5/17/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca.

There is a legend that just might be several hundred years old. Then again it might just be a legend but I thought I would share it with you. It might have started as an early indigenous story I am not sure but I hope you enjoy it.

Many years ago it is said that man and animals used to live in peace as brothers. Yes there were times when they would eat each other but that was only out of extreme necessity. The animals had a village about 9 miles up what is now called Bautista Canyon. The Squirrel clan, the Rabbit Clan and the Nuthatch clan had made a place where they could live with very little interference from the Fox, Coyote and Bob Cat clan. Then one day a group of man stumbled into the little village starving. The Animals gave them grain bars to eat and Honey flavored energy fluids to drink till they got their energy back. When the men left they promised if the animals ever needed help all they would have to do is call and someone would return to help them.

Years passed and some men forgot the about the relationship men had with the animals and the animals had to flee their village and life in the hills and stream beds. Man even put in a camp to keep other men in who needed to be retrained for social life. However the road man had put in to get to the camp became a problem for the animals. A new enemy had invaded the area, Serpiente del traqueteo or what man called the Rattler. And while the animals could easily detect the enemy as it slithered through the brush they couldn’t hear in on pavement. Plus the enemy was very slow when it was cold but the road would allow it to warm up and become more aggressive. The animals were alarmed because they were losing too many of their children.

One of the elders from the Squirrel clan remembered a story about when their village had helped some men and the promise these men had made. So they sent a message to ask for help from one of the descendants of those original men to get them to come up and drive off the enemy. That man assembled a group of warriors of calm demeanor and decided to call them the Mild Bunch. The first member of these avenging men was Duaramax.


As the group assembled to ride in the shadow of Duramax one of the first men to have his wheel tested was Red Rabbit. When the trek and challenge were explained to him he decided not to join the group. But that didn’t stop the next gallant man, Hit Man from stepping forward to claim a spot to ride to and dispense justice for the brother animals.

It wasn’t long before the warrior Rocket stepped forward took up the challenge and joined the group. Stepping up to his side was the battle hardened Cossack ready for action. They two of them would make up our advanced guard as we approached the enemy. For us they operated like the light Calvary did during the civil war making it possible for lightning strikes to the enemy’s flanks.

I rounded out the group not because I was qualified to ride with such noble warriors but because I had received the plea for help and had notified these men of the dire straits the animals living in Bautista Canyon were suffering from. The conditions we were mobilized to ride in were anything but ideal. It was unusually cool and at least two of us were not dressed for the journey. Still the need was so great and the bounds of the fellowship the warriors felt was so strong that we continued on fighting the cold all the way and planning our attack. Soon we turned onto Bautista and you could almost feel the tension as we formed a 4 across formation to keep from being picked off while moving up the road.

We rode together for the first third of the road and talked quietly as we stalked the enemy who might be waiting around any turn we came to. To me the road seemed a bit damp and I wondered how well we would be able to maneuver if the road turned out to be slippery. Serpiente del traqueteo doesn’t normally attack a mounted warrior but if we happened to fall we could easily have become overwhelmed by a rapid attack. I think I began to show some fear but I was assured by Cossack that he would protect my back and we moved forward to face the enemy of our friends.

As we rode towards the end of the road Rocket and Cossack began the attack while Hit man, Duramax and I took up the rear. We had planned an attack of a double hammer blow that would scatter the enemy after it was fully engaged with Cossack and Rocket but what we were worried about was an ambush at the last little river crossing or dip in the road. I am sure the enemy was massed there for an attack but we had our maneuvered them when we had Raptor take up a position on the other side of the crossing before we were halfway up the canyon. Seeing they were surrounded by so many dedicated men the enemy must have slithered away to safety as we all joined up with Raptor in a Victory celebration and conversation with a elder of the Nuthatch clan.

The animals were safe for another day and we were ready to take our leave. Even in the frigid cold we had one last demonstration to show the Serpiente del traqueteo. We had to prove that we had the ability to strike with the speed of the wolf clan or even a diving eagle. As we picked up speed Rocket pulled me along at a pace that would make my eyes water if it were not for the cold. Faster and faster we went till Rocket missed a shift and I started to slide passed him. Just then Cossack flew passed me like the diving eagle we were trying to emulate and it was all I could do to grab a wheel and hang on for dear life. We made the run to the bottom of the canyon in record time leaving the impression on the enemy that if we have to come back he will not be able to get away.

After we were back on Fairview and heading towards Florida it was like we had traveled in a time machine back into modern times. Cossack broke off on Stetson and not long after Rocket followed him. Duramax, Hit man, Raptor and I continued on to warm up and have some coffee before we joined up with our reserve warrior Quicksticks.
Yes we were prepared for our ride up Bautista and after coffee and a ride home maybe the whole thing seems more like just a story anyway. But we had a good time.