Once a Hero

by Raine Cantrell

  “Get up! You can make yourself useful. Cook for us.”

  Isabel stared into Vasa’s dark eyes. With quiet determination she removed his hand, daring him silently to object. She had lost her precious moments with Kee.

  It was all up to him now.

  Kee couldn’t believe how intricate and yet simple the disk proved to use. It was almost as if some unseen hand had guided his every move. But when he started for the dark crevice lit by the sun’s rays, a knifelike pain pierced him and sent him to his knees. He saw where a snake had crossed a small sand bed, and a place where a covey of quail had raced along in a wide group. But no other tracks of any kind. He labored up the slope toward the opening, sliding on the loose talus.

  He had a sudden prickling along his scalp. Ahead in the rocks there was a faint stirring, the kind of sound settling timber made. He didn’t like it. He couldn’t stop the wild tale of swinging stones from entering his mind. Logic dictated that rocks loosened by a fall or an earthquake could, when wind and sun and rain had worn away support, suddenly fall and crush someone.

  Made perfect sense to him.

  But when he reached the tall, narrow opening, he knew the horses wouldn’t be coming with him. There was barely room for him, and only if he turned sideways and squeezed through.

  He rested his hand against the rock face and it came away, crumbling as it fell. Kee stepped back and as he did, he saw the same signs as on the disk cut into the face of the rock.

  He had found the way to Isabel’s gold!

  He went back to Outlaw, and untied his nearly empty saddlebags. Kee forced himself to think of nothing but Isabel. Those stories of mysterious deaths and vengeful gods were trying to crowd his thoughts.

  The opening was seamed with ancient cracks. He thought he could make out a few more cuts in the rock, but they weren’t clear. He prayed the opening didn’t crumble when he entered. Once again he heard that faint stirring within the rocks. He ignored it, for a little voice told him to hurry.

  He didn’t know if the warning came because of the gold or because Isabel needed him.

  He entered into a dark space. Rock overhung the opening, and appeared solid when he lit a match. From above, the deep crevice couldn’t be seen.

  His mouth went dry, yet he was breaking out in a cold sweat. The thought of Isabel trying to work her way through this sent a chill through every fiber of his body.

  There was a smell of dampness in the air, and that was hot and close. He didn’t like the feel of it; he didn’t like anything about this strange, haunted place.

  And it seemed there was no end to this tunnellike crevice cut so deep into the rock.

  Kee’s boot sent something rattling ahead. The sound stopped immediately and there were no others. He didn’t think it was a snake, but he hated the thought that it just might be and lit another of his precious few matches.

  A skull gleamed on the sand. He swallowed, went past it, and the match blew out.

  Cool air brushed his face and with it he heard what sounded like a storm wind blowing. The piercing and heartrending cries were followed by unearthly shrieks and howlings. They combined to soul-wrenching sounds that seemed to come from everywhere at once.

  He dropped the saddlebags and covered his ears. Stumbling forward, he felt the space around him and once more he lit a match. High above was a hole in the rock. That explained the sounds. Not the sudden silence. He examined the rock wall closest to him. His eyes went to the gleam below. A small rock, a little larger than a bullet, but it was gold. The real genuine high-grade gold. The kind he’d seen a few samples of from one of the Kincaid mines.

  No matter who had come here first, it was a gold mine and now all he had to do was figure a way to get the gold out.

  He tucked the rock into his jacket pocket, and pushed on. Within minutes he had come to the end. He felt the walls, and there was no opening. The dark wasn’t complete, but it didn’t let him see too much, either.

  Stripping off his jacket, he used his knife to cut off his shirtsleeves. Using the cloth for light was dangerous, but he had to know if there was anything there. He wasted precious moments in the dark, cutting off the water-shedding fringe from his jacket and using it to tie the twisted cloth in place. When he was done, he had an awkward torch, but it lit up the space where he stood.

