by Julie Weston
The sun rose high, and the day grew hot. A shot rang out, closer than she would have expected. Moonie barked and began to run ahead of her. “Stop, Moonshine!” He did but kept looking back at her, wanting to go ahead. She didn’t want him to be the target for O’Donnell or anyone else. And she didn’t want to be one, either.
The path petered out ahead of her. She stopped and crouched down against a dead tree trunk, so she wouldn’t be in the skyline and could look ahead. The tall cinder mound lay slightly to the east. And, then she knew where she was—on the way to the tree molds. The craggy mountain was directly ahead, and the cave was around to the other side. That was where she wanted to plant the money sack. She had no idea if O’Donnell were already there, but probably not, assuming he was the one who fired his rifle.
When Nell walked around the hill with the jagged top and the long fissure, she knew she was near the last cave, where Charlie had broken his leg. Again, no one was in sight. Nor had she seen a dead or wounded animal that would explain the gunshot. She wouldn’t even consider that the bullet had been meant for a person.
The approach to the cave was as she remembered—a pile of rubble—broken pieces of lava and chunks of stone fronted by a flat slab of rock. Orange lichen covered many of the surfaces. Nellie dug out the flashlight she had brought and climbed with care down the rock slide and ducked under the lip entrance. A metallic smell met her nose, with overtones of dust and even water. Nothing rotting that she could tell.
“Stay close, Moonie.” The tube, or cave, like the others, opened into a large area. Nellie tried to hug one wall, but the scattered rocks and uneven surface—a pahoehoe look-alike in the beam of her flashlight—made it more difficult, and she lost her touch until she realized by swinging the light around that she was in the middle of the room-sized cave. She stopped and stepped back to the wall again, trying to orient herself to the exit. Her camera pack wasn’t heavy, but it caused her to sway when she balanced on one booted foot. “Where shall I hide the money?”
Without her flashlight, she would have been in stygian darkness. Even with it, she felt surrounded by a starless night with not much more than a candle to find a likely spot. She almost fell into a niche her light had failed to illuminate, and she stumbled trying to stay upright. “Ah, this is the place. If I couldn’t see it even with my flashlight, then maybe O’Donnell didn’t see it either, if he really was here before.” Moonshine didn’t answer her. She lowered her pack and pulled out the waxy bag to place it at the base of the niche, hiding it behind two chunks of lava. “Let’s get out of here, Moonie.” She swung her pack over her shoulders. But which way? Was it her left hand or her right that had last felt a wall’s surface? She decided to turn off the flashlight to see if she could see a glimmer from the entrance. Nothing. With the light back on, she said to her dog: “Take me out, Moonie. You can find the way, can’t you?” She looped a finger in his collar. “Go.” He made a sound but stayed still.
“Took you long enough to get here.” A light turned on and pointed at her.
“Aaa!” Nellie was so startled she lost hold of Moonshine and about dropped her flashlight. She couldn’t see the person behind his light, but she recognized the voice. She moved her own light back and forth, and there, not ten feet from her, stood Cable O’Donnell, the rifle in the crook of his arm.
“Where did you come from?” She tried to keep the quaver out of her voice. Had he seen her put the bag in the niche?
“Back there.” He gestured with his head. “You have company.”
“Company? What do you mean?” Nellie could feel the hairs on her neck stand up. This man had no scruples.
“Take that dog with you, and go find out.”
“No.” She wanted to grab Moonie again. “Who is it?” She didn’t want to give Rosy’s name away, just in case it was he. It could be someone else.
“Weren’t you looking for someone?” He chuckled, a sound without an ounce of humor in it. He moved the rifle and pointed it in the direction beyond him. “Now you can be a hero.”
The man stepped closer, so Nell moved back and felt Moonshine against her leg. “Did you find the money you were after?”
“There’s no money here. The sheriff has it. You must know that, too.”
“If he does, he didn’t tell me,” Nellie lied and took another cautious step back, Moonshine moving with her. “Who said so?”
