Callahan's Gold (Southwest Desert Series Book 3)

by Mary Tate Engels

  Ramona was the first to speak. "It's kind of sad but also lovely. Like viewing a piece of history, minus the people."

  "This is a forbidden place," Yazzie muttered. "Bad spirits live here."

  "Bad spirits?" Rex scoffed. "Bunk! It's picked clean, that's all. I just hope there's still gold left beneath that old mine shaft." He pointed to a tall hill beyond the small town where the remains of a wooden mine shaft lay in ruins.

  "So that's where Pyramid got its name. The mine is located on a pyramid-shaped hill above the city," Dodge observed. "Not much of a city, was it? Single street and a few buildings on both sides."

  "It has a cemetery," Tory said as a chilling breeze sent shivers down her spine. "It's an eerie place, isn't it?" She rubbed one arm nervously.

  "All ghost towns feel this way," Ramona said with a nod. "They have a certain aura, an energy. Some good, some not so good."

  "This one is not so good," Yazzie confirmed with narrowed eyes.

  Dodge slapped his mule's flank. "Let's go down and take a look, folks. We traveled long and hard to get to this place, and I don't intend to stay up here on this hill overlooking it."

  Dodge led the way this time, and Yazzie brought up the rear. By mule, they traversed the short length of the town, which consisted of a single narrow street flanked by the hulls of six or seven remaining buildings. Lost in weeds were the meager brick foundations of several other houses that hadn't withstood the ravages of time. Only one rectangular building remained in reasonably good condition. Although the roof was completely gone, adobe walls divided the interior into separate rooms.

  They tied the mules to the hitching post in front of what they decided was a boardinghouse, where many miners had probably lived.

  "Let's look around a little before we make camp," Dodge suggested.

  "I'm for that," Rex agreed. "I want to see if that old mine has anything of value left in it."

  "Not this evening, Rex," Dodge warned. "We'll examine the mine tomorrow when the light is better. It's almost dark now, and that's a dangerous area. Anyway, I know it doesn't look far, but it's quite a climb up to the location."

  Rex shaded his eyes and gazed toward the mine, which was perched on a triangular-shaped mound above town. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But I'd sure like to know what's under that ground."

  "Be patient, my friend," Dodge said with a chuckle. "We all want to know. And we will, in due time. What's one more night?"

  "The ghosts, too, have one more night," Yazzie said with a snort. He looked around in disdain. "I can feel the bad spirits. They are disturbed and unhappy with us." He limped off alone, leaving the others to shift around uncomfortably.

  "Spirits? Ha!" Rex laughed. "I'd look out for snakes if I were you, Yazzie!" He turned to Ramona. "Come on, let's tour the place."

  She followed him. "Sure, Rex. I want to examine that small building down by the jail. I think it may have been an infirmary."

  "Don't go far," Dodge called in warning as everyone scattered. "We really should stick together until we know more about the place."

  "Bad vibes, Dodge?" Tory asked teasingly.

  "No," he denied stoutly. "I just think this is a dangerous area, that's all. We need to take every precaution."

  "From what? Ghosts?"

  "No, Tory. Certainly not ghosts. Wild animals, for one thing. They're accustomed to this town being empty. Who knows if a black bear has made a home around here? Abandoned mine shafts are another, perhaps worse danger. Some of them are completely open and quite deep."

  "But they wouldn't be here so close to town, would they?"

  "You never know where an old mine shaft might be. That's why I want us to wait until the sun's bright and we can see exactly where we're going. State law dictates that abandoned mines must be fenced nowadays. But there's no one in a place like this to follow the law. Or enforce it."

  "Well, after the warning, I'll definitely watch my step. What do you think this building was?" she asked as they approached freestanding adobe walls.

  "Don't know. Let's go inside."

  The roofs were completely gone from all the buildings, assuring that anything left inside would be exposed to the elements. Floors were gone, too, leaving bare earth to sprout new growth of weeds and bushes along the sides and corners.

  "Why, Dodge," Tory said excitedly, lifting a broken whiskey bottle from a pile of glass in the corner, "I'll bet this was the saloon."

  He joined her and agreed. "Yep. The saloon was always one of the first buildings to go up in these old towns. The men worked hard and played rough. And drank like fish."