  And above, about shoulder high he saw the ledge and the notched opening above that. There was a gleam of gold there, brighter and larger than the small rock he’d picked up.

  But Kee admitted to himself that he was afraid of going up there. The whole place seemed unstable. One wrong move on his part and he’d be buried alive.

  You’re crazy, the sane voice of reason told him.

  “Isabel needs this gold,” he whispered.

  He tossed the burning cloth up onto the ledge. Then he carefully placed his hands on its edge and tested the rock. It seemed solid. Nothing crumbled beneath his grip. He heard again that faint whisper, both to hurry and of the rock stirring. Taking a deep breath, he swung himself up, getting one leg and half his body on the ledge.

  The burning cloth wasn’t going to last much longer. He had no time to check out the notch, only to toss down what loose rock he could lay his hands on. The chunks of ore were bright. Jewelry store rock, miners called this. And they were heavy, even the smaller pieces.

  The notch had streaks of gold, not thin hairlike seams, but wrist-size bands of it. And the quartz was rotten. He was breaking off chunks of it with his fingers; some crumbled but he kept on throwing them down.

  The shrieking wind began again, and the cloth was burning down to almost nothing. Kee looked at what had accumulated below. All that gold. A man could go anywhere, buy anything and come back here for more. He could understand the fever that got into men’s blood over the search and the find of gold. But some things weren’t worth it. Isabel’s life.

  He eased himself down and dropped the rest of the way. Using his jacket as a pack, he gathered the chunks and then went and filled his saddlebags. This had to be enough for whatever she needed. That prickling was back and it wasn’t running over his scalp now, but his whole body.

  He wanted out of here. And he wanted out now.

  He sweated and panted, hauling his load and had to slow down to where he crawled and pushed the bundles in front of him.

  And he found himself whispering to Isabel that he was coming, she had to hold on a little longer, but he would be there for her.

  Because he crawled, he felt the vibrations as if the earth shifted beneath him. He had passed the skull. He couldn’t have much farther to go. And no god of the mountain, or the devil himself was going to stop him from getting out.

  But he knew he had challenged the mountain and its secret. When the stronger vibrations came from the ground beneath him, Kee wondered if he would survive.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Isabel kept her eyes away from the gully and never once looked up at the tower of rocks. Her skin crawled with the way Vasa watched her every move, from the moment she rose to begin cooking until now when she returned with an armload of firewood. Clarai also watched her. She sat above with a rifle across her lap.

  Benton had taken the horses back to the end of the dry wash to water them. Of the three men, Isabel had not seen them since they came one at a time to the fire this morning, ate, had coffee and just as silently returned to guard them.

  “Your little cousin does not believe that you must wait for sunset to show where the gold is.”

  “She can believe what she wants, Vasa. I told you the truth. And I would not lie and cost Kee his life.”

  She needed to turn his thought away from Kee, but for a moment nothing came to mind. She did not want to talk to him, or be near him. She could almost feel her cousin’s jealous rage reach out to touch her.

  Desperate to get away, and desperate to distract Vasa, she snatched up the coffeepot.

  “I will get fresh water.”

  “Wait. I go with you.”

&nbs
p; The shot into the sand at Vasa’s feet made him and Isabel jump apart.

  “Stay away from my man, Isabel. Or the next bullet will be for you. A broken leg or arm won’t stop you from showing us the gold.”

  Isabel barely glanced at Clarai. She knew her cousin meant what she said. Clarai would shoot her. Benton came in at a run leading the horses.

  Isabel saw that he had drawn his gun. Vasa started to claim it was an accident, but two of his men entered the wash. Isabel paid no attention to their excited questions. She stood off by herself, trying to think of another way to get out of Clarai’s sight.

  Then she heard the question that made her step closer to them.

  “Where is Luis?” Vasa asked his men.

  She saw the two glance at one another, then shrug.

  And she thought of Kee first. Had Luis followed him? No! She could not, would not accept that. Kee had to be all right. She had willingly given herself over as hostage to keep him safe. No god would be so cruel as to let that be in vain.