“Give me your flashlight,” the rancher said.
“No!”
“Give it to me, or I’ll kill your dog.” O’Donnell raised his rifle and pointed it at Moonshine.
Nellie could only hand over her light. “Why do you want it? You have one.” O’Donnell stretched forward to grab it and then stepped back.
“I want whatever you stashed in the niche behind you,” he said. “And, then I’ll leave you to figure out how to get out of here without it. I have some business to take care of out there. I don’t want you along. You might get hurt.” Again, that humorless chuckle.
“What did you do with whoever is back there?” She gestured with her hand, not knowing in what direction “back there” might be.
O’Donnell stepped around Nellie to the wall. He took his eyes off her, but not long enough for her to do anything. He reached down and grabbed the waxed sack she had stowed. He glanced into it briefly, smiled, and moved beyond Nell. Moonshine followed him. O’Donnell raised his rifle and struck Moonie on the head. The dog sagged to the ground.
“No!” Nell rushed toward her dog, tripped, and fell, landing so hard, she hit her head. The rancher disappeared from the cave, leaving dog and mistress in utter darkness. Nellie couldn’t tell if her eyes were open or closed. Her fingers could feel rock— smooth and wrinkled. It was black, so black she couldn’t see her hand. With care, she moved her arm around her, close at first, then wider. Only the ground was firm. The rest was black air.
She struck canvas. Her pack. She pulled her pack closer and hugged it. She rested her head, feeling the scratchy canvas, the leather straps, even finding the small metal buckles comforting and familiar. She could feel her gorge rising but swallowed convulsively. She wished she had water. Then she felt her coat front and found the canteen strap and the canteen and shook it. The welcome sound of water sloshing greeted her, so she unscrewed the cap and drank deeply.
Now what? Calling out wouldn’t help. Again, she wondered what or who the “company” was, what O’Donnell had meant. She shivered and grabbed her pack again and held it to herself like a shield, then opened it. Her camera box lay where it should. Her tripod, reassembled after the legs were removed from Charlie’s broken leg, was still attached. No gun. Then she remembered it was in her back belt. She wished she had pulled it out when O’Donnell was threatening her. Too late. She felt into an inner side pocket, not expecting to feel anything. But she did—the folded flash powder holder. Flash powder. She had brought a packet with her. And matches.
With shaking hands, Nellie felt for the matches. She had grabbed a handful from Goldie’s kitchen box and wrapped them in a paper and put them in the bottom of the pack. Eight matches. She must use them carefully and first think about how to use them.
Arp. Arp. Moonshine! Where was he? She had not reached her dog before she fell and O’Donnell hurried out of the cave. “Moonie! Come here, boy.” One match for Moonshine. She pulled one out of the wrapping and struck it across the rock she was sitting on. No fire. She felt around to be sure the rock wasn’t wet and rasped it again. A flame burst and then settled into an unwavering light. She saw the walls and, five or six feet from her, her sweet dog.
“Oh, Moonie!” Nellie crawled to him. Her light burnt her fingers, and she dropped the match. She retrieved her pack and felt for her dog, and then the suffocating black took over again. By feel, Nellie examined Moonie. He seemed all right but kept making the strange sound, like he had around the opium last winter. He licked at Nellie, covering her face and hands with saliva.
Nellie would use another match. If only the little
flame could give her an inkling of which direction was out. Again, the light burst up and then steadied—no wind at all. “Ow!” Nellie dropped the match. The wood burned a little longer so Nellie looked Moonshine over again. He still lay down. She pressed her hands along his side and back and down each leg. Arp. She pressed his head to her chest, and she felt a lump behind his ear. She would get even. Hitting her would have been one thing, but smacking her dog’s head was unforgivable.
“All right, Moonie. Let’s see if we can get out of here and get some help. I’m not going to try and search for the ‘company’ without a flashlight and preferably company of my own choosing—like Rosy.” Don’t let it be Rosy back there, she continued to herself. If necessary, she could go back to the road and hitchhike to Arco to find Mayor Tom.
Moonshine pulled himself to his feet, and Nellie’s match went out. She thought she heard a moan. A chill ran down her spine. She listened for another sound. Nothing. No drip, no scraping. Nothing. Whoever was “company” in the cave was not moving.
What if it were Rosy?
CHAPTER 21
Gwynn showed up with Matt and Campbell again. He didn’t seem to know what to do with them besides bring them to see Goldie and eat pie. This time, when they had eaten their fill, she said, “I’m coming back with you to Hailey.”
“Why? How will you get back?” Gwynn turned from Goldie and shooed the boys out the door.
Goldie figured Gwynn had something up his sleeve, and she wanted to keep an eye on him. He had been particularly pleased to learn that Charlie wasn’t at the boarding house and in fact had managed to get a ride to the lava fields. Goldie had tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t be swayed. He and Mayor Tom had cooked up a plan.
“I have something to talk over with Esther, Rosy’s sister. And, the boys need clothes. I can take them shopping.” There was precious little for boys even in Hailey, but a Sears catalog might be available at the one clothing company.
“You can do that over the telephone.”
“No, I can’t. I don’t want everyone knowing my business—or yours either, as far as that goes.” Goldie pulled on a sweater and grabbed up her purse—a large satchel. “Besides, I want to ride in that fancy automobile of yours. I can catch a ride back easy.” She bit her lip. She certainly didn’t want to get stuck with Esther.
Gwynn sighed but bowed to the inevitable, it seemed. Goldie told the boys to sit in back, and she sat in the front passenger seat.
The ride south was filled with yellow cottonwood leaves, sheep in the flat meadows, at least one green and white sheep camp, the sparkling Big Wood River where it curved near the roadway, and skeins of geese overhead. Goldie felt her chest open up to the late fall day. Even if Gwynn caused trouble, it was worth it to see the slant of the sunlight and the enormous bloom of white fall clouds. She hadn’t been outside in days, except at Guyer Hot Springs.
“Where is Rosy today?” Gwynn kept his eyes on the road as if he didn’t really care one way or another.
“The sheriff made him a deputy and sent him off to do a job.” Goldie didn’t think she should tell Gwynn about the lava fields and Nell’s journey.
“Is that his job now?”
“I don’t know. As long as Charlie is laid up with the broken leg, he needs the extra help. We’ll need more people in our towns to keep two officers busy though.”
Gwynn said nothing.
“The federal marshal has called on Charlie more than once, you know. The federals seem to think Charlie is the real goods.” She decided to lay it on a little more. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they offered him a full-time job in Boise. He’s a good man.” She couldn’t help the last dig.
“You can thank me for that,” Gwynn said. “If I hadn’t thrown him out of town, he would never have amounted to a sack of horseshoes.”
Goldie decided not to rise to that bait. “Rosy is being a real help.”
When they arrived at Charlie’s house, the boys jumped out of the auto and ran around the house, whooping and hollering. Gwynn climbed out and let Goldie fend for herself. They arrived at the door stoop at the same time. Esther, her face a series of frowns from her forehead to her chin, opened the door. She stared at Gwynn. “You can’t let those boys run around like Indians. They have homework to do.” She sniffed and turned away from Goldie as she moved to step into the house.
“That’s Mr. Campbell’s fault. I just came along for the ride.”
Gwynn stepped in, too. “I am going to take the boys out to my ranch, Miss Kipling. Can you pack up a few things for them? They can take their books and homework with them.”
Esther stopped and glared at him. “Who says so?”
“I do. I’m their grandfather. This place isn’t suitable for them. It’s nothing more than a cracker box.”
“And, what does their father—my brother—say about that?” Her folded arms conveyed her own thoughts about Gwynn’s idea.
“I know Rosy will agree. He’s working for the sheriff and not likely to be around much. The boys will have horses and a better place to live.”
“Since when are fathers ever around very much?” Esther drew herself up. Goldie thought she looked like a formidable opponent to Gwynn. He once was a big man, but age had dwindled not only his size, but his presence. “I’m here to take care of the boys while Rosy works,” Esther continued. “And that is what I’m going to do!”
“You could—” Gwynn stopped. Goldie wondered if he had thought of inviting Esther to the ranch and then realized that might not be such a good idea. “I have a housekeeper who will help with the boys—do cooking and such. They’ll have a grand time.”
“And, what about school?” Goldie asked. “They are all settled into the school here in Hailey. Besides, you promised.”
“I won’t hear of it,” Esther said. “They aren’t going to another new school. As for this house,” she said and gestured around, “it’s fine for now. We’ll find another place as soon as Rosy finds the right job—”
“And, he might have one already,” Goldie said, interrupting. “I told you, he is working for the sheriff right now.”
Gwynn looked from one to the other. “Then I at least want them to come out on weekends when they aren’t in school. I’ll come get ’em and bring ’em home.”
Esther said what Goldie was thinking. “Ha! Why should I trust you to do the right thing? They’ll stay here. If Ross says they can come for the weekend, then I’ll come with them.”
Goldie could hardly suppress a smile. “She’s right, Gwynn. Rosy has to approve any arrangements.”
Esther glared at her, too. “You stay out of this. This is my and Ross’s business.”
“Well, I am taking the boys over to the store to get them some clothes. They look like sissies in those short pants, and they need winter pants and boots.” Goldie swept out the front door and called, “Matt! Campbell! We’re going shopping!” How was she going to get back? She’d worry about that later.
As Goldie and the boys walked down the street to turn toward Main at the corner, she heard Gwynn’s automobile start up and shift into gear. He didn’t pass her, so she figured he didn’t want to talk to her again. She might have laughed at him—done in by two women—so it was just as well.
CHAPTER 22
Nell decided she had to check the back of the cave, even though all she wanted was to get outside to breathe fresh air and look at the sky. “Can you walk?” Moonie pressed against her side and seemed steady enough on his feet. “Let’s go.” Nell swung her pack to her back, hugged her dog, and then, not so steady herself, took small steps to the far wall and headed in what she thought was the right direction to go deeper into the cave. A pile of broken slabs made her pause, but she circled as best she could, using one hand on the rocks to keep her balance. Bright lichen—yellow, green, orange—lit up under her match. She continued on, soon finding herself in what felt like a different space. Her flame flickered out. She lit another match, but the light only extended a few feet. Mor
e rocks. More broken slabs. No, a bundle at the far end of her light. It couldn’t be Rosy— too small.
She could turn around and leave. No one would be the wiser. But she couldn’t. She was the sheriff’s envoy so must do what he would do, and that was check out the bundle. She wished Charlie were with her. Or Rosy.
As if her thoughts conjured the men, Nellie heard voices, this time coming from the direction of the cave area she had left. But who was out there? Maybe O’Donnell with companions, maybe his son. Whoever it was could mean more danger for her. She scrambled back to the pile of broken rocks she had circled and squatted down, blowing out her light and pulling Moonie next to her. Soon she saw a faint glow, which grew.
“She ain’t here,” came Rosy’s voice. “I’ll look a little farther on. You stay where you are.” His light appeared at the connecting of the two spaces.
Nellie stood, waved her hand, and placed her finger on her lips, trying to signal to Rosy to say nothing about her presence until she knew who was with him. She shook her head and then ducked down again, hoping he understood.
“She ain’t here either,” Rosy said. “Looks like the cave ends at the back of this room. I’m comin’ back.” He flicked his light two times and then disappeared.
Nell could hear the other voice. “Now what?” The large room distorted it, so she didn’t recognize him. Both voices faded away, and, once again, Nell was in the dark.