  Tory walked to the far end of the room and stopped before the yawning doorway. The perpetually open space framed a view of another adobe ruin. And in another direction, yet another ruin. "Looks like Yazzie found the jail," she said, motioning toward the long-haired man.

  They watched Yazzie walk around the corner of the square building and halt abruptly. He looked up with foreboding at the single window, still filled with steel bars. The jail. He ambled around front, leaned his back against the sturdy wall beside the solid metal front door, and pulled out a smoke.

  He stood there, the crippled knee bent and foot propped on the wall, surveying the small valley with its sparse buildings and gold mine entrenched in the triangular hillside. Tory noted that they were completely surrounded by mountains. No wonder it had been so hard to find. It was practically hidden. But no more. Now five people knew about it. She wondered if Yazzi thought it was four too many.

  She turned to see Ramona walking slowly behind Rex, stopping occasionally to pick up some forgotten object that once belonged to someone who lived there. She pulled absently at weeds, gingerly touched the adobe bricks, and finally found a seat on a staircase leading nowhere.

  When did Sharkey discover this beautiful, abandoned place? Why didn't he tell her about it? How much time did he spend there? He must have known she would love this old town. Did he plan to bring her back if he hadn't died? But then, he was so damned independent, maybe he didn't plan to bring her there at all. Maybe he intended to enjoy it alone, as he did so much of his life. They were all here because of his unexpected death.

  Rex headed across the street, leaving Ramona on the steps. Tory watched him tromp through knee-high weeds. He nearly tripped over an old piece of a blackboard. Must have been the school. He ambled out the back way, behind the buildings. Tory saw a rickety little building perched halfway up the hill, near the mine and Rex headed for that shack. She started to say something, but Dodge interrupted her thoughts.

  "We'd better fix our camp for the night," Dodge said, and steered Tory out of the saloon, "before it gets dark."

  "Where?"

  "I think the best place for us to bed down is in what appears to be the boardinghouse. We'll have to clear out the weeds and scrub oaks, but those adobe partitions will provide a little privacy if everyone wants a semiprivate room of their own."

  "Count me in," Tory replied, grinning.

  "If we play our cards right, you and I might get a partitioned section all to ourselves."

  "I knew you had an ulterior motive there."

  "Of course," he admitted frankly. "We probably ought to stick close together until this expedition is over." He draped his arm over her shoulder, and Tory slipped her arm around his waist. Alone in their own little world, they went back to the boardinghouse ruins.

  "Which room do you want, fancy pants? Since we're the first ones here, we get our choice."

  Tory chose a corner room in the back. "How about this one? But what a mess!"

  "After we clear out a few of these weeds, we'll level the earth so our beds will be comfortable."

  "Oh, what a dreamer you are!" She laughed. "Whoever said sleeping on the ground is comfortable?"

  He paused and gave her a special look. "I'll see that you are entirely comfy tonight, Miss Fancy Pants."

  "What? You found a motel nearby?" she asked.

  He rolled his eyes. "You and Rex! Two tenderfe
et!"

  Using a few of the digging tools packed on the mules, Dodge and Tory began the necessary cleanup. They were in high spirits, joking and laughing while they worked. But everything halted abruptly when they heard a scream.

  Tory bolted upright, her wide eyes flying to Dodge's face. "That was definitely not a mountain lion. That was Ramona!"

  "You're right!" Dodge headed to the open doorway and looked in every direction. The sun was setting over the western mountain range. Soon they would be in complete darkness. "Where the hell are they?"

  Ramona's call could be heard again.

  Tory spotted them on the hillside and pointed.

  "Damn! What in the hell are they doing way up there?" Dodge lunged forward. "At the explosives shack! Come on!"

  Tory followed close on his heels as they ran toward the frantic sounds.

  By then Ramona's voice was a wail. "Oh, my God! Come quick, Dodge! Please help me!"

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Tory rushed up the hill behind Dodge. She felt the tug of a prickly pear cactus on her jeans and the sting on her legs as a few stickers penetrated the denim and tore at her flesh. She rushed on heedlessly, spurred by Ramona's panicky voice.

  "It's Rex! He's down there somewhere!" Ramona's usually tanned face was drawn and pale. She clutched at the front of Dodge's shirt, her strong fingers white knuckled and demanding.

