Rory nodded his head slowly, "I agree. But it can't be easy to find, though. Otherwise, someone would have stumbled across it by now."
"True," conceded Donna-Lou.
Corry pointed ahead, "But there should be signs down there, mom. More signs that will lead us to the treasure."
"Yeah, there'll be signs, Mrs. Haney," Emma said, "and we'll find them. Right, Corry?"
"Yeah, let's get going," Corry said and he ran for the Range Rover.
Everyone followed behind and within ten minutes, Rory found a way down to the lower area. They decided to head straight for the cliff and were soon driving across the open, grassy field. Finally reaching the foot of the rocky cliff, Rory made a decision to turn right and slowly wound his way through boulders and bushes, everyone looking for signs or evidence of a cave.
Chapter 45
EVERYONE HAD THEIR WINDOW DOWN, the warmth of the day and the scent of wildflowers filling the Range Rover as everyone kept their eyes peeled for treasure signs. Corry and Emma passed out cold bottles of water to help everyone cope with the heat. Forty-five minutes into the drive Rory pulled to a stop. "Anybody see any signs?" he asked. "Or anything that looks like a sign?"
Chet shook his head, No, "I didn't see anything." He looked at the others in the back seat, Anyone else? Anything?"
Everyone shook their head no.
"Would it be on a tree or a rock?" Emma asked.
"It could be on either one," Chet said.
Corry turned in his seat, "Or it could be up there on the face of that cliff somewhere."
Chet turned in his seat and looked out at the face of the cliff, "He's right." He shook his head slightly, as if he had forgotten that aspect himself, "It could be anywhere. We really have to keep our eyes open."
Rory gave it a moment as thought and then he said, "Why don't we go back and try in the other direction?" Everyone agreed and he put the Range Rover in gear, "Okay. But keep your eyes open on the way back, in case we missed something," He turned in a wide circle to the right and slowly drove back along the foot of the cliff. But this time he took it slower, giving everyone extra time to examine any possible scratches or features that might prove to be a sign.
Everyone was quiet and intense.
Ten minutes later, it was Corry who spoke up, his voice filled with excitement, "Look. Over there." He was pointing ahead and to the left.
Everyone looked at where Corry was pointing.
"Dang," Chet said. "We missed the far back side of that large boulder when we passed. And I should have been the one to catch that. Sorry, everyone."
Rory steered in that direction and slowly approached the boulder. It was nearly eight feet high and some ten feet across. As Rory parked next to the large boulder, Corry was the first to jump out, followed quickly be everyone else.
CORRY SHIELDED HIS eyes from the sun with a hand as he looked up at the sign etched into the boulder, "We either passed the cave or another sign that leads to the cave."
Donna-Lou was a foot behind him, both hands over her eyes and she squinted, "How do you know that? Isn't that one up there telling us to follow the tail and go back across the field?"
"No no, mom. This one has those marks on the back," Corry explained. "See? The diamonds beside the arrow head is telling to go in the direction the arrow head points."
Donna-Lou shook her head, "And how was I supposed to know that?"
Shrugging, Corry said, "It's just stuff you have to know about treasure signs, mom."
"Uh huh. It's a good thing we have you here, then," Donna-Lou said. She moved in fast, wrapping her arms around her son and tickling him with both hands.
Corry gave her a big belly laugh as he tried to get away.
Chet took a step to look past the boulder, his excitement evident, "He's right, though. That sign means we passed something important somewhere back there."
"Or we should have gone in the other direction back there to start with," Rory said. "Sorry about that."
"No, no, no," Chet said, "that's treasure hunting. Stops and starts, wrong turns and all that. You make a mistake and you have to spend all day hiking back to a spot to start over again."
"Yep, that's how it works," Corry confirmed. He shrugged, "Otherwise people would find the treasure real easy and it wouldn't be there for us to find."
"He's right," Chet said. "C'mon, let's get going and everyone watch carefully. We're close."
