by Bo Drury
“How old were you?”
“Twelve, but I did a man's work after school each day. She paid me wages for my work. She treated me as a man,” he said proudly. “My mother would sneak things to me. She cried but she was grateful to La Madonna for giving us a home.”
Harry looked at Scott. His expression was passive; he continued to eat, seeming to ignore the conversation. What is he thinking and feeling right now? Harry wondered. It would be hard to tell from his demeanor.
Looking at Orlando, Harry said, “Earlier, when I asked if you were in love with Rebecca, you evaded the answer. I ask you again...” He glanced at Scott; his eyes blazed as he looked back. His dilated pupils obscured the blue of his eyes and his heritage was clear. There was no doubt in Harry's mind he was Orlando's son.
“Yes I loved her, but it was impossible.”
Scott pushed back from the table. “I've had enough of this dinner conversation. I need a drink.”
Orlando got up to help him, leaving Harry and Josh at the table.
“What was all that about?” Josh asked.
“I don't mean to upset anyone or to pry into private lives. I'm only trying to figure out what is going on in this house—this tangled web of lives and lies they are all living, how I got mixed up in it, and where Doris is. I think Rosa knows a lot more than any of us know, even Orlando.”
“Harry, to be honest, I don't have a clue where to look for Doris. Is she in one of those underground caverns that run all over this ranch? Or has she been moved somewhere else? If she is in one of those holes, we may never find her. I know that is not what you are hoping to hear, but it is a fact. Face it.”
Harry pushed his food away and leaned back. He felt ill. The thought of not finding Doris was more than he could stand. He would not accept it.
“I'm not saying we have given up, but it doesn't look good,” Josh went on, seeing the pained expression on Harry's face.
“There's one place we haven't looked. I need someone to go with me to Crystal Lake.”
“Where is that? What do you think you will find there? You know you will get all the help we can give.”
Harry studied Josh before he answered. Would he understand about the gut feeling he had?
“The first time I got lost in the cavern, I came out at Crystal Lake. It's up in the north pasture. It's a beautiful little spring-fed lake nestled down in a valley of hills. It was in my dream. I know this may sound foolish to you, but I have to go there. I have a strong feeling about it.”
“I do understand, Harry. When you feel so strong about something, you need to check it out. Otherwise, you will always wonder, what if...”
Standing up, he walked around to Harry. “If she can be found, Harry, we will find her. I'll get a crew together and we will head that way. Are you ready to go?”
“We will need rope and flashlights. I don't know how far I will have to go in, but I plan on searching it out.” Feeling better knowing he was going to get help from Josh, Harry went to his room. He wanted to leave a letter—in case he didn't come out of the cavern—that would tell Josh what he saw in the chart Doris left. It would be up to Josh to figure it out. All he wanted now was to find his sassy secretary.
Going by the lounge, he looked in on Scott sitting by the fire.
“We're going to Crystal Lake. I'm going in to see if I can find Doris. Maybe Melody too, if she is still alive. I wish you were coming along,” he added.
“Good luck,” Scott called after him as he walked away.
I'm going to need it, he thought.
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Chapter 17
Josh and two other deputies went along with Harry in the jeep. A couple of the ranch hands trailed along behind them. They gathered around the entrance to the cavern by the shore of the picturesque lake. Moving the brush aside, they saw the opening was large, big enough for two men at a time to walk in. The boys from the ranch were surprised. They said they had no knowledge of the cave, even after all the years of working at the ranch. They knew about the lake but it was so far from the house, they never came up here except to check on the livestock.
It wasn't as dark inside as expected. Light filtered in from further down the cavern. All of them followed Harry in. Josh made sure the department knew where they were, as they would lose contact once underground.
It was eerie. The men talked in whispers once inside. They walked into the large dome room with the crystals hanging from the ceiling and light reflecting and shimmering on the walls. It was a room of many colors. They were behind the waterfall that poured into the lake. Now and then they could see through it to the surface beyond.
It was breathtakingly beautiful. The men with him were entranced, but Harry had only one thing on his mind. He pushed forward into the depths of the cavern below, on into the dark. They turned on their lights. The small stream of water ran past them on a gradual downhill slope.
“How far does this go?” someone asked.
“Who knows? They always told me if you dug deep enough you would come out in China.”
“Ching-chong...” one of the men said in a sing-song voice; they laughed and walked.
Growing tired, one of the men complained, “Why are we doing this? We've been walking for miles already and haven't found anything.”
Harry stopped for a break. “When I was in here, it seemed I walked forever to get out. Now you know, no one would carry me this far into this hole. There has to be another entrance they brought me through. That is what we are going to find.”
They walked on. It seemed the tunnel leveled out, but in the darkness it was hard to tell if you were going up or down or on a level. It really affected the senses of balance and direction.
“Whoops, what have we here? Which way do we go now? This is hairy, Harry—pardon the pun, but we could get lost like this. Who has the red marker we brought along? Mark this wall with an arrow back toward the way we came from,” Josh said, then asked, “Did you come this far?”
There were three openings for them to choose from.