  Panting, Tory halted beside Dodge. She didn't know what to do. Ramona was panicky and near tears. Rex had disappeared into an cave-like pit. Dodge was the only one in control of his emotions, even if not of the situation.

  He gripped Ramona's arms and shook her roughly. "Calm down, Ramona. Tell me exactly what happened."

  Ramona took several sobbing breaths and tried to retrace her steps. And Rex's. "I don't know, exactly. We were wandering around the infirmary. I sat down on a step, and the next thing I knew, Rex had gone off by himself. I saw him walking up here, toward this little shack."

  "And you followed him?"

  She nodded. "And by the time I got here"—she reached for the yawning black hole with outstretched hands—"he'd disappeared in there!"

  Dodge knelt beside the abyss. "My God, it looks deep. What the hell was he doing way up here, anyway?" His voice was gruff, edged with the aimless anger that frustration brings.

  Tory watched the angled planes of Dodge's face, dark and prominent in the twilight. His lips pressed together tightly, and a muscle in his jaw twitched. He was, at that moment, a strong man with no power. He called Rex loudly, several times.

  "I called him, too. No answer, Dodge," Ramona whispered. "Do you think he could be—"

  "No! He's down there and we're going to get him out, that's all!"

  Tory stared helplessly at the two of them, appalled at the possibility of such a tragedy. A chill swept through her as she tried to gain some sense of the reality.

  Ramona wrung her hands. "Rex was—is—so curious about that gold mine. He could hardly wait for tomorrow when we could go up there."

  "Yeah, see what curiosity got him?" Dodged grumbled.

  Ramona shook her head hopelessly. "I'm scared, Dodge."

  "We'll work something out, Ramona." Dodge looked around and began to scout the area. Like the other abandoned houses, this one was a roofless frame.

  Ramona knelt down and called again. "Rex? Rex, can you hear me? Answer me, Rex! Oh, please, say something!"

  The three paused to listen. Silence greeted them.

  Dodge rushed over and shouted again, not willing to accept the fact that his partner was so badly injured he couldn't answer. Or that he could be dead. "Rex! Hey, Rex! Can you hear us? We're going to get you out!"

  Still nothing.

  Tory finally found her voice. "The fall could have knocked him out temporarily."

  Dodge muttered, "Yeah. But it doesn't look good. No telling how deep this shaft is."

  "My God, I can't believe this has happened," Tory moaned. "It's like a nightmare, something you read about in western novels, not experienced in real life."

  "For years I've heard about people falling into these abandoned mines, but I've never known anyone who did," Ramona murmured.

  Dodge grabbed Ramona's arm to hush her. "Listen!"

  They leaned toward the hole, silently willing the sounds they wanted to hear. And indeed, they did hear something. A scraping, like shoes scooting in loose gravel. And a man's groaning.

  "He's alive!" Ramona mouthed excitedly, defusing their worst fears.

  "Rex! Hey, Rex!" Dodge yelled, then paused and called again, loudly. "We hear you, Rex! How are you, buddy? Come on, Rex. Answer!" He ended with an almost demanding tone, inspired by fear and desperation.

  Faintly, they heard another groan. "Aaggg . . . ohh, my head."

  At the sound of the misery-laden but distinguishable words, the three hovering outside the abandoned mine cheered aloud. Ramona excitedly clapped Dodge on the back, then turned to hug Tory.

  "Okay, we have to get busy if we're going to get him out before dark," Dodge said, noting the sun receding behind the mountain. "I'd say we have less than an hour."

  "How?" Tory asked hopelessly. "We don't even know how deep he is."

  Dodge ignored her questions. "We'll need rope, lots of it. And a mule. The strongest one. Let's hurry." He placed a gentling hand on Ramona's shoulder. "You stay here and talk to him, Ramona. See if you can determine how badly he's hurt. And keep his spirits up. We'll be back as soon as possible."

  Tory and Dodge hurried down the hill to get the necessary tools and mules. Yazzie was nowhere in sight, so they grabbed what they needed and quickly rushed back up the hill to the disaster site, leading the largest mule.

  "Have you been talking to him?" Dodge asked Ramona. "Keeping him awake and alert? Is he hurt?"

