Knights of the Golden Circle

by Eugene Lloyd MacRae

  Rory moved ahead slowly, constantly watching where he was stepping. From time to time, he would splash the light to the right to check the far side of the cave, watching for any indication of a bobby-trap.

  Chet splashed his light higher on the right wall of the cave, "Keep your eyes open for that red hand sign as well."

  "Right," Rory whispered as he let his own light play higher up on the walls as he moved.

  The journey along the two hundred feet of rock floor to the dual cave entrance was tense and seemed to take forever. The sounds of dirt and rocks crunching under their feet echoed eerily off the walls. The lights and shadows played off the rock walls as they moved, every crack looking like a treasure sign. But there wasn't a single thing painted or carved into any piece of rock anywhere.

  As Rory finally approached the entrance on the left, he let his light fall on the opening and rock walls to the right, looking for any evidence of a painted red hand sign. He glanced back, his voice a hollow whisper, "I don't see any red hand or any evidence of red paint flecks that might indicate a sign worn away."

  Chet didn't say anything as he cast his own light that way. Then he slowed his pace and allowed the others catch up.

  Rory splashed his light over the area again, hoping to see something. But there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. There was only the feeling that there was danger somewhere down the cave on the right. Or would that be the right wall down the left cave? Or had the sign been misread? Or was the sign a lie, designed to kill someone who wasn't one of the Knights of the Golden Circle? A non-member who didn't know the real truth? So many questions ran through his mind. And not one single, satisfying answer. Rory finally turned his full attention to the entrance to the cave entrance on the left, casting his light ahead.

  Chet, Corry, and Emma crowded up behind Rory, their combined lights illuminating the path ahead as well. The rock wall curved to the left for a hundred feet or so, then curved back to the right and disappeared into the darkness.

  Chet splashed his light up and down the walls on the right, "I still don't see anything about a booby-trap. What do you think, Rory?"

  Corry and Emma squeezed their heads between the two men to look ahead.

  Donna-Lou was still walking sideways like a crab, the Glock at her shoulder as she watched behind them. She bumped into her son–

  Corry jumped. "Mom!" he protested. "You almost made me poop my pants!"

  Emma put her hands to her mouth, giggling.

  "Yeah, well, I may have to change my underwear when I get home too," Donna-Lou said as she nervously looked behind them.

  That sent Emma into more fits of giggling and Donna-Lou winked at her.

  Rory splashed his light around with Chet, checking over on the far side to the right several times, "I don't know what to say, Chet." He glanced back, "Anyone see anything that looks like a booby-trap? Or a red hand? Corry? Emma? Donna-Lou?"

  Everyone shook their head no.

  Looking back down the tunnel straight ahead, Rory splashed the light around, whispering, "I don't know...."

  "What's that stuff?" Emma asked. She pointed at what looked like dark brown grains of rice. They were piled high in the cracks of some of the jagged rocks over on the right-hand side of the cave.

  Rory let the light play high over the piles of rice-like material, "That's just from bats–"

  Donna-Lou squeaked, "Would you mean bats? Where?"

  Rory pointed up into the shadows with the light, "They're up there." Tiny eyes flashed and black forms took shape as the light passed over them.

  Chet looked up and then across to the dark brown material, "Okay. So that stuff over there is guano, then."

  Emma screwed her face up, "Gwaw-no? What's that–"

  "Bat poop," Corry said and he gave a big belly laugh.

  Emma made a face.

  Rory smiled then turned back to the task at hand. He took a minute to look at the rock walls under the light, as well as the ceiling of the cave, looking for any hints of danger. "Okay, I guess we might as well move ahead and down this tunnel. Stay on the left side."

  Everyone just looked at him, waiting for him to move first.

  Rory shook his head. He looked back at the floor of the cave, casting his light back and forth over it. Nothing looked out of place. Nothing looked dangerous. He looked to the right side of the cave. No red hands, no signs, just bare rock. He took a deep breath to steel himself, then moved ahead, watching where he stepped, looking for any possible evidence of buried explosives. When he was ten to twelve feet down the tunnel, he heard the others whisper and begin to shuffle after him. His own ragged breathing mixed with the crunch underfoot and echoed off the rock walls as he moved forward slowly, following the cave as it curved to the left. The going was slow but he wasn't taking any chances. Time passed like he was walking in molasses. One hundred feet down the cave, the high opening curved right and disappeared into the darkness. Rory stopped, flashed his light around again. Still no red hand or any other sign of a booby-trap. He continued on, staying to the left. One hundred and fifty went by slowly. Now two hundred feet...and the cave opened into a huge cavern. Rory took three steps and stopped dead in his tracks, his flashlight shining into the darkness ahead.

  Chet finally entered the cavern, slowly making his way to stand beside Rory, his flashlight adding to the illumination of the way ahead. Corry, Emma, and Donna-Lou carefully stepped up to the right of Chet and stopped. Their lights dancing into the enormous cavern dead ahead.

  Corry's voice was the only sound, a loud whisper that echoed off the rock walls underneath the Blue Ridge Mountains, "Wow!"

  Chapter 48

  THE CAVERN WAS ENORMOUS. The roof disappeared hundreds of feet overhead, disappearing into the darkness. Far off to the side, in the shadows, huge stalagmites and stalactites met together in a strange mineral forest, long pyramids from the floor meeting long pyramids dropping from the ceiling. But it was the man-made items that were the most interesting to the treasure hunters. Fifty feet ahead were dozens of old wooden crates, stacked haphazardly one on top of another, forming a wooden pyramid that stood ten feet high and was twenty to thirty feet across. Faded labels designated the various contents as ammunition, high explosives or oranges.

  Donna-Lou put a hand on Corry and Emma, holding them back, her voice shaky, "Are those really old ammunition and explosives crates?"

  "Maybe we just found moldy oranges, mom," Corry whispered. He looked around and splashed his light over the rocks off to the side, "And look at all the bat poop." He was right. There was a considerable amount of bat droppings around the cavern, including considerable traces of it on the boxes.

  Chet took a step, his voice an awed whisper, "No, this must be the treasure. When they shipped everything on the train, they used old crates and barrels to put the money and other stuff in. This is amazing."

  Donna-Lou shook her head, "No. It can't be, Chet. That's not a lot for the nine trains we were all told they used."

  Chet shrugged, "True. But maybe this is all our grandaddys could dig up and move before they was...."

  Corry looked at everyone just standing there and then he looked up at his mother, "Let's make sure. Can we go look at it? Please?"

  Donna-Lou looked at Chet and Rory.

  Chet looked at Rory and then shrugged, "I guess this is what we all came here for. Let's take a look." He looked over at Corry, "But be careful until we know it's not dangerous–"

  "All right!" Corry shouted and he was off running with Emma right behind. His voice and running steps echoed off into the darkness

  Chet looked apologetically at Donna-Lou for about a heartbeat and then took off after the kids.

  Donna-Lou shook her head and placed the Glock in the back of her waistband, "You're all just a bunch of kids."

  "I'm still here," Rory said with a smile.

  "Yeah...and you got ants in your pants to join them."

  Rory nodded, winked at her and headed off after the other three.
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br />   Donna-Lou shook her head and walked over to join them in their exploration, "Just be careful around those ones marked ammunition and high explosives until we're sure." Her voice echoed through the chamber and no one paid the least attention to her.

  "What do you think is inside?" Emma asked Corry as she joined him at the wall of crates.

  "It's probably gold and silver, right?" he asked as he looked at Chet.

  Chet nodded as he ran his hand across the wooden crates, his eyes lit with anticipation, "That's what they say. Whatever they are, these are really old crates."

  "Yeah, look at this one," Corry said as he reached up to a crate in the second row. He pushed his fingers into a slight crack in one of the boards and pulled on it, "It's kind of rot–" There was a 'crack' and Corry jumped back.

  Silver coins spilled out of the box like a slot machine paying out a winning jackpot, the metallic jingling echoing around them.

  Donna-Lou pulled Corry back as she looked up at the stack of old crates, "Be careful! You don't want to bring it all down on us–"

  "But it's treasure, mom," Corry said excitedly as he jumped forward and bent down, along with the others, to pick up a few of the coins.

  Chet held one against the light from the flashlight at his waist, "This one says Republica Mexicana." He flipped it over, "And the date is 1865."

  "This one is 1827," Rory said as he examined one in the light of his own flashlight.

  "The value on this one is one is 8 R.G. How much is that?" Corry asked as he looked at his.

  "I have no idea," Chet said, "but part of the Confederate treasury that was moved was supposed to contain Mexican money. I would say this is it. I wonder how much–"

  "Hey y'all," Emma called. She was standing off to the side of the wall of wooden crates and pointing behind it.

  Everybody walked over to see what she was pointing at.

  Donna-Lou's her hands went to her mouth in surprise at what she saw, "Oh my!"

  Chapter 49

  THE CAVERN EXTENDED a long way back into the darkness behind the wall of wooden crates. As the group stood there, their combined flashlights highlighted hundreds and hundreds of wooden barrels and kegs, stacked in high piles and pyramids that extended back into the shadows. The barrels and kegs had faded labels that indicated they once held items like sugar, coffee, flour or gunpowder. They also saw hundreds more of the stacked wooden crates with faded labels of ammunition, high explosives, oranges, whiskey, soap or apples.

  Rory walked thirty yards past the wall of crates to one of the barrels.

  The others joined him, silent as they tried to take in the immense find in the cavern.

  Rory brushed bat droppings off the top of the old barrel with the back of his hand. Then he pried the barrel top off with his fingers, dropping it as he looked inside, "Wow."

  Chet quickly looked inside the barrel, dipped his hand in and pulled out a handful of gold coins. He slipped them under his light, looking closely, "Wow is right. These are 1866 Liberty Head Double Eagles,"

  "Double Eagles? That's $20, right?" Donna-Lou asked.

  Chet nodded, "At face value, yes. But...."

  Emma walked to a wooden crate, lifted the lid up a crack and peered inside, "What's this?"

  Corry ran over and peeked inside with her. His mouth dropped, "I think...I think it's gold bars."

  "Really? Take one out," Emma said and she held the lid up while Corry reached inside. He grunted, "I can even move one of them."

  Chet trotted over and looked inside the crate. He groaned as he lifted a bar, "Wow. This thing has to weigh 30 pounds."

  Rory walked over and looked inside as well, "That would probably mean these are 400-ounce gold bars."

  Chet let the bar drop with a dull, metallic clink and he looked at Rory in surprise, "Do you know how much gold is worth per ounce today?"

  Donna-Lou stepped up between Rory and Chet as they were examining the contents of the crate, "How much do you think is in here?" she asked in a hushed voice.

  "Enough to buy you a new house," Chet said as he looked at her with a big grin on his face.

  Donna-Lou smiled back at him, delighted at the thought.

  "Look up there," Corry said, pointing high off to the side. "Neat."

  Everyone looked up to see bats roosting high in the rocks.

  "They look cute," Emma said.

  "Yeah, until they start getting in your hair," Donna-Lou said and she shuddered.

  Corry laughed and then he and Emma were off running, exploring around the array of wooden barrels, boxes, and crates.

  "Careful you two," Donna-Lou called after them. Then she shrugged, "Although, I can't blame them for being excited. This is amazing."

  Chet nodded and stepped over to another barrel, pulling off the top. He put his hand inside and scooped out the contents. "These are 1878 Morgan silver dollars!" he said in excitement. He extended his hand to Donna-Lou, "Look."

  She stepped over and took a handful out herself, gasping in astonishment. "How much is silver worth these days?" she whispered.

  "I'm not sure. But think about it. They're not only valuable for the silver, they could be a lot more valuable as collector's items," Chet said.

  "You're right. I never thought of that," Donna-Lou said.

  "Isn't this incredible?" Chet said as he and Donna-Lou shared a big smile.

  Rory walked over to a number of crates sitting off to the side. He couldn't get the top off so he kicked at the side to break one of the wooden slats. Nothing spilled out. He knelt down to allow his light to shine through the broken slat and then felt inside with his hand. "This one looks like silver bricks," he yelled.

  But no one was really listening. Everyone was off looking into any container they could pry open.

  Rory got up and wandered through the treasure trove himself. Eventually, he met up with Donna-Lou and Chet who were looking inside another barrel. "I think you guys can buy more than one new house," he said with a big grin.

  "You too, Rory," Donna-Lou said. "You helped us find this."

  "Yeah, she's right," Chet said.

  "Thanks, but I got my reward when we got the two kids back."

  Donna-Lou dropped a handful of old coins and threw her arms around Rory's neck, wrapping him in a big hug. "Thank you so much. If it wasn't for you, Rory, I don't know if we would have ever gotten Corry and Emma back. Or found any of this."

  "Yeah. Thanks, Rory," Chet said as he held out a hand. "You're a great treasure hunting buddy."

  Rory shook his hand as Donna-Lou continued hugging him.

  Corry and Emma came running back between the crates and barrels, their loud, excited voices bouncing off the rock walls

  "There's a lot of water way in the back," Emma said. "A big pool of it."

  "Yeah. And there's a stream of water tumbling down from way up high in the ceiling back there," Corry said. His hand tumbled like water going over cascades.

  "And more bats," Emma said in disgust.

  Corry looked delighted, though, "Yeah, lots and lots of bats way up high like you said. This is a really amazing treasure cave."

  "Yeah, I bet there's even pirates in here somewhere," Emma said.

  "This isn't pirate treasure," Corry complained. "This is Confederate gold treasure–"

  "I can have pirates if I want," Emma protested as she crossed her arms in defiance

  Rory smiled at their antics and then spoke up, "Okay everybody. Now that we know what's back here, let's go back on the other side of the boxes and talk about what we do next."

  "Sounds like a plan," Chet said as they headed back. He stuffed some gold coins in his pocket as he passed an open barrel and handed some to Donna-Lou.

  Corry and Emma picked a couple of the coins up themselves and skipped back around the first wall of crates where everybody gathered in a circle.

  Rory stood in front of the others, "Okay. We have to figure out a plan to get all of this out of here and hidden somewhere else."

  Chet l
ooked back for a moment and then raised his eyebrows, "How in the world do we move all of this? That would require a whole fleet of trucks."

  "We can afford them now," Donna-Lou said with a large grin and a twinkle in her eye.

  Chet nodded and smiled at her, "That's true, I guess. But–"

  A line of powerful flashlights lit up behind Rory, bathing them all in a harsh light. A moment later, the sound of someone clapping their hands slowly echoed off the walls of the cavern. Everyone's blood ran cold as they slowly turned to see the harsh outline of Tucker Watley Calhoun - Old Tuck - grinning like a fiend and slowly clapping his hands. Behind him stood a dozen, hard-looking men, each one with a light on their belt - but more importantly - each carried a powerful Winchester rifle with a hunting scope.

  Chapter 50

  EVERYONE STOOD FROZEN IN POSITION, shocked to see the old, white-haired man standing there, backed up by a dozen gunmen. These men now spread out slowly behind Old Tuck, their rifles aimed and ready to fire at a moment's notice.

  Chet's jaw was working in surprise but no sound came out. Then he sputtered a "How–?"

  Old Tuck laughed as he clapped several more times, fully enjoying the situation. Then his raspy voice echoed off the walls as he talked and pointed a finger at Rory, "We found Steele's Jaguar. People at a dealership in a small town up by Greenville were wondering why a vehicle they didn't own or they didn't know about, was parked in with their other vehicles. So they reported it to the state troopers, in case it was stolen." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder and grinned fiendishly, "These men are those troopers. They're also loyal members of the Knights of the Golden Circle. When they saw the report, they went to investigate 'cause I had alerted everyone to keep an eye out. They was told about a man who had arrived in a Jaguar and rented a big Range Rover. Well...we put two and two together...especially since we already had your license plate from when you were stopped before. All these men had to do was work as State Troopers with the dealership to access the GPS system on board the Range Rover, which was set up to track the vehicle in case it was stolen. Funny how a thing like that it can lead you right to where you need to go. Thank you, Mr. Steele." The tall, thin, white-haired man grinned fiendishly at Rory.