing: they had to get the deed NOW.

They leaped on their mules and galloped -- as fast as rib-protruding mules can -- toward the sunset. They figured town was somewhere in that direction.

A month later, a wandering prospector who'd known McGlochlin and Gruel in earlier days, met what was left of the two and their mules. The bare skeletons of the four-legged animals lay amidst the harsh, dry, sun-emblazoned desert. The dying men weren't far behind. Their hollow-orbed eyes radiated a peculiar glow. One, staring blankly, groaned in his last breath, "We found...waterfall of gold."

And the other added, also in his last breath, "Solid... gold...mountain."

The stranger whacked his dusty hat against his baggy pants and scoffed out loud, "Crazy coots. Crazy, gold-greedy coots. Amountainof gold!"

At that very moment a great orb of light blazed in the sky. So bright that the healthy prospector covered his eyes. Had he kept them open, he might have seen the face of Queen Olivia, protector of Nature's riches.

And as she smiled, the Ballyhides danced. They laughed, sang, chittered, and chattered as they slid down their blessed falls.

Durthmire smiled, Salvatore chuckled, and Libbyinth giggled.

"Thank you, Olivia. Thank you for keeping your promise."