  "He's alert enough to be complaining. He hit his head when he fell. As Tory said, that probably knocked him out temporarily. He's complaining about pains in his head, his chest, and his arm."

  "He could easily have cracked a few ribs in the fall. They're damned painful, too. And it's entirely possible he broke his arm." Dodge knelt beside the ever-blackening hole. "Rex, you still with us?" While he was talking, Dodge skillfully knotted the ropes together.

  "Where the hell would I go?"

  "Yes, he seems okay," Dodge said over his shoulder to the women. "Same belligerent Rex." Then he talked again to Rex. "Tell me where you're hurt, Rex. We're working on a way to get you out."

  "Well, what the hell are you waiting for?"

  "Can you help yourself, or do you need me to come down on a pulley and get you?"

  "Lower a rope. I can do it."

  "What about your arms?"

  "One hurts like hell."

  Dodge tied the end of the rope into a circle. "Put this over your head, around your chest. Then we'll pull you out."

  "Hurry, I'm . . . in pain." Rex's voice faded.

  "Okay, we're working as fast as we can. Don't move around. I'm going to lower the rope to you, and I want you to sit still and wait until it reaches you. Don't go fumbling around searching for it. Tell me when you get it."

  "He sounds pretty strong," Tory said with growing enthusiasm.

  Dodge began feeding the rope down the black hole and looked up at Tory and Ramona. "The best I can figure from the sound of his voice, he's about fifty feet down. This should be enough rope. When he gets it, we're going to tie the ends to that mule. Then I'll stay here and keep it steady and help Rex over the ledge while you two lead the mule away. Walk slowly but keep him steady and the ropes taut."

  Tory and Ramona nodded seriously, feeling the tension mount. Rex's life depended on everything and everyone working together, including the stubborn, unpredictable mule.

  "I have it!" Rex shouted. "I have the rope!"

  Dodge gave Rex terse instructions, then secured the ropes to the mule. With a quick nod, he motioned for Tory and Ramona to proceed forward, continuing to feed Rex constant reassurance. "Hold the rope with your good arm. Brace
your body against the rope. Walk up the walls. You can do it, Rex! Come on ..."

  Tory's palms were hot and sweaty as she clutched the mule's bridle and pulled him along. The rescue seemed to take forever. She could hear Rex's agonized voice as he moved along.

  "Oh, my ribs! Oh God, my arm! Oh, damn, it hurts to breathe! How much farther?"

  Dodge kept up his verbal encouragement. "You're doing fine, Rex. Come on up. Almost here."

  When Rex's head appeared over the edge, time accelerated. Suddenly everything erupted into a melee of loud congratulations and hugging. The shadowed figures seemed to huddle together, outlined against the deep purple of the surrounding mountains. One of their party had survived a near-tragedy, but they couldn't avoid the unspoken fear —would they be so lucky next time?

  Tory and Ramona went ahead while Dodge brought Rex back on the mule. They found Yazzie stirring a pot of stew over a glowing campfire. Relief flooded Tory, leaving her shaky.

  Ramona's emotions were closer to the surface, and she lashed out at the cook, who seemed so safe and unshaken. "Where have you been all this time, Yazzie? Rex's life was in danger and you were no help."

  The long-haired man looked at her steadily. "You used my mule. Did you need me?"

  "No. We managed to get him out of that abandoned mine. He's all right, if you care to know."

  "I knew Dodge could handle it. My job's cookin', not rescuin'. I figure if Dodge wants my help, he can call for it. Don't you want some hot coffee and stew?"

  Ramona looked at him askance. "How can you think of food at a time like this?"

  Tory interrupted. "Come on, Ramona. Don't take your frustrations out on him. Everything's all right now. And we do need food, at least Rex does."

  Ramona turned on Tory. "Just who does Yazzie think he is, not being a part of this group, not helping when someone's life is in danger?"

  "Let's get the beds fixed," Tory said, changing the subject. "Rex will need a comfortable place to lie down. And a little supper. We don't want him to go into shock."

  "You're excusing Yazzie for doing nothing?"

  "No," Tory said. "I just don't see any sense in placing blame at this point. Come on, we have work to do. It's been a long day. We're all tired and uptight." She placed an encouraging arm around Ramona's quivering shoulders and steered her away.