  The air was hot and still, not a hint of a breeze stirred in the dry wash. Isabel could not hear their whispers. Clarai had not moved down to find out about the missing Luis.

  The horses, including her two packhorses, milled about.

  It was the chance she had been waiting for.

  Isabel moved slowly, trying not to call attention to herself. She had put one horse between her and the four men. A quick look showed that Clarai still watched outward, away from her. She wished she could slip her boot knife free. Having a weapon in hand would make her feel more confident that she could escape.

  But no one was watching her. Vasa and Benton both were looking to where the other men pointed. Telling them where they had last seen Luis? She did not care.

  A few more steps. She lightly slapped the rump of one of the horses blocking her way. They would expect her to run down the twisting path of the wash. She intended to climb the rocks and find Kee.

  She was about to make her run when she heard the man’s shout. The others had heard it, too. And it was the one word she prayed not to hear.

  “Gold!”

  She ran behind the others and saw Luis’s stumbling figure weaving a drunken path toward them while he shouted the word over and over in a hoarse voice.

  Her assumption had been right. Luis had followed Kee. Vasa and Clarai had never believed her lies. Had Luis hurt Kee? Or…no! If Kee had been killed she would know. She strongly felt that to be true.

  Then Vasa, impatience stamped on his face, grabbed the mane of one of the horses and swung himself up to ride bareback. He urged the horse up the slope, sand flying as Benton, with a loud whoop, followed suit. The other two men were trying to mount without saddles when Isabel passed them and raced to the top of the wash.

  Clarai ran beside Vasa’s horse. He reached out his arm and stretched out his leg. Clarai grabbed hold and in seconds she was mounted behind him.

  The two men raced each other, wanting their share. She saw how hard they kicked their horses to catch up to the others. All running toward the towering spires.

  Isabel stood there forgotten by all of them. But she no longer was necessary. They had found the gold.

  And desire to possess its riches would fire their blood until nothing else existed.

  She shaded her eyes with her hand, searching for a sign of Kee. A haze enveloped the sun, but did not lessen the heat that baked the land. Still, she stood and watched for long minutes while hope grew dim that Kee had survived. Yet she could not drag herself away. She had to be sure.

  Slowly, she lowered her hand, cold seeping through her. He was not riding, walking or even crawling back to her. Nothing moved out there but the shadow of a hawk. Despair turned her erect stance into slumped shoulders and spread a weakness in her legs. She caught herself swaying where she stood.

  She was being a fool to continue to hope and wait. But she knew the man she longed to see. Unless he was dead, he would come back for her.

  Then the wind came up, whispering over the rocks and sand, faintly wailing as it swept through the ravines, and she felt it shed the tears she could not, tears for finding a man she loved and having him taken to give her her dream.

  Suddenly she turned away from the sight of the desolate land, jamming her fist against her mouth to stop the cries. She fought to control the emotions tearing through her. She had been strong for so long, she was not coming apart now. She would gather up the horses they had left and strip the camp of everything they had stolen. But she could not say goodbye, not even a silent one to the man who had filled her heart.

  As she turned, she heard the wail that rebounded from the rocks and echoed through canyon and ravine into crevice and was lost only to rise again.

  “Where?”

  It sounded like Clarai’s and Isabel smiled a bitter smile, looking up at the fully risen sun. The haze had burned off and now the mine’s entrance would once more be guarded, its secret safe within the darkest of shadows.

  And Kee…

  Kee was a flame burning inside, a dream and sweet memory she would keep alive. As for the gold and the land that would be lost, perhaps her grandfather was telling her it was time to let it go. Without the golden disk she could spend years searching for the right place, just as her cousin…

  The earth tremored beneath her feet, cutting off her thoughts and sent her back down into the dry wash.

  Get out! Get out! sang a silent litany and she hurried to do just that. She flung saddles on the horses that were rolling their eyes and tossing their heads. The animals sensed the danger and she fought not to allow their panic to infect her.

  She left nothing behind her as she rode out.

  But she did not ride far. The mountain had claimed one life she loved; it would not claim Kee as well.

  Kee couldn’t see the sunlight as the ground shook beneath him. He moved like lightning the last few feet, choking on the clouds of rock dust that had loosened. He was desperate for air, clean and untainted, to fill his lungs. But there was more than a natural shadow hovering near the entrance. A dark, more dense shadow of a man.

  He pushed his packs ahead of him, swearing under his breath at the scraping noise they made, that he could do nothing about. Someone was waiting to kill him.

  And that thought slipped into a quickly laid plan of what he could do.

  “Gold,” he croaked. “I’ve found the gold.”

  He felt the packs pulled free from the crevice, and then, surprisingly, strong arms gripped his wrists and helped pull him clear of the dust.

  He came up in a rush, knowing full well the limits of his strength, his knife at the young man’s throat.

  His move worked because the man’s eyes were glued to the gold bursting from the saddlebags.

  “Lose the rifle and the gun belt,” Kee ordered.

  Like a man in a trance, he obeyed. Licking his lips, eyes lit with greed, the young man called Luis finally pulled his gaze away, and realized that he had lost his weapons.

  “This is all?”

  Kee smiled. “Take a hundred men a hundred years to clean out that vein. Makes a man drunk just to look at it. Just lying there, easy pickings. And you’re going to get a share. This is what you have to do…”

  With Kee holding his own rifle on him, Luis ran as he was bid. The man was more stupid than he’d been told. Crazy gringo! Telling him to call the others to share in the gold. So much. He thought of the fine horses he would buy, and the saddle trimmed with silver conchos. The finest whiskey and the women…

  And the fever spread as he shouted louder and louder, Kee and the rifle forgotten, his mind bursting with thoughts of what he could buy.

  He infected the others as they raced to where he stood. Telling them what he had seen of rich golden rock, and what waited for all of them. Yes, he told of the riches, but not of the man with the rifle.

  Luis mounted behind his brother, and they all drove the horses to get there. The fever high in eyes that held every greedy dream known
to man.

  In the ravine where he had hidden his horses, Kee watched them. He watched as Luis turned in half circles, his eyes frantically searching the face of the rock.

  “It is here! I tell you I saw it! Here, in this place—more gold, rich, rich gold.”

  “Where?” Clarai screamed at him, her hands curled into claws, ready to attack him and force him to tell.

  “Where?” Benton shouted, moving like lightning to search himself as the other two men took up the cry.

  Only Vasa remained silent as he, too, hunted the opening.

  Kee knew one of them would find it. There hadn’t been enough time for him to conceal the opening. A shout alerted him. And one by one, he watched as the mine drew them in, swallowing them up.

  A haze floated over the sun. Nothing moved, not even their abandoned horses swished a tail on the talus slope.

  Until now Kee had used his strength of will to keep away thoughts of Isabel.

  But not a moment longer.

  She had not been with them. He chased the thought that she was dead. He would know. That truth planted itself inside his heart and his mind. Somehow he would know if he’d heard the last whisper of his name from her lips.

  Then the wind came up, whispering over the rocks and sand, faintly wailing as it swept through the ravine.

  It was time for him to go and claim a far richer treasure than gold.

  As he rode out, he saw the haze lift and the shadows that fell hid the crevice. He knew it was there, and exactly where, but he could no longer find it.

  The mare’s whinny was followed by more from the other horses. He felt Outlaw’s fear as the earth seemed to tremor and rocks fell clattering into the ravine behind him. He thought of that faint creaking within that hellhole of gold. The mountain guarded its secret well.

  He set boot heels to his mustang’s sides, anxious to get out of this strangely haunted place. He fought off the exhaustion that swept over him, a whisper of other dangers drumming up from the racing hooves of the horses.

  And he had to find Isabel.