Their enthusiasm was heightened now as everyone piled back into the Range Rover. After waiting for Chet and Corry to mark the sign on their map, Rory then drove slower as they worked their way back along the face of the cliff. They reached their starting point and continued on, a slow steady plod where they made stops to check the back of any boulder or scrub tree they passed. Thirty-nine more tense minutes passed as they drove slowly, weaving closer and then farther away from the cliff on their right, everyone intent of finding the next treasure sign. And then something popped up.
"Stop," Chet yelled.
Rory hit the brakes.
Chet was out of the Range Rover and running back behind the vehicle, at an angle towards the face of the cliff.
Rory jumped out along with everyone else and ran the fifty yards back to where Chet was standing.
"Up there!" Chet pointed.
Everyone stopped just behind him and looked up at where he was pointing
The treasure sign was chiseled high up on a pillar of rock. It faced along the cliff instead of facing outwards.
Chet took a step back, still looking up, "They hid this one really well. I just caught the edge of it as we passed."
Rory nodded, "You're right. You can't see the whole thing unless you're here below the sign like we are now." He looked back across the flat plain, "I'm not even sure you could see it from out there very well."
"That's all fine and good," Donna-Lou said. "But what does it mean?"
Chet hitched up his pants and he looked over the rocks and boulders, "It means the entrance to the cave is right around here. But...."
"But what?" Rory asked.
Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Chet pointed up at the sign, "See that lightning bolt on the right side of the heart?"
"Yeah?"
"That lightning bolt tells us the right side of something is booby-trapped."
"Something?"
"Yeah. The thing is, it could be the right side of the entrance to the cave is booby-trapped. Or it could be the right side of–"
"Booby-trapped? What do you mean booby-trapped?" Donna-Lou asked in alarm. She quickly herded her son and Emma away from the face of the rock.
"Aww mom," Corry complained. Emma didn't look too pleased either.
"Don't aww me, young man," Donna-Lou said. "Both of you stay right back here."
Rory asked Chet quietly, "What exactly do you mean by booby-trapped?"
Chet chewed on his lip as he looked at the sign, "Well...the Knights of the Golden Circle used black powder to booby-trap some of their caches. But that was a long time ago–"
Rory shook his head, "Doesn't matter. If any black-powder booby-trap is still there, it might be a real problem."
Chet's brow furrowed, "Really? But that was a really long time ago, Rory."
"I've heard some people say black-powder only becomes more powerful over time," Rory explained. "I'd rather be safe than sorry. So let's just believe it is more powerful and be extra careful."
"Oh great," murmured Chet.
Rory took a step back and looked over the area that rose up the cliff, a hundred yards on either side. It sloped upwards slowly and was strewn with boulders and folds of rock in the face of the cliff. "There are a lot of cracks in the face," he said, "the entrance could be anywhere up there."
Chet nodded, hitching up his pants after a moment, "I'm game to go up there and look if you are."
Giving it some thought, Rory finally nodded, "We didn't come all this way to give up now, I guess." He walked to the back of the Range Rover and op
ened the back hatch. The others joined him quickly.
"What are you going to do?" Chet asked.
"Like you said, go up and explore, see what we find." Rory pulled out one of the powerful flashlights and a belt holder and passed them to Chet. Then he grabbed a set for himself, slipping it on his belt. Grabbing a Glock 19, he passed it to Chet before grabbing one for himself, stuffing it in the back of his jeans. Finally, he handed a weapon to Donna-Lou, "You can stay here with the kids. Keep your eyes open. Fire a shot if you see or hear anything. Anything. Got it?"
Donna-Lou nodded as she held the weapon in both hands.
"C'mon Chet," Rory said. "Let's just go slow and see what we can find up there." They began walking back towards the face of the cliff.
"But mom," Corry said, "we should go up there too. We can't just stop exploring–"
"He said there are black-powder bobby-traps up there. That means a possible explosion and I don't plan on losing you," Donna-Lou said firmly.
"But we all have to go, mom. We need everybody's eyes, just like we all found different signs to get here," Corry said. He watched the two men begin the climb, "Or the Knights of the Golden Circle get to it first and buys a bomb."
Donna-Lou grimaced, knowing her son was right. But she still worried
Rory and Chet stopped, looking back. Rory realized the kid was right. But it wasn't his place to say anything.
Emma stepped up beside Corry, "He's right. We should go and help. I'll keep an eye on him, Mrs. Haney."
Corry rolled his eyes.
Donna-Lou looked over at Rory, worry over her son and the worry over what might possibly happen with a bomb in the wrong hands warring together on her face.
Rory just shrugged, "It's up to you."
Nodding reluctantly after a moment, Donna-Lou said, "Okay." She held up a warning finger to her son, "But...we go slow and no running ahead. You point out something and we all check it out. Deal?"
"Deal," Corry said. He and Emma each grabbed a flashlight and belt clip and then hustled to catch up to Rory and Chet.
Donna-Lou placed the Glock 19 into the back of her jeans, grabbed a flashlight and clip and headed off after the kids, shaking her head, still not convinced this was the right thing to be allowing her son and his friend to do.
The climb was slow and methodical. And difficult. Loose rocks made the way treacherous, constantly sliding out from underfoot. They spread out, maintaining a line so they wouldn't cause boulders or stones to roll down on one another.
One hundred yards up, Rory stopped and looked to the left. He just stared.
Chet called over to him, "Did you find something, Rory?"
He just stood there.
Chet moved carefully across the face of the cliff. The others scrambled behind him.
As they took up spots around him, Rory simply lifted an arm and pointed without a word.
Thirty yards away was a high fold of rock with a dark, vertical crack. It was six-feet wide at the bottom of the crack and rose one hundred feet to a point at the top.
Corry's eyes lit up, "We found it! We found the treasure cave."
Chapter 46
THE SUN BEAT DOWN, hot on his back as Rory stood with his left hand on the rock face, leaning and peering into the darkness of the opening in the cliff. After a moment, he reached down, took the flashlight that was clipped to his belt and turned it on, trying to illuminate the dark space ahead. He shook his head, his voice echoing off the walls and the high ceiling of rock, "I can't see much detail but it appears to go in about one hundred feet and then turns to the right." Looking back at Chet, Rory said, "And I don't see anything that could be a booby trap."
Chet stepped up behind him on the right, peering inside, "As you go in, keep an eye out for a red hand on the rock somewhere."
"A red hand?"
"Yeah. They used to paint a red-hand sign near a booby-trap."
"A red-hand sign?"
"Yeah."
"Okay."
"Assuming the paint is still there after all these years," Donna Lou said. She stood back behind the two men, a firm hand on Corry and Emma, making sure they didn't dart into the rock cleft. She glanced back over the view below and across the plain, her eyes looking for any sign of horsemen with rifles or vehicles approaching.
Chet looked back at her and nodded, "You're right. It might be faded after all these years. Like Rory said about the black powder, we can't assume anything." He noticed her looking out over the plain and glanced that way himself for a moment, knowing full well what she was thinking, "Anything...?"
Donna-Lou shook her head slightly, still not sure there was something...or someone...she just couldn't see.
Chet glanced out across the plain again and the then swallowed, looking back at Rory, "So...what do you think? You still want to go in?"
Rory chewed on his lower lip and then nodded, "Yeah."
"Be careful, Rory," Donna-Lou whispered.
"Yeah, I will. And since there could be some booby-trap on the right-hand side, I'll follow the left wall." He looked at Chet, "Sound about right?"
Chet swallowed and then gave him a faint nod, "Yeah...I guess."
Rory gave him a smile, "Thanks for the pep-talk."
A sheepish grin settled on Chet's lips, "I could go with you if you want."
"No. There's no need to put anyone else in danger. Everyone wait until I signal you to come in."
Chet put a hand on Rory's shoulder, "Just take your time and don't take any chances. There's always another day in treasure hunting."
Rory nodded and took his first step into the opening. He stayed against the left wall, his flashlight illuminating the way. Loose rocks crunched under his boot as he moved forward carefully. He flashed the light from the left wall to floor of the cave and especially to the right wall of rock, watching for any signs of danger. The coolness of the cave was a respite after the heat of the sun outside. It took ten tense minutes before he reached the corner, where the opening in the rock widened to about fifteen feet. He turned the corner and the light from the flashlight on his belt illuminated the opening ahead. The cave continued to widen out until it was at least sixty feet across at the far end, about two hundred feet away. The shadows at the far gave Rory the impression it split into two branches. The smell was clean and earthy, which meant there was nothing dead in here and no wild animal using it as a lair. At least, he hoped not.
"What do you see?" Chet yelled, his voice bouncing off the rock walls.
"The cave goes down that way at least another two hundred feet," he yelled back. "And it looks to me like there are two entrances down there, one to the left and one to the right." He shifted the beam of the flashlight around, examining the walls and ceiling of the cave. Halfway down the cave ahead, the ceiling disappeared into the shadows, like a massive crack under the Blue Ridge Mountains.
"Can we go in too?"Corry yelled.
Rory could understand his enthusiasm. He turned to light up the right-hand wall again, examining it closely. He couldn't see anything that looked dangerous leading down to the twin caves at the far end. He took a breath and let it out slowly, hoping he was making the right decision, "Okay. C'mon in," he yelled and waved for the others to join him. "Just stay to the left."
Chet led the way, with two excited kids and one nervous Donna-Lou Haney following them. Reaching the corner in the cave, everyone crowded in behind Rory and lifted their flashlights. Their combined illumination lit up the cave in full detail.
"Wow! A real treasure cave," Corry exclaimed.
"Don't get your hopes up too high," Donna-Lou said. "We haven't found any treasure yet. It could be just a big hole in the wall."
"But we will. I know it," Corry answered as he ignored his mother's pessimism. His voice was filled with excitement and wonder. He pointed ahead, "Can we go farther down there? Can we?"
Emma jumped up and down, "Yeah, let's go find the treasure. Me and Corry have been looking for it for a loooooong time."
Ror
y looked at Chet, "Considering the warning on that sign back there, I would assume we don't take the cave on the right-hand side either?"
Chet took a deep breath, thinking about it. He finally nodded, "Everything I ever learned about signs says that's true. Then again, I don't know of anyone who ever actually found something that was booby-trapped."
"And I never heard of anybody who ever found a real treasure cave like this before," Corry said from behind them.
"Or a booby-trapped treasure cave," Donna-Lou added.
The two men looked around at her.
"I'm just saying," Donna-Lou said as she shrugged his shoulders.
Rory looked back down the cave, "There's a first time for everything, I guess."
"Uh huh. Like having your leg blown off for the first time," Donna-Lou said.
Chet raised his eyebrows as he looked at Rory, "You can go first."
"You're such a gentleman, Chet Calhoun."
The sheepish grin settled on Chet's lips again, "Maybe I'm just willing to let you have all the fun."
"Uh, huh. You keep telling yourself that."
Chapter 47
THE CAVE AHEAD BECKONED. So did danger. Taking a deep breath, Rory lifted his flashlight to illuminate his way, stayed close to the left wall and took a tentative step. Once again, small rocks crunched under his boots and echoed lightly off the walls as he made his way ahead.
Chet waited until Rory was about ten feet along his journey into the treasure cave before he stepped close to left wall and began following. After several steps, he glanced back and nodded at the others.
Donna-Lou pressed her hand against the back of her son's shoulder and urged him to follow Chet, whispering, "Remember to stay to the left."
Corry nodded, both delight and fear evident on his face.
Urging Emma to go next, Donna-Lou then pulled the Glock from the back of her jeans and glanced back down the cave towards the entranceway. She blew a light breath between her lips and looked down at her hands. They were shaking. She glanced at the two kids again, feeling the fear for them in the pit of her stomach. Allowing them to get no more than ten feet away, she began following, walking more sideways then straight ahead, to ensure she could keep an eye on both the kids and the cave back behind her.
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