Chapter 9: Hidden Cache
The next morning dawned clear and bright. The outlaws broke camp and once again set off on what seemed like several more hours of endless riding. They would occasional halt and Lloyd and Roark would move up ahead out of earshot to scan the terrain before Roark would once again lead them in this direction or that.
Roark finally took them down into one of three canyon passes that were connected off the same ridgeline pass. After another hour's ride they stopped between a group of trees growing in a circular pattern and a set of twin boulders about 100 yard apart. Roark look up the rocky hillside between the two. "Up there," he pointed to where the hillside was partially sheared off exposing an outcropping of granite rocks half-way up concealed behind thick scrub brush and tall grass.
"Are you sure?" Lloyd asked.
"Course I'm sure," Roark insisted edgily. "Come on, let's get this over with and get out the hell out of here!"
Tethering the horses in the shade, the group set off on foot up the steep hill. Will was carrying three torches and a small shovel, part of the supplies he had picked up when Lloyd had sent him into town alone a week earlier. They stopped when they reached the patch of scrub trees.
"Should be through here somewhere," Roark indicated, squeezing his bulky frame through the thickets. The others followed. Just on the other side, concealed by more brush, Mark thought he saw the entrance to some sort of cave.
"What is it?" Will asked.
"Old abandoned mine tunnel," Roark smiled. "It was pure dumb luck I found it five years ago when those Redskins were on my tail."
The entrance was overgrown with weeds and looked undisturbed. With a little effort, the men were able to clear aside the brush and enter. Once inside, Lloyd lit one of the torches to illuminate the dark interior
Brushing the dust filled cobwebs aside, Roark motioned in a gruff voice. "Come on, this way," as he led the group down the dark tunnel.
But Mark had hesitated. Curiously Will glanced down at him. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he said quickly and started to follow the group. Mark didn't like to admit it to anyone but mine tunnels made him a little nervous. He'd been trapped in one once before when he and his friend Billy had been fooling around one day. Luckily his pa had found him in time. Since then he'd always been a little uneasy around them.
They had gone perhaps thirty yards into the tunnel when Roark stopped short and started cursing loudly. Mark looked around Will's frame to see what the commotion was about. Before them the tunnel was blocked by several large boulders and a pile of debris. Cursing, Roark kicked his foot against the rocks.
Lloyd spun Roark about. "What kind of bull is this!"
"I hid it here, I tell you!" He looked at the blockage. "Damn tunnel must have collapsed."
"Well isn't that just great!" Lloyd replied coldly.
Roark looked back at Lloyd sourly. "How was I to know it would cave in? Question is what are we gonna do now?"
Lloyd waved the torch about examining the blockage. "We start digging." He handed Roark the shovel.
"Are you kiddin? That cave in could be a hundreds of feet! We could be digging here for months or the whole thing could come down on top of us any minute!"
"Well there's only one way to find out," was Lloyd's reply. "Unless you care to pay me what you owe me out of your fat stupid hide!"
Roark shot Lloyd a venomous look before taking the shovel. Over the next hour or so, the group of mean worked to remove as much of the smaller rocks and debris as possible. It was slow going and dangerous work as the slide occasionally rained small pebbles down on top of them. One torch soon burned out and they lit the second.
Finally Lloyd halted the group. "Hand me the light Will," Lloyd directed as he carefully climbed up the rubble heap. At the very top he noticed a small opening. Extending his arm he stuck the torch through. It appeared to go all the way through to the other side, the flame still burning bright.
Lloyd removed some more of the smaller rocks and dirt and after several minutes managed to make the opening a little bigger but it was still pretty narrow, blocked by several large boulders too big to be moved by hand. He tried to crawl through the opening but his shoulders were too broad.
Sweating, the outlaw climbed back down. "Will, see if you can fit through."
Although Will was quite a bit skinnier than his uncle, he still couldn't get through. "It's no use, the opening is too narrow."
Roark was pacing irritably back and forth. "Fifty thousand dollars less than fifty feet away and it might as well be across the desert for all the good it's gonna do us," the convict complained bitterly.
Mark's eyes widened. Fifty thousand dollars! He never even seen close to that much money his entire life! No wonder Lloyd had been so intent on getting here!
"Nothing short of a dynamite blast is gonna move those rocks, Lloyd," Briggs commented, "and that's likely to bring the whole mountain down for sure."
But Lloyd was looking down at Mark studying him intently. "Or one small kid," he said slowly.
"What are you talking about?" Roark snapped.
The outlaw walked slowly over and put his hands on Mark's shoulders grinning widely. "You know kid, I think you're finally gonna come in handy after all."
As Mark glanced nervously at the small opening, Will realized his uncle's intentions. "But it's too dangerous, Lloyd. What if the tunnel collapses further?"
"Then we won't have to worry about his pa finding him," Roark jeered nastily.
"No! There's got to be another way."
Lloyd shook his head, then with a single hard look warned Will not to challenge him on this one. He steered Mark over to the rock pile. "Time for you to earn your keep kid.' Before Mark could protest he was hoisted up into the passage.
Mark's much smaller frame was able to squeeze through the opening without too much effort. Then laying on his stomach, he crawled through the three foot gap. The air on the other side was stale and musty and once he climbed down to the bottom he coughed several times from the dust he'd stirred up
"I can't see anything," Mark called out trying to feel his way along the rocks.
"Stand back kid and I'll toss a torch through," he heard Lloyd say.
A moment later it landed on the other side. Mark quickly picked it up before the flame was snuffed out. It was so dark the torch only illuminated a few feet around in a murky yellowish glow. Mark could see where the large boulders had collapsed the tunnel. Several pieces of splintered wood were embedded in the rocks.
He heard movement from the other side then Roark's rough, craggy voice.
"All right kid, you do exactly like I tell you," he barked. "Go a little further down the tunnel and start looking for the support joists. On one of them you'll find two slash marks with a line on top. You got that?"
"Yes sir."
"Stand in front of those markings and look directly across and a little to the left. There you'll see some rocks stacked up against the side of the tunnel. Move them aside and start digging down."
"All…right." Mark replied nervously.
"I'm passing the shovel through." The tool clanked loudly against the rocks as it hit the ground. The sound echoed through the darkness.
"I've got it."
"Then get going and remember what I told you before, no tricks!"
With the torch stretched out in front of him, Mark cautiously made his way down the eerie tunnel, which seemed to be slopping somewhat downward as he went. The light from the torch flickered at weird angles off a now much lower ceiling.
A large groaning sound suddenly came from behind and Mark whipped around peering in the darkness behind him, gripping the torch tightly in his sweaty palms.
Realizing it was only the mountain making settling noises, it never the less made Mark edgy. Slowly he took a few steps backwards and suddenly caught the back of his boot and something solid. He fell over, dropping the torch and the shovel at them same time. Hastily retrieving the torch he swept it around to see what he'd stumbled over and let out a cry of alarm as the light fell on a grisly discover. Backing quickly up against the far wall, his heart pounding, he listened to the vibrating echo of his own scream as it faded through the blackness. His eyes were fixed on the decayed mummified skeleton of a man slumped against the side of the tunnel. For a moment Mark was frozen in terror, unable to move. The skeleton, dressed in the tattered remains of what looked to be an army uniform, seemed to be staring back at him. Mark screwed up his face and turned his head away from the sight.
It was only Will's muffled anxious voice which finally brought him back to his senses. "I'm….I'm all right," Mark yelled back.
With shaky fingers he retrieved the pick shovel off the dead man's leg and stood back up. Hugging the cold rocky wall, he forced himself to continue further down the tunnel. A little deeper, he at last found one of the support joists. Waving the torch along the wooden beam he couldn't find any markings. He checked the one on the other side. Nothing. Continuing on, he slowly made his way until he came to the next set of joists, he repeated the process and with a sigh of relief spotted the markings etched into the vertical support.
"I…I found it," Mark shouted nervously back down the tunnel. His voice echoed eerily off the walls again and the mountain groaned loudly in response making him cringed. He gulped hard and he tried to focus on his task. As instructed he found the pile of rocks stacked against the side of the tunnel. As he propped the torch next to him, the flame seemed to be a little dimmer. Hastily, he started clearing the stones away. On the bottom of the pile he found a large rock wedged into a pit. It was too heavy for him to lift. He tried to roll it away but it wouldn't budge.
Grabbing the shovel, Mark wedged it underneath the rock trying to pry it loose. At first it didn't move, but after a couple more tries, at last he felt it shift. He got down on his knees and gripped the shovel with both hands. Using his body weight as leverage he pushed again. The rock slowly started to roll away.
He'd almost moved it completely aside when the shovel slipped out of place causing him to bang his hand painfully against the side of the tunnel. Mark held his hand tightly until the stinging pain stopped.
Roark muffed voice echo down the tunnel. Though he could not make out what was said, the tone was definitely getting impatient.
Mark wedged the shovel back in place and after a few more attempts at last he managed to move the rock aside. The torch began to flicker more erratically casting eerie distorted shadows on the wall as he quickly started shoveling the dirt out. Almost a foot down, the shovel hit something hard but pliable. Mark dropped the tool and felt with the object with his fingers. It was something made of leather. He could feel a metal buckle and the rounded edge of a flap.
"I think I found it," Mark called back.
The mountain moaned again and this time he felt a fine cloud of dust falling over him making him duck his head lower to the ground. Hastily he cleared the rest of the dirt away until he was able to grip a leather handle. At first the bag wouldn't budge, but after some effort, he was finally able to wiggle it free.
Leaving the shovel behind, Mark grabbed the torch and bag and headed back. As he neared the body again, he hugged the far wall trying not to look at it. He was almost back were he had started when the torch gave one last flicker then died out completely plunging him into complete darkness. Mark froze for a moment in fear and could feel the cold sweat dripping down the back of his neck. Dropping the useless torch, he reached out and found the side of the tunnel and slowly felt his way back the remaining distance.
When he could go no further he called up in the darkness. "I've got it"
Lloyd's voice came strong from the other side. "Pass it through."
"I can't see the opening. The torch went out."
"Hang on."
A few seconds later Mark saw a dim reflection of light coming from above. He started climbing towards it. But the satchel was heavy and proved awkward to lift up the steep pile of debris. His boots kept slipping and twice he drop the bag trying to lift it.
"I can't get it up. The side is too steep for me to lift it."
"Hang on a minute then," Lloyd said. Mark waited anxiously for what seemed liked hours but was probably only a few minutes before he heard Lloyd's voice again. "I'm going pass a rope through to you. Take it and tie it around the bag and we'll haul it up."
"Okay."
A few seconds later he felt the rope brush him in the darkness. It took sevearl minutes for Mark to tie the end around satchel becasue he couldn't exactly see what he was doing. He then gave a tug on the rope. The slack was taken up and Mark did his best to help push the satchel towards the narrow opening. After a few more hard tugs, it soon disappeared from sight.
But when Mark tried to follow suite, his foot slipped on a loose rocks and he fell back onto the tunnel floor.
From the other side he could hear the elated voices, but then they started fading away. Mark started to panic. Were they planning on leaving him behind after all? He tried to quickly climb up into the opening again but his boots kept slipping on the steep slope, unable to find a descent toehold in the dark. He groped frantically in the darkness.
"Please don't leave me," he said anxiously as the silence continued.
Finally Will's voiced called back down to him reassuringly.
"I can't get back out. It's too steep! Please don't leave me in here Will," Mark repeated again.
"I'm not going anywhere Mark. Just stay calm. I'm going to pass the rope back down to you."
"Okay."
As soon as he felt the end of the rope hit his face he grabbed onto it and after several more attempts Mark was at last able to leverage himself up and into the opening. He'd almost made it completely through the passage when he felt the back of his shirt snagged on something. He tried to wiggle free without luck.
"Hurry up Mark!"
"I can't. I'm caught up on something," Mark replied anxiously.
Will could hear the panic rising in Mark's voice again. "Hang on," Will replied, as Mark continued to try to free himself only cause some loose dirt and small stones to rain down on his head. "Hold still before the whole thing collapses on top of you!" Will ordered. With some effort he managed to stretch his arm between Mark and hard rock to see if he could feel what was he was caught on. His hand groped the back of Mark's shirt and found that it was twisted up on something long and sharp. As he tried to free the material, Will felt a sharp sting as something jabbed his palm and let out a curse, but he was able at last to free him. Grabbing Mark by his belt, he dragged him through the rest of the opening and the down the pile of rocks.
"You all right?" Will asked.
Mark nodded but he was shaking uncontrollably. He told Will about the body he'd discovered and heard Will muttered something savagely under his breath. "Come on let's get out you of here."
He led Mark back outside, through the scrub trees and into the open light. As they emerged, Mark was temporarily blinded by the bright sunlight and put his hand up to block the glare. When his eyes finally adjusted he could see Lloyd, Briggs and Roark standing a short distance away laughing and joking.
When Lloyd saw the two of them, he walked over and roughly rubbed the top of Mark's head beaming. Mark immediately withdrew from the outlaw's touch, brushing his bangs nervously back in place.
"You did good kid!"
Trying hard to suppress his anger, Will repeated what Mark had told him about finding the body.
They all looked over at Roark who started chuckling. "Oh that would be Lieutenant Parker. Almost forgot about him." At the group's curious look, Roark went on to explain. "After that band of renegade Apaches attacked the supply wagon the money was hidden in and set the dang thing on fire I grabbed the satchel and decided to get the hell out of there. But I guess the Lieutenant must have seen me take off and followed. He caught up with me when my horse stumbled and fell. He was intent on bringing me back in when we were spotted by a couple of scouts. A tomahawk got the Lieutenant upside the head and I got an arrow in my calf before we managed to finish them both off. But the commotion had spooked the horses and we had to high tail it out of there on foot when we saw several more Apaches coming over the rise. We were just damn lucky to have found this cave by chance and hid out till we were sure they were gone. But the Lieutenant was bleeding pretty bad from his head wound and I knew it was just a matter of time. All I had to do was wait for the right opportunity."
"Never did like that Lieutenant much" Roark said wickedly and his smile told the rest of the Lieutenant's fate. "I knew I couldn't get the money safely out of here on foot, so I hid it here. An army patrol found me two days later after they discovered the ambushed wagon. I was planning on coming back to get the money when things cooled, except I got arrested in the infirmary a few days later for illegal Indian trading. Then all hell broke loose between the Apaches and the army."
"And my men and I where caught in the middle of the whole mess," Lloyd snapped. "By the time we got out of there, it cost me two of my best men!"
But Will had heard enough. He took Mark by the shoulders and stirred him down the hill. "Come on, I think I saw a little stream nearby where you can wash up."
The cool water felt good on Mark's face as he washed the dust from his eyes. After taking a long drink, he started to feel calmer. It was then he noticed Will's hand. "You're hurt!"
"It's nothing. I just caught it when I was trying to un-snag you." Will rinsed his hand off, then wrapped his bandana around the wound.
They sat in the sun and after a few minutes Mark asked, "What's going to happen now, Will?"
"Lloyd's got some men meeting us up North once we get over the mountains. I sent them a wire last week. "
"And me?" Mark asked. "Now that Lloyd's got what he came for, what are they going to do about me?"
Will looked somber. "Don't worry, I'll figure something out."