The Legend of Red Horse Cavern

A rabbit jumped out from behind some brush. The startled man raised his gun and fired. The rabbit fell to the ground.

Will looked through a crack in the brush. He was crouched down—waiting, hoping. He saw the rabbit fall. The big man walked within two feet of him. Will held his breath.

“All right, boy. Have it your way. But if you go for the cops, I’ll kill her personally.”

The man turned and walked away.

Will didn’t dare come out for fear that Scarface might hear something and come back.

He waited there, hardly breathing for what seemed an eternity. His mind was blank except for one thought …

Sarah.

JOURNEY
,
Patricia MacLachlan

SHILOH
,
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

MISSING MAY
,
Cynthia Rylant

THE SECRET FUNERAL OF SLIM JIM THE SNAKE
,
Elvira Woodruff

AWFULLY SHORT FOR THE FOURTH GRADE
,
Elvira Woodruff

THE SUMMER I SHRANK MY GRANDMOTHER
,
Elvira Woodruff

HOW TO EAT FRIED WORMS
,
Thomas Rockwell

HOW TO FIGHT A GIRL
,
Thomas Rockwell

HOW TO GET FABULOUSLY RICH
,
Thomas Rockwell

BEETLES, LIGHTLY TOASTED
,
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

YEARLING BOOKS/YOUNG YEARLINGS/YEARLING CLASSICS
are designed especially to entertain and enlighten young people. Patricia Reilly Giff, consultant to this series, received her bachelor’s degree from Marymount College and a master’s degree in history from St. John’s University. She holds a Professional Diploma in Reading and a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Hofstra University. She was a teacher and reading consultant for many years, and is the author of numerous books for young readers.

For a complete listing of all Yearling titles,
write to
Dell Readers Service,
P.O. Box 1045,
South Holland, IL 60473.

Dear Readers:

Real adventure is many things—it’s danger and daring and sometimes even a struggle for life or death. From competing in the Iditarod dogsled race across Alaska to sailing the Pacific Ocean, I’ve experienced some of this adventure myself. I try to capture this spirit in my stories, and each time I sit down to write, that challenge is a bit of an adventure in itself.

You’re all a part of this adventure as well. Over the years I’ve had the privilege of talking with many of you in schools, and this book is the result of hearing firsthand what you want to read about most—power-packed action and excitement.

You asked for it—so hang on tight while we jump into another thrilling story in my World of Adventure.

The moon cast eerie shadows as a velvet darkness covered the Sacramento Mountain range. The young brave sat quietly in the thicket and stared out across the meadow. An old doe raised her head and looked cautiously toward the brush where he was hiding. There was a time when he would have been interested in hunting her, but not tonight. Tonight he was on a quest
.

A quest to help his people
.

His hand touched the soft leather pouch hanging from his neck. The Old One had filled it with powerful medicine to help fight
the evil. His hand traveled to the quiver on his back, which contained five new arrows. He would need only two: one for the white prospector and one for Red Horse—the betrayer
.

A movement
.

They were coming. He silently slipped one of the arrows from the quiver and fitted it to his bow. He could see their outlines clearly. He raised the bow, took careful aim, and
 …

“Will.” A voice split the mountain air.

“William Little Bear Tucker. I am speaking to you.”

Will blinked. He looked up into the face of his best friend, Sarah Thompson.

She glared at him. “Are we or are we not going to explore this cave today?”

“I was just—”

“I know exactly what you were doing. You were pretending you were the brave in that old legend again.” She turned on her flashlight and stepped inside the cave. “Come back to reality and let’s have a look around.”

Will followed her. “All right. You don’t have to get mad about it.”

“I’m not mad. It’s just that we’ve been planning
on exploring this cave ever since we found the opening last week. My little brother saw me packing my backpack, and I had to give him my best comic to keep his mouth shut about it. My mom gets worried every time we come to Ghost Mountain.”

“I’m sorry. I guess the reason I think about the legend so much is that my grandfather loves to tell it.”

“I know. I’ve heard it so often I can almost repeat it word for word.” She hopped up on a nearby boulder, put her hand over her heart, and lowered her voice to sound more like Will’s grandfather.

“Once, many years ago, my people, the Apaches, lived in these mountains. There was plenty of game, and the fish never ran out. The times were happy. Then one year it forgot to rain. The streams dried up, and the game went away.”

Will jumped in. “Kaetennae, the Old One, told the people it was because they had angered the rain god. To appease him, they must bring all their gold and jewelry to be melted into a statue in his honor.

“Then one day a prospector discovered the
golden statue and made plans to steal it. He was aided in this evil by Red Horse, a brave who had lived with the whites and despised the traditions of his people.

“Every man and boy in the tribe went after the two thieves. They finally found them in Rancho Rio Canyon, not far from here. But they didn’t find what they expected.

“The white prospector was stretched out over an anthill—dead. The body of Red Horse lay a few feet away. But his head was missing. The braves looked and looked for the head but they never found it. The head, along with the gold statue, was never seen again.”

Sarah made a spooky noise and wiggled her fingers. “And the headless ghost, the spirit of Red Horse, is still up here roaming the canyon, searching for his head. Because unless he finds it and does something to bring honor back upon himself, his spirit can never be free.”

Sarah shuddered. “The whole thing gives me the creeps.” She moved farther into the cave. “Boy, this place is bigger than I thought. I still don’t see the back.”

Will flashed his light around on the glistening walls. “It’s huge. You could live in here. It’s bigger than a house.”

Sarah moved to the back of the cave. “Will, take a look at this.”

He shifted the weight of his backpack. “What is it?”

“There’s a passage back here. Let’s see where it leads.”

The passage was narrow at first but gradually opened into another larger room. Crystal-covered stalactites hung from the ceiling. Large brown stalagmites grew from the floor.

Will’s teeth were chattering. “I didn’t know it would be so cold in here.”

Sarah pointed her light around the new room. There were passageways taking off in every direction. “This is so neat. It’ll take us forever to explore all of these.”

Will pointed the light at his watch. “We don’t have a lot of time. I told Grandfather we’d be back in time for supper.”

Sarah flipped her French braid behind her back. “We’ll just try a couple. My mom told
me the same thing. She heard some news report about an armored truck shipment being held up a few days ago, and she’s convinced we’ll all be killed in our sleep.”

Will headed into the left passage. The walls glistened like shiny marble. “This is so incredible, Sarah. We’re probably the first people ever to see the inside of this place.”