The Legend of Red Horse Cavern (4 page)

The big man stopped walking. He had reached what appeared to be a dead end. He pointed his light at the center of the room. Two ropes dangled from the ceiling. Scarface aimed the light at the top of the ropes.

A door.

There was a wooden door in the ceiling. Will smiled to himself. He couldn’t wait to get back and tell Sarah. They were almost home.

Will had hidden himself behind a large boulder. He watched as Scarface checked the floor for tracks. The man made one last sweep of the room and started back.

This time Will waited until he could barely hear the man walking before he came out of hiding. He had the map in his head, and he didn’t need to listen for the footsteps. All he had to do now was find Sarah and get out of here.

Cautiously he felt his way along, not putting any weight on his feet until he was sure
there was ground underneath. His sneakers were noiseless as he walked.

Only a few more yards to go.

In front of him he heard an excited voice. A man was yelling. “I’ve got one of them.”

Sarah was restless. She moved closer to the front of the cave to listen. There wasn’t much to hear. Occasionally the short man groaned and cursed, but that was all.

She could hear footsteps. That must mean Scarface was on his way back. And Will wouldn’t be far behind. Silently she moved back into the passage. As she walked, something fell out of her pocket and clanked noisily on the stony ground.

It was the statue. She stood as still as possible, hoping that no one had heard it.

The footsteps came right up to her cave and stopped. Scarface pointed the light at her and smirked. “Well, well. Missed me so much you just couldn’t stay away.”

She tried to run, but he was faster. He dragged her into the palace room, where Shorty was resting, and threw her in a heap at his feet.

“Brought you a little present.”

Shorty swung his legs around and stood over her. “Where’s the boy?”

Sarah’s voice was trembling. “We got separated. I don’t know where he is.”

“She’s lying. You can bet he’s around somewhere close. Go find him.”

Will stepped back into the darkness. His mind was racing. How could this have happened? What should he do? He no longer had the ingredients for a homemade bomb. In fact, he had precious little left in his pack at all. A couple of apples, candles, and rope.

Rope
.

Quietly he eased his way back up through the jet black passageway to the cavern where he had nearly fallen into the pit earlier. He
took one of the ropes out of his pack and tied one end securely around a boulder.

He flashed his light to see what he was doing and then loosely wrapped the other end around the top of a jagged stalagmite.

Will took a deep breath and headed back the way he had come. The sound of Scarface’s footsteps was coming closer. He swallowed hard and jumped out into the middle of the path.

Scarface raised his gun and fired. The bullet ricocheted off the walls. Rock chips flew as it hit again and again.

Will quickly moved into the next passage. He ducked behind an outcropping of rocks. Silently he picked up one of the rocks and waited.

The big man flashed his light around the room. His gun was poised, ready. “I know you’re in here, boy. Don’t worry. I’m not gonna kill you. At least not right now. The boss wants to have a little talk with you first.”

Will stood up and aimed his rock at the man’s flashlight. He let it fly. It hit its mark.
The light fell from Scarface’s hand and shattered on the ground.

“I guess you think you’re smart, don’t you, kid? Well, you’re not. This just makes things more interesting.”

Will knew better than to answer. He slid out of his hiding place and headed for the next passage. When he was far enough in front, he spoke out. “You’ll never catch me. You’re too dumb—and ugly.”

Scarface immediately moved in the direction of the voice. He was not accustomed to the darkness the way Will was, and he stumbled several times. Will heard him curse and smiled.

Always staying just far enough ahead that he was sure a stray bullet wouldn’t hit him, Will kept making noise, leading his enemy on.

Scarface kept coming.

When he reached the cavern where he had left his rope, Will positioned himself to the side of the stalagmite. He picked up the end of the rope and held it loosely in his hands.

Will yelled, “Why don’t you pick on somebody your own size, you stupid ape?”

Scarface stumbled into the room. Will
reached in his pocket and grabbed a handful of pebbles. He threw them at the sound of the footsteps.

“You think a bunch of little rocks are going to hurt me, boy?” The man snorted a tight laugh. “You’re in over your head this time, kid.”

Keep coming, Will thought. Don’t stop now.

Scarface hesitated. “Where are you, boy? It’s no good hiding. I’ll find you sooner or later.”

Will reached for the last of his pebbles. He threw them at the other side of the pit.

“Ah, over there …” Scarface took another step. Will jerked hard on the rope.

Scarface tripped and fell into the bottomless pit.

Will let go of the rope. He sat down to rest near the edge of the hole and wiped the perspiration off his forehead. He should feel bad. He had just killed a man. But he didn’t feel anything. Just tired. And now he had to—

Out of nowhere a hand grabbed his shoe. A scream started in Will’s throat.

“Help me, boy. If you don’t, I’ll take you down with me.”

Will could feel himself slipping. Wildly he grabbed for the rope. His hand caught the very end of it.

The man had a good hold on his foot now. Will kicked violently. His body was sliding across the glassy floor toward the hole.

Suddenly his foot slipped out of his shoe. There was an agonizing yell that seemed to last forever.

Then silence.

Will grabbed the rope and worked his way up away from the hole.

“He should have been back by now.” Shorty limped to the opening and pointed his light down the passageway.

Sarah edged toward the back of the room.

“No you don’t. Not this time.” Shorty pointed the gun at her and motioned for her to come closer. He grabbed her arm and squeezed. “From now on you stay right beside me. Understand?”

Sarah nodded.

Shorty pushed his hat back. “He must have
run into trouble.” He looked down at her. “That boyfriend of yours is pretty sharp. You don’t suppose he got the best of my partner, do you?”

Sarah forced a smile. “Actually he’s kind of a genius. And he’s been trained in guerrilla warfare by the old ones.”

“Indians?”

She nodded again. “He’s half Apache.”

“If that’s the case, maybe you and I better go have a look. You stay right in front of me, and don’t try anything unless you want a bullet in your back.”

Shorty shoved Sarah out in front of him and flashed the light up and down, searching each hollow and every possible hiding place. He called for his partner, but there was no answer.

He shone his light carefully around the walls of each passage they came to. Every few steps he stopped and listened.

“Something’s wrong or he would have answered me by now. I’m not hanging around here anymore. This place is starting to give me the creeps.”

He pushed Sarah back the way they had come. “We’ll take as much of the cash as we can carry, steal a car, and go south.”

When they reached the chamber where the money was stashed, he shoved one of the sacks at her. “Here. You’re a big girl; you should be able to carry this.”

Shorty grabbed a sack for himself and headed for the opening. “Come on, sister. Mexico is waiting.”

A ghostly noise floated through the air. Sarah jumped. Had Red Horse finally come to rescue her?

The low whisper groaned again. As Shorty looked away from her, Sarah spun around and knocked the gun out of his hand with the money sack. Then she kicked him as hard as she could on his burned leg.

“Over here!” Will yelled.

She raced to the sound of his voice. He grabbed her hand and started running. “I know the way out. It’s not far.”

Sarah didn’t talk. She just ran. Will led her to the room where the ropes were hanging from the ceiling. He hauled himself up and
then reached down to help her. “Hurry, Sarah. Climb.”

Will pushed open the wooden door. Sunlight flooded in. He scrambled out and pulled Sarah up.

They could hear angry yelling behind them. Will shut the door and looked around for something to put on it. The best they could do was a nearby hollow log. It wasn’t very heavy but it might hold the door shut for a while.

“I thought you were Red Horse,” Sarah heaved.

“I thought you were dead,” Will said.

They flew down the mountain toward home. Sarah was in the lead. She looked back to see if they were being followed.

Then she turned and ran smack into the chest of a deputy.

Grandfather was hanging on every word. “Then what happened?”

Will continued, “The sheriff had seen the flares and already had his men scouting the area. We showed the deputies the entrance to the cave. They almost had Shorty right there, but he slid down the rope and got away. They caught him trying to escape with the money on the other end.”

“I’m so proud of you two.”

“I just wish I could have brought the statue back for you to see,” Sarah said.

Grandfather shook his head in amazement.
“I can’t believe you actually had your hands on the statue.”

“I really did.” Sarah looked at the floor. “Too bad I dropped it.”

“No. It’s better that you left it in the cavern. That’s where it belongs.”

There was a knock on the front door. Will jumped up to answer it. He came back in the living room with a tall man in a black suit.

The man stood in the doorway. “As I told this young man, I’m looking for William Tucker and Sarah Thompson.”

“That’s us.” Will pointed at himself and Sarah.

“I’m from the Dupont Armored Truck Company. The sheriff told me how to find you. My company has offered a reward for the return of our money and the capture of the criminals.”

He went on, “I have the check with me. It’s made out to both of you for the sum of one thousand dollars. All I need are your signatures.” He flipped open his briefcase and handed them some papers.

Will and Sarah stared at each other. They
quickly signed the documents, and the man handed them an envelope.

He stood up to go. “By the way, do either of you know where I can find the gentleman who helped the deputies in the cave?”

“What man?” Will asked.

The agent raised one eyebrow. “I thought you knew. Apparently there was someone dressed in an ancient Indian costume blocking the criminal’s escape from the main entrance of the cave. The sheriff tried to get an accurate description from the robber, but he refuses to talk about it. Oh, well.” The agent snapped his briefcase shut. “Since you don’t know him, I’ll ask around town.”

The kids watched him leave with their mouths hanging open. Could the agent have been talking about Red Horse?