“I don't know. Remember, I was in the dark a lot of the time; I could have come by here but there is no way I would know.”
“Shine your lights down on the floor of this place and see if there are any tracks or scuff marks.” Seeing none, Josh said, “Harry, think back to when you were in here. I know you hugged the wall. What side were you on?”
Harry closed his eyes, remembering. It was dark; there was no sound but his breathing. He was very tired and scared. He reached out with his hand—his left hand against the wall, his right out in front of him—and took a step. Opening his eyes, he looked to his left. “This way.”
Someone made a red mark on the wall. Harry prayed silently that he knew what he was doing and heard similar whispered prayers from the others.
They hadn't traveled much further when the smell of rotting flesh assailed them.
“Damn, do you smell that? There's something dead down here.”
Harry caught the scent and broke out in a sweat as he admitted the possibility of the outcome of his search. It couldn't be.
From out of the dark there came the padding of many feet and a rush of air as a great hairy body hurled itself against Harry. The men behind him yelled and clamored backward. Harry fell to the floor as three wolf dogs greeted him with slobbery kisses and wallowed him on the ground. Overcoming their fright and shock, the men laughed nervously and the deputies put their guns away, a little shamefaced that they had let the dogs scare them.
Harry just lay there. A great sense of relief came over him as he figured the odor was from something the dogs had dragged in. At least they had found the entrance somewhere ahead. He was eager to see where they came out. Hugging the dogs, grateful they had found them, he stood up, brushed himself off and walked forward, looking for the elusive entrance.
“There it is,” someone called out.
Light shown through the thick brush covering the opening
. A well-worn path led in beneath the brush. “What a relief to be out of here,” Josh said as he welcomed the light shining before him.
“This isn't it.”
“What do you mean, this isn't it?”
“It's too overgrown. It would be hard for a person to get through, especially with a body. There has to be another place on further.”
“Well, let's take a look where we are now.” Crawling out, they found themselves behind the corral; discarded lumber, car parts and barrels hid the entrance. Fifty yards to the left was Hub's trailer.
“That's interesting,” Harry remarked as he turned to go back in.
“Where are you going?”
“To see where the next opening is.”
“There may not be one, Harry. This may be it. I think we need to talk to the gardener.”
“No, there has to be another way in. Come on.” Harry went back into the dark, careful to step over the carcass of an unrecognizable dead animal. He thought it might be a doe. He heard the grumbling of the men as they trailed along behind him. They were not a bit happy about going back into the cavern.
The long tunnel had a decided curve to it. They came to an area that branched off in a different direction. They had to make a decision about which direction to take. They marked their trail and continued on.
It ended abruptly at a wooden door. Harry's heart pounded; he felt certain he would find Doris beyond it. He pried the heavy door open slowly. They were in what appeared to be a storage room with tools and garden supplies.
There was another door. They opened it, walked through and came out in the greenhouse behind the garden.
Hub was working by the pool. He didn't hear them until they were right on him. Surprise that turned to fear crossed his face as he crouched there, looking at them. No one said a word. He looked past them toward the greenhouse and saw the deputy standing in the doorway. He started to get up, then sank to the ground and covered his face. A long moan escaped his lips as he rocked back and forth.
Harry couldn't believe it. He started for Hub.
Josh grabbed him. “Wait, Harry.”
“Where is she?” Harry yelled, straining against Josh. One of the deputies stepped forward to help restrain him.
Hub looked at him and shook his head. “I don't know where the other girl is.”
“What do you mean, the other girl?”
Not comprehending the question at first, it dawned on him at last. “I don't know anything about the girl, any girl,” he added.
Harry caught on quickly. “He thinks we found Melody. She's back there someplace in the cave.” He quit struggling. “Is that it, Hub? You have Melody in the cave someplace? Is she okay? Is she alive?”
Hub looked up at Harry. “I wouldn't hurt her. I would never hurt Melody. She's my daughter.”
Harry sat down, shocked.
Josh sat down too. “You want to tell us about it, Hub? How is it you know where Melody is? Did you kidnap her? What happened?”
The men all found a place to sit down and waited for Hub to give them an explanation.
“My name is Herbert Longley. I met Melody's mother when I was in the service and stationed in San Angelo. I didn't know who she was for the longest time; her mother didn't approve of her dating guys in the service. She had a little boy and they lived with her mother. We planned to be married, but she would never bring me to meet her parents. She disappeared, and during that time I got orders to ship out. I couldn't find her and I had to go. I knew she was expecting a baby but there was nothing I could do.
“I came back when I got the chance, but people who knew her told me she had gone to California. I found out who her family was, the Stockton family. Then I shipped overseas. When I was discharged I rejoined the navy and became a navy seal. I met Jeb. I recognized his name and learned he was from Texas. I found out he had a sister and didn't know where she was. His mother had kept her little boy and kicked her out. I felt really bad. I thought it was my fault.
“A few years ago I came here, hoping to find her. I looked Jeb up and told him I needed a job. His mother hired me. Jeb wasn't real happy about it as I knew a lot on him he wouldn't want known around here. I hoped I could find out what happened to the child Rebecca had. When she showed up a few weeks back I followed her to town hoping to talk to her. Someone was with her when I got there.”
“Did you see who it was?” Josh leaned forward.
“Yes—”
A shot rang out. Everyone hit the dirt and flattened out.
Scott came to the patio door. “What was that?” he called out, looking around at the men getting off the ground.
Everyone got up but Hub. His face was gone. The bullet had entered the back of his head.
The shot had come from the barn area. The deputies were on the run, crouched down, going in the direction of the corral.
Harry recovered from the shock and ran toward the house. “Where is Orlando?” he yelled.
Scott jumped back. “He's in the bathroom.”
Harry ran in and headed down the hall. “That's the wrong way. What is going on? Why are you looking for Orlando?”
Orlando walked in from the master suite wing, rubbing his head with a towel like he had just come from the shower. “Well, that felt good,” he said with a smile. The smile dropped from his face when he looked at Harry. “What's wrong?”
“Hub's been shot.”
Orlando dropped the towel and started forward.
“He's dead.”
“What happened? Who shot him?”
Josh came in and answered that question. “We don't know. No one saw anything.”
Sirens came blaring up the drive as Harry dropped into a big chair by the window, totally confused. Who did this? Who shot Hub? Where was Melody? How would they ever find her now that Hub was dead? She was alive somewhere in those dark caverns. They had to find her; they would have to double their efforts. She had to be in one of the offshoots of the cavern.
As soon as they finished with Hub they would get started. The question now was who had Doris? If it wasn't Hub, who? Harry turned his back on the gruesome scene out back. He couldn't believe what had happened out there. One more second and Hub would have given them the name. How ironic was that?
Going in to wash his face and hands, Harry wondered where Orlando had taken a shower. About to search further, he stopped when Scott called out to him.
“Harry, Josh said Melody is alive somewhere in the tunnel. All this time she has been right here. That's hard to believe. And Hub was her father? That's even harder to think of. He would have been my stepfather.” He shook his head.
“I'm going back in to look for her. I hope we find Doris too, but before he died Hub said he didn't know anything about her. We'll just have to see.”
Picking up his flashlight, he went out through the patio door and walked around the other side of the pool to get to the greenhouse. Anyone looking would never have suspected there was a tunnel behind the greenhouse tool shed. What a set up he had. Did no one know of the entry there? Not even Jeb and Orlando, who searched and played all over the ranch as children? That was hard to believe.
He remembered the dogs and wondered if they would be any help in finding Melody. They had nothing with her scent...or did they? Hadn't she left her things behind?
He turned abruptly, almost stepping on a young deputy who had trailed in behind him. Going quickly into the house, he asked Scott where Melody's things had been stored.
“In the hall closet of the guest wing.” He followed Harry down the hall. “What are you doing with her stuff?”
“I just want something with her scent. I intend to use it to see if the dogs can help us find her.”
“The dogs?” he asked, surprised. “Grandmother's dogs?”
“Yes. They were in the cavern. That's how we found our way out—they came in after me.” He couldn't help but smile, remembering how the deputies scattered when they showed up. “They always seem to turn up at the best of t
imes.”
Choosing a soft sleeping shirt, Harry went out, asking Orlando to go with him.
“You know the dogs as much or more than anyone. Come in the cavern with us. See if you can get them to find her.”
Orlando held back. “I do not like the caverns; it is the Devil's playground. Bad things happen in there.”
“The girl will die in there if we don't find her. You have to help us.”
Reluctantly he agreed to go.
Entering the cavern through the greenhouse, Orlando crossed himself before stepping in. He really is afraid of this place, Harry realized.
They approached the first offshoot in the tunnel. The dogs sniffed the ground and showed no interest in exploring in that direction. Harry wasn't sure his idea was going to work. At the next opening, the dogs continued to wander into it, running from wall to wall sniffing the ground. Big Boy stopped to mark the trail; the females came over to check it out and followed suit. Harry decided they had been here before; this was not new to them. He felt they were on the right track. Big Boy ran ahead, disappearing into the dark.
Suddenly a sound so eerie that it literally made the hair stand out on his arms sounded through the cavern. Everyone stopped and listened. The powerful howl of the wolf dog joined in, and as the moaning scream echoed and reverberated through the bowels of the earth, the men stood frozen, peering into the darkness before them.
Orlando turned and started back down the tunnel; the others, uneasy, looked at Harry. He shook his head and moved forward. They inched onward as a tight group, glancing behind as well as ahead.
A white floating figure suddenly appeared before them, dancing along the wall. The wailing started again and the wolf dogs joined in.
“Hell, I don't get paid enough to do this,” one of the ranch hands said.
“Neither do I. Let's get the hell outta here,” his companion answered.
“Wait, we can't quit now. Someone is just trying to scare us.”
“Well, they're doing a damn good job of it, Harry.”
The soft sound of music drifted through the maze of tunnels and the ghostly figure danced along the walls. Then it disappeared and the scream of a tormented soul filled the air before fading away.