Just Fine with Caroline

by Annie England Noblin

  CHAPTER 20

  REESE GRAHAM HAD BEEN THE MOST POPULAR boy at Cold River High School. His parents had money, family money, and nothing was ever too big or too much for Reese. He threw parties every night of the week in the summertime, and although Caroline was never allowed to go, Ava Dawn always came back with stories of moonshine and skinny dipping and so much fun that nobody ever left before sunrise.

  While Caroline wanted to go and pined for the freedom her parents would not give her, Court flat out refused any part of that world. “He’s trouble. Pure and simple” is all he would say, acting much more like Caroline’s father than her friend. They were all seniors in high school before Caroline got up the courage to lie to her parents about where she was going. And after that, despite feeling guilty about this lie, there was no turning back.

  Although Reese never paid much attention to her when they were in high school, things were altogether different once she came home to take care of her mother. Court told her that it was because he’d already been through all the women in Cold River, but Caroline ignored him. She’d seen him give Reese long looks during high school when he thought no one was watching, and even though she knew it might hurt Court just a little, Caroline was flattered when Reese asked her out for the first time. After a while, it was the three of them—Court, Reese, and Caroline, hanging out every spare second they got, and if it bothered Court, well, he never let on that it did.

  That first year hadn’t felt like she’d come home to care for her sick mother. Caroline still went out with Reese all the time, and her mother’s health was still good enough that most days were good days. It was when Maureen O’Conner’s Alzheimer’s began to worsen that Caroline realized Reese was coming around less and less. He called her less and less. He said it was because he was preparing to leave for his new job, but Caroline knew better—hell, everyone knew better.

  “I don’t like him much,” her father admitted after Caroline told him she’d broken up with Reese. “I can’t say I’m sorry to hear it.”

  Caroline knew her father wasn’t trying to make her feel worse, but he was. Her mother wouldn’t have said those things. She longed for her mother to pat the cushion next to her on the couch and ask her daughter to tell her all about it—to listen to her mother talk about the boys she’d dated long ago, to feel safe knowing that her mother always said the right thing, always made her feel better. It was the first time since her mother had been diagnosed that Caroline realized what the diagnosis really meant—that she was losing her mother.

  Caroline stayed in bed for days after that, not talking to anyone—not her father, not Court, and most especially not her mother. Talking to her only made her sad, and Caroline allowed everyone to think that she was heartbroken about Reese—about the cheating and the parties and the lying, because it was easier than admitting the truth. It was easier than admitting that she felt angry and selfish and sad all at the same time. All she wanted was her mother, and no matter what she said or did, her mother was never coming back to her.

  And she hadn’t even been allowed to say goodbye.

  CHAPTER 21

  CAROLINE GRIPPED THE WINDOW, WILLING IT to open up, but it wouldn’t budge. “I don’t understand why this damn window won’t open.”

  “Do you want some help?” Noah leaned against the countertop, a Coke in one hand.

  “I can do it,” Caroline replied. “It’s just being stubborn.”

  “It’s not just the window being stubborn,” Noah replied, taking a drink. “I doubt those windows have been opened since the air conditioner was installed.”

  Caroline ignored him. All she needed to do was get a couple of window units put in and turned on, and then she could leave. Tomorrow, she could stay inside the shop all day with the doors closed and not suffocate and not have to deal with Noah or Reese or anyone else who wasn’t interested in buying a Styrofoam cup full of earthworms. “I’ve almost got it.”

  “If you say so.”

  She gave the window one more push with the bottom of her palms and the wood splintered off in her hands. Caroline fell back onto the floor, still holding the wood. She lay back and stared up at the ceiling, resisting the urge to stomp her feet like a petulant child.

  “Do you want my help now?” Noah stood over her, grinning.

  “No.” Caroline sat up. “I’m done for the day. I’m going home, and I’m going to seriously consider burning this place to the ground.”

  Noah stuck out his hand. “Get up. I want to show you something.”

  Caroline waved his hand away from her. “I already know you can open the window.”

  “Not that,” Noah replied. “Come on.” He led her across the street and over to the station. “Stay right here. I’ll be back.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Getting a flashlight.”

  “What for?” Caroline hollered. “It’s still daylight.”

  Noah emerged a few minutes later with a flashlight tucked under one arm. “I’m going to show you something, but you have to promise that you won’t say anything to anybody about it.”

  Caroline crossed her arms across her chest. “You’re freaking me out a little.”

  “Do you promise?”

  “I promise.”

  Noah led her around the station and back into the thick brush behind the building. It had been a long time since anybody kept up with the land, and Caroline found herself wishing she’d worn jeans and boots instead of cutoff shorts and flip-flops. “I’m going to be covered in seed ticks and chiggers by the time we’re done out here,” she said.

  Noah batted at the brush with his flashlight. “You won’t care in a few minutes.”

  The farther back they walked, the more curious Caroline became. They’d moved so far back that she could no longer see the station or her shop. She couldn’t see the road or the river. All she could see was Noah in front of her and sun-scorched land behind her. “This is all Cranwell land, isn’t it?”

  “Yep,” Noah said. “This goes all the way back to my grandfather’s house.”

  “Do you own it all?”

  “I do.”

  “Even his house? And your aunt’s house?”

  “Uh-huh.” Noah stopped at a rocky ledge. He peered over the top. “It’s about a three foot drop from here. Think you can make that?”

  “In flip-flops?”

  Noah jumped down into the gorge. “Here, give me your hand.”

  Caroline sat down, scooting to the lip of the ledge on her bottom. She reached for his hand and propelled herself down. She landed with a thud next to Noah, gravel digging into the foam soles of her flip-flops. “I’m never going to get back up there without a forklift.”

  “We’re almost there,” Noah said. He grabbed Caroline’s hand. “It’s just right around the corner.”

  When they rounded the rocky ravine, Caroline saw something she never expected to see. But there it was, right in front of her, partially hidden by foliage. “Whoa, it’s a . . .”

  “Cave,” Noah finished for her. “Cranwell Cave, to be exact.”

  “I didn’t know there was a cave within miles of here,” she said. “The closest caves I know of are at Grand Gulf, but that’s over in Oregon County.”

  “Most of the people who knew about this cave are long gone,” Noah replied. “Do you want to go inside?”

  “Are you kidding me?” Caroline could hardly contain her excitement. “Of course I want to go inside!”

  “Follow me.” Noah switched on his flