Latitude 38

by Ron Hutchison

  “Sad.”

  Each tower housed two guards, Cutbirth reminded them, both of whom were constantly scanning the surrounding terrain with binoculars, and he insisted they remain hidden behind the forest vegetation. “If you can see the towers, the towers can see you,” he cautioned.

  “I don’t even want to take a picture of it,” Emily said in a quiet voice, her eyes tracing the long, lifeless boundary. She clung tighter to her mother. “It’s creepy.”

  Diego nodded inwardly. Emily was right. The border was creepy as hell.

  “I can’t take much more of this Missouri weather,” Henry said, allowing his backpack to fall to the ground. He sat on the backpack, filled the cap to his canteen with the few drops of water he had left, and then gently removed the chick from his pocket. The featherless bird was dead. “Heat killed it,” Henry muttered gloomily. He placed the dead chick on the ground and covered it with a handful of leaves.

  “That’s some burial service,” Yong said.

  “Too tired….” Henry said.

  “I’m out of water, Mr. Cutbirth,” Sissy said, her face a pinkish red.

  “Adriana and I are about out, too,” Diego reported.

  “There’s plenty of water in the cave,” Cutbirth said.

  “Where is this cave?” Henry cried, swatting gnats. “I don’t know how—”

  A faraway but distinctive BOOM! resonated through the forest.

  Their heads jerked up.

  “What the hell was that?” Diego asked. “Rifle fire?” He scanned the forest in all directions. “Border guards?”

  “Border guards have machineguns,” Cutbirth said. “That wasn’t machinegun fire. That was a shotgun.” He studied the surrounding terrain like a hunter. “Twelve or sixteen-gauge. Maybe Big Bert. Uno and Mr. Mustache may have encountered the pot grower. If it was Big Bertha, the bounty hunters have made up some of the time they lost on the river. Regardless, our cave’s no more than five minutes away. Once we’re inside that cave we’re safe.”

  Diego stepped closer to his wife. “We’re close, Adriana.”

  “Uh-huh.” Her whole face seemed to sag.

  “How are you…holding up?” It was a dumb question.

  “The heat…” Little droplets of perspiration dripped from her chin, and she wiped them with the back of her hand. Her pale lips were dimpled with tiny sores, and for a millisecond the regret of committing to the border crossing swept through Diego’s mind like a Cavalry charge.

  Diego said, “Once we’re inside the cave…”Diego wasn’t entirely sure they would be safe inside the cave. There was something about Cutbirth’s claim about the cave providing them sanctuary that had raised doubts in Diego’s mind.

  “I know, sweetie,” Adriana said.

  Diego placed the palm of his hand on her nut-brown cheek. In a soft voice he said, “Have I told you today that I love you?”

  “No, and I missed hearing it,” Adriana said, blinking the perspiration from her eyes.

  “I do, you know. Wildly, crazily, madly in love.”

  Adriana gave a faint nod. Then, quite suddenly, her eyes rolled back in her head, she staggered forward with a soft moan, and collapsed into Diego’s arms.

  “Adriana!” Diego cried, catching his wife under her arms and easing her to the ground. He knelt beside her. “Adriana.” Her eyes fluttered for a moment, then closed completely. Blood trickled from one nostril. He wiped it away with his finger.

  Cutbirth came over. “Heatstroke. Has to be.” He dropped to his knees and placed the flat of his hand on her forehead. “She’s burning up.” He took her wrist and felt her pulse. “Her heart’s beating like a racehorse. We need to get her into the cave.”

  Everyone had come over to where Adriana lay. Expressions grim, they formed a semi-circle.

  “Is she going to be okay, Mom?” Emily asked.

  “Yes, baby, she’ll be fine,” Sissy said with a worried look.

  Cutbirth said, “Can you carry her, Ad Man?”

  “Yes, I think so,” Diego said, feeling short of breath.

  Cutbirth stood up. “Okay, gang, here we go! Gather up your gear!”

  Everyone immediately slipped into their backpacks.

  Diego stooped down and placed one arm under Adriana’s thighs and the other under her back and gently lifted her. He had raised her no more than a few inches when her body sunk back to the ground. Her 110 pounds felt more like 210. Gasping, he tried a second time, but he simply didn’t have the strength.

  “Damnit!” Diego groaned.

  “Step back,” Cutbirth said with a dismissive wave, placing his arms under Adriana’s motionless body and lifting her effortlessly. “We’ve got to hurry. Those bounty hunters have definitely picked up our scent.” He looked at Yong. “Yong, would you be so kind as to carry my moneybag?”

  Yong said that he would.

  “And Henry, if you would carry my backpack…”

  “I can do that.”

  “Follow me,” Cutbirth said.

  Keeping to the heavy timber, Cutbirth descended the mountain with Adriana in his arms. Everyone followed in a ragged single-file line. They had hiked no more than a few hundred feet down the north side of the mountain when they came upon a spectacular granite outcropping. The massive formation extended for roughly 200 yards along the north-facing side of Bear Mountain. A narrow path paralleled the bed of rock at its ragged base. The walkway was hidden behind a five-foot high wall of underbrush, which also ran parallel to the geological configuration.

  “Keep your heads below the top of the brush,” Cutbirth called back to them as he entered the long corridor. Lowering their heads, they moved quietly along the pathway. Cutbirth stopped when he reached the end of the grassy aisle. A head-high pile of brush was stacked against the end of the granite wall.

  Cutbirth said, “Diego, you, Yong, and Henry get rid of that brush. Better wear gloves.”

  The three men slipped on their gloves, then hurriedly reduced the thorny brush pile to a few sticks and branches. The snarly undergrowth had concealed a cave entrance the size of a refrigerator door.

  “No time to waste,” Cutbirth said. Stooping, he entered the narrow opening at an angle to avoid bumping Adriana’s head or legs.

  With a backpack hanging from each shoulder, Diego entered the narrow opening. He followed Cutbirth down a gritty mound of gravel and mud, which led to a small cavern about the size of a school classroom. The air was cool. A shaft of daylight streamed into the cave from the ragged entrance above, and Diego could see through the shadows that it was a featureless place. The rocky walls converged at one end of the chamber to form a tunnel—a hallway of sorts—that led out of the room. The cave had a distinct smell, the same smell Diego had detected on Arnold Cutbirth. The Neanderthal carried that same musty, damp scent in every pore of his body.

  When Cutbirth started to lay Adriana on the cave floor, Diego said, “Wait!”

  Diego fished his space blanket out of his backpack and spread it out on the cave floor, and Cutbirth carefully laid Adriana on it. Diego cupped his hand and raised his wife’s head off the cold floor. With his free hand he poured a few drops of water onto her swollen lips, set his canteen aside, and then gently ran his finger across her wet mouth. He next made a pillow out of the coveralls in Adriana’s backpack and rested her head on it. Her nostril had quit bleeding.

  Diego looked up at Cutbirth. “We can’t leave until Adriana’s—”

  “Can’t wait long,” Cutbirth advised.

  It didn’t dawn on Diego until that moment that he’d had no claustrophobic reaction by entering the cave. He gave a quiet hurrah.

  Sissy poked her head into the opening above and yelled down to them. “Everything okay? Should we come down?”

  “Yes,” Cutbirth said, “but take it easy. It’s steep and wet.”

  One by one, the others made their way down the gritty heap.

  “It looks creepy,” Emily observed as she and Sissy stepped off the mound of silt and into th
e cave. They were holding hands. “Creepier than the border.”

  “It’s just a silly old cave,” Sissy noted, puffs of white vapor coming with each breath in the cool and moist 56-degree air.

  Yong traipsed down the gritty incline. He dropped the money bag at Cutbirth’s feet, and then claimed a dark corner for himself. He removed Sam’s red scarf from his backpack, wrapped it around his neck, and then sat on his haunches.

  Henry was the last to descend. His backpack hung from one shoulder, Cutbirth’s from the other.

  Sissy and Emily came over to where Adriana’s was lying. “How is she?” Sissy asked.

  “Still unconscious,” Diego said. He removed the handkerchief from around Adriana’s neck, wet it with the last of his water, and dabbed her face. He then took her pulse. It was still rapid, but nothing like before.

  Her eyes pinched together in a frown, Emily said, “Mr. Sanchez, she’s not going to…?”

  “No, Emily,” Diego said. “She’s not going to die.”

  “Can I hold her hand?” Emily asked.

  “Sure,” Diego said. “I’m sure Adriana would like that.”

  Legs crossed, Emily sat on the cold floor beside Adriana. She cupped Adriana’s hand between her own.

  “I call this the Hotel Lobby,” Cutbirth said, removing his side-shield sunglasses. “Down that thoroughfare is the good old U.S.S. of A.” His flashlight beam framed the tunnel leading out of the Hotel Lobby.

  In a few minutes Adriana started to come around. She blinked her eyes open and Diego helped her sit up. “Thirsty,” she muttered. “And dizzy.” Diego jiggled Adriana’s canteen. It still had water, and he put the canteen to her mouth. She fought the dehydration with a few gulps of water. “What happened?” she whispered.

  “You decided to take a nap,” Diego said.

  She looked around. “Where are we?”

  “In the cave.”

  “Mother Cave,” Cutbirth crowed, “where roof, ceiling, and floor merge into one pall of glorious blackness.” He had spoken the words with great reverence. “Smell that air, Little Mother,” he urged, inhaling and exhaling deeply. “Pure. Sweet. Delicate. It is perfume to my nose.”

  “Uh-huh,” Adriana managed.

  “I’m glad you’re okay, Mrs. Sanchez,” Emily said.

  Adriana replied with a thin smile. “Thanks.”

  Cutbirth said, “While Adriana rejoins the living, everyone pull out their warm clothes.”

  They dug through their backpacks and removed the clothing they would need in the crisp underground air. Long johns. Coveralls. Wool shirts. Discarding their summer attire—their shorts and T-shirts were soaked in sweat—each person stepped into the shadows and changed into the warm clothing.

  Cutbirth instructed everyone to slip their headlamps on, and he demonstrated how to operate them. “The batteries are good for three days,” he said. “Heaven help us if we need them for longer than that.”

  “Three days?” Sissy said, surprised.

  “Anything’s possible,” Cutbirth said, his gaze sweeping over them in the quarter-light of the chamber.

  Diego changed into the warm clothing and then shined his headlamp onto Adriana’s face. A measure of luster had returned to Adriana’s eyes and spoke volumes about the cool, refreshing air and the energy it dispensed. Adriana took the last few sips of water from her canteen.

  In a loud voice, Henry said, “What was that? Did anyone see that?” His eyes wide and startled, he was gazing up at the cave opening 15 feet above. “I thought I saw something.”

  “Damnit, Henry,” Cutbirth chided, “quit the boogieman crap.”

  “I just thought….” He had been sitting on his backpack in the bright shaft of sunlight that streamed in through the hole. He took his pack and stepped back into the shadows. “I’m sure I saw something….”

  “Well, don’t think. Those bounty hunters are at least an hour behind us.”

  “This cave does lead across the border, right?” Sissy asked, peering apprehensively at the entrance to the tunnel leading out of the small chamber.

  Cutbirth confirmed that it did.

  “How will we know we’ve made it to the other side?” Henry asked, snatching another glance at the hole above. “Is there a big neon sign that says Welcome to Paradise?”

  “You’ll know you’ve made it to the other side because I’ll tell you,” Cutbirth fired back.

  “What if you’re not with us?” Henry’s question had conspiracy written all over it, and everyone looked up from what they were doing, their eyes fixed on Henry. Even Yong seemed interested in Henry’s question.

  Cutbirth looked at Henry warily. “Do you know something I don’t, Henry?”

  “There are any number of scenarios that might lead to our separation,” Henry said. “You might injure yourself. You might fall ill.” He looked at the others, and then turned back to Cutbirth. “There are many possible situations where we might be left to fend for ourselves.” He seemed proud to have presented his case so convincingly. “I simply like to plan ahead.”

  “Fine,” Cutbirth nodded. “Here’s how you’ll know if you’ve made it to the other side...if for some strange reason I’m not with you. There’s a place in this cave I call the Cathedral. That’s where the exit is located. There’s a 500-foot communications tower located two miles north of the cave exit. When you see the tower, you’ll know you’ve made it. The town of Leasburg is another two miles north of the tower. The townspeople of Leasburg have shown me and mine more than a fair amount of hospitality in the past.”

  “That’s all I wanted to know,” Henry said.

  “Treat Mother Cave with respect,” Cutbirth said. “Show her some dignity. If you don’t, she’ll reach out and bite you.” He turned his headlamp onto each face. “The darkness will play tricks with your mind. You’ll see things that aren’t there. Hear sounds that have no voice. Feel things against your body that don’t exist.” He turned his head, swinging the beam of light from his headlamp down the tunnel. “Don’t hurry the process. Allow Mother Cave to come to you.”

  A tiny stream of water flowed down an adjacent wall, and Cutbirth instructed everyone to fill their canteens and to add the purification tablets. Diego filled his canteen, then Adriana’s, and returned to where she sat, her back against the wall.

  “How’s my girl?”

  “Better.” A tired smile lit her face.

  “Would you want to try and stand?” Diego was conflicted. Adriana probably needed more time to rest, but time was at a premium.

  “Let’s try,” she said.

  Diego helped Adriana to her feet. She immediately began to wobble.

  “Whoa!” Diego steadied her. “Take it slow.”

  “Uh-huh,” she said, pushing her head back on her shoulders. “Love this cool air.”

  Diego helped Adriana change into her warm clothes.

  “I will set a slow pace, Little Mother,” Cutbirth said. “I am still of the opinion that our friendly bounty hunters will not attempt to follow us in this cave. They don’t have the gear or the clothing.” Cutbirth stepped to the entrance of the tunnel leading out of the small chamber and shone his light on each of them. “Are we—”