Catawba River Beast

"Are you sure this is ok?", I said to my best friend, Dean. He nodded and replied, "Sure, no one will know and we will back before anyone wakes up." The year was 1975 and we had decided to sneak out and head to the lake. The movie Jaws had just been released and everyone was raving about how scary it was. We got dressed and carried our sneakers to the backdoor so as not to wake Mom or Dad. We lived in a small town and no one ever locked their doors but the hinges were sometimes squeaky so I took a can of 3-in-1 oil from a shelf and squirted a couple of drops on the door hinges before we opened the door. We stepped outside and closed the door behind us. Mission accomplished. It was 2 a.m. on a Friday night in mid-July and it was surprisingly cool for upper South Carolina.

Dean and I walked down my drive to the dirt road that would take us to our friend Eddie's house, where two other friends should be waiting on us. When we got there, Eddie and Pie were already outside and standing by the barn that doubled as the car garage for Eddie's Dad. I asked Eddie, "Did you get them?", and he responded by holding up a set of car keys. We pushed open the double doors to the barn, and Eddie got behind the wheel of his Dad's restored 1957 Chevy Bel Air. This wasn't any old ordinary Bel Air. This was a first edition candy apple red 1957 Chevy Bel Air with the 283 horsepower, 4,640 cubic inch V-8 with the Super-glide automatic transmission.

Dean, Pie, and me got behind the car and Eddie shifted it into neutral and we slowly pushed that car out of the barn and down Eddie's driveway all the way back to the dirt road. Eddie was afraid his Dad would hear him crank the car so we decided to continue pushing it all the way to the paved county road which was about a mile away from Eddie's house. I don't remember how long it took us to push that car but I remember we were exhausted and questioning our good sense by the time we got to the paved road. All of us were soaked with sweat and covered in dust, well, all of us except Eddie. Before we could get in the car, we dusted each other off and Eddie took some blankets from the trunk of the car and spread them across the seats. That's all we needed was for Eddie's Dad to find red Carolina dirt on his white leather seat cushions and armrests.

We jumped in the car and Eddie cranked it. The motor sounded just like it was supposed to sound with that deep guttural, throaty sound like Barry White belting out "Can't get enough of your love". Our plan was to drive around for a little while then take the car over to the new section of interstate that wasn't officially opened yet and see how fast it would go. Things didn't go according to plan and we ended up at the old boat landing at Lake Wylie puffing on some filterless Camel cigarettes Eddie found in the glove box and sharing 3 Schlitz Malt Liquor beers that Pie had sneaked out of his house. Back in 1975, Camels were still made the original way from a mixture of American burley tobacco and 7 blends of Turkish tobacco. The resulting flavor was a heated sweet taste and the levels of nicotine were intoxicating. Originally made without filters, you inhaled the full extent of smoke and taste. I removed one from the pack and handed the pack over to Dean who also took one out. I held the cigarette to my lips and cupped my hands as I flicked my Zippo lighter several times to light it up. I had smoked Marlboro Reds plenty of times but never a Camel. This was hardcore. This was different. I had never smoked marijuana but I had been around people that did. The experience was very close. I took a deep draw of the Camel expecting to start hacking and coughing but I didn't. The warm, sweet, and moist smoke from the blend of Turkish and Domestic tobaccos negated any involuntary bodily need to cough a lung up. Instead, the nicotine from the blended tobaccos hit my capillaries almost immediately. I felt relaxed, calm, and euphoric all at once. I chased the nicotine with a big swallow of Schlitz and leaned back on my elbows.

The moonlight was dancing on the ripples of Lake Wylie. The only sounds came from the occasional crickets and the slow steady sound of the turbines from the Wylie Dam. It was very peaceful and I was almost lulled into falling to sleep. I sat up and asked, "What are we doing?". Eddie replied, "What have you got in mind?". Pie stood up and said, "Let's go cruise Cherry Road and see if we can get in a race." Dean didn't say anything. He sat there in silence. He was looking at something standing behind the car and it was looking right back at him. Dean raised his arm and pointed at the car. I turned and followed his gaze. I could see it too. I said, "Come on Dean. It's a dog or maybe a coyote." The animal's eyes were glowing and looking at both of us. The animal was about the same height as that of the bumper of the car. I picked up a rock and threw it at the animal striking the ground right in front of it. The animal didn't run off as a dog or coyote would. By now Eddie and Pie were watching it too. Eddie yelled at it to scare it off but it still didn't move, then Pie started walking toward it. He got to within 10' of it and the beast stood up on its hind legs. This animal wasn't a dog or coyote. It was more like a man. It had two legs and two arms and it was tall, very tall. I figured it was around 7 or 8 feet tall, maybe taller.

Pie and Eddie were the first two to bolt and run. They left Dean and me along with the car and whatever that thing is. Dean stood up slowly and we backed away too. We walked to the main road, looking over our shoulders the whole way. We made it back to my house okay. We slipped into my bedroom unheard when there was a tap at my door. My Dad said "you boys get dressed and get your shoes on. Meet me in the kitchen." Surely he didn't know. Maybe something had happened to Eddie and Pie. Maybe that thing had caught them. I did throw a rock at it but they ran through the woods like idiots. We did as we were told and met my Dad downstairs. When he saw us he took a final swig of his coffee, smiled, and said, "get in the truck." We followed Dad out to the truck and jumped in. No one said another word as he cranked it, put it in gear, and pulled out to dirt road. My heart sank when he turned right instead of left. Had he turned left, we were headed to town. Since we turned right, we were headed to Eddie's house. A few minutes later we pulled into Eddie's driveway and I could see everyone's Dads were there waiting on us. They were standing in the driveway by the barn. My Dad parked the truck and that's when I saw Eddie and Pie.

Everyone was standing by the open doors to the barn. When we got out and walked up, I could see the car had been returned and was parked inside. Eddie's Dad was not happy. None of our Dads were happy. We walked up to where everyone was standing and that's when I saw the gouges. It looked like an animal had gouged the trunk of the car. There were very deep and very long gouge marks across the trunk. And they appeared to spell a word..."Yeninshe". No one said a word. Finally, Eddie's Dad spoke. I'm angry you boys thought it okay to take my car, but I'm way past that now. I want to know if any of you know who did this or what it means. We all stood there looking as ignorant as the next one. Finally, Dean blurted out, "It had to be the beast. We saw it near the car and we all took off for home." No one else said a word. Finally, Eddie's Dad told us to go inside and grab breakfast. Eddie's Mom was waiting on us. The Dads stayed behind in the barn talking. We did as we were told and were just finishing breakfast when our Dads came inside. We sat quietly waiting for our punishment and we knew it was gonna be a doozy. Then a pickup truck pulled into the drive and out stepped an old Indian man. He walked up to the barn and stood there staring. My Dad walked out to meet him and after a few minutes brought him inside with the rest of us. He needed no introductions. This was Chief Blue of the Catawba Indians. I guess Dad had called him. Chief Blue said, "It means cursed warrior. Who saw the beast?" We stood up and half-raised our hands. Chief Blue continued, "He has marked your horse and he will come for you soon."

Eddie's Dad spoke up and said "What do you mean he will come for them? Did they do something to offend him?" Chief Blue replied, "I don't know what they did or didn't do. I wasn't there. He felt challenged enough to mark their horse, or their car, with his name. That's the same as declaring it belongs to him now." My Dad said, "Are they in danger? Will this beast try and kill our boys?" Chief Blue said, "It depends on the seriousness of what happened. The beast may be appeased with an offering. He may not be. One never knows. That's why I always try and avoid the damn thing." Dean's Dad chimed in, "You've seen it before? Incredible!" Chief Blue nodded. Pie's Dad asked, "Can it be stopped? Can we just scare it off or kill it?" Chief Blue nodded again and said, "Yes, you can kill it. But the way the curse has worked for so many generations is that whoever kills Yehinshe, must take his place". I yelled, "Why?" Chief Blue explained, "The Catawba River Beast is a curse that was first placed on my people by the last of our medicine men. Our people were dying when the Europeans came to America. By the time they found us, we numbered less than 200 souls. Instead of defending our lands and our way of life, we surrendered to the Europeans who brought food and medicine, and a new way of life. Our medicine man refused to accept the hospitality of the Europeans and cursed my people by turning our once cherished lands into river bottoms and swamps and turning our Chief's son, who was a brave warrior into the Yehinshe."

"Dad, I think I know what to do, but I will need a couple of packs of Camel cigarettes.", I said aloud. Everyone turned and looked at me like I was crazy. My Dad was the first to speak. "Camel cigarettes? What are you going to do, spoke a peace pipe with this thing?" I said, "In a way, yes sir." Dean chimed in that he was going with me. A few minutes later, Dean, Dad, and I were back in the truck headed to the boat landing where we saw the beast. Dad stayed in the truck with his rifle just in case while Dean and I walked down to the river and sat down on the ground beside that rotten picnic table. We both lit a Camel cigarette and started puffing away. The breeze was almost non-existent but it was enough to cause the blue smoke from the Camels to float away from us and into the woods along the river. We must have been there maybe 20 minutes when we saw a movement near the edge of the boat landing. It was the beast. It was standing against a tree, blending into the surrounding brush, watching us. I removed another cigarette and lit it up. I took a couple of deep puffs and blew the smoke in its direction. Then I held the cigarette up with the butt towards the beast in a manner to invite it to join us. In a few more minutes, it did just that.

This beast, creature, cursed animal, or whatever it was, slowly walked out of the woods towards us. My Dad was watching us the entire time but I could tell he was in shock by the size of this creature. It was as tall as we had described it and it was uglier. The beast got within a few feet from us and sat down cross-legged as we were seated. It reached out and took the cigarette from me and proceeded to smoke it. When it finished the first one, I lit another and it finished it too. The beast appeared to be very relaxed but was still watching us intently. I picked up both packs of Camels and the lighter and held them out in my empty hand as a gift to the beast. It sat there looking from my eyes to my hand and back to my eyes several times. Then it took the items from hands and stood up and retreated back to the woods. When it entered the woods, it stopped and turned again to face me. This time the beast held up its hand as if to say goodbye. Then it turned and disappeared into the woods.

Dean and I walked over to the truck and left with my Dad. No one said a word. About a week later, Dad and I walked outside one Saturday morning to get the boat ready to go fishing. We didn't have to. Laying on top of the boat were maybe a dozen freshly caught fish. There were also tracks around the boat that led us to believe the Beast had paid us a visit that morning and had brought us a gift of fish. Dad suggested the beast was probably out of smokes, so I went inside and retrieved a couple packs of Camels and left them where the fish were laid and we took the fish inside to clean them. When I took the fish remains outside to the trashcan, the Camels were gone. So Dad was right.

This continued over the years but as time passed, the visits became further apart until they ceased happening altogether around 1987. That was the same year Chief Blue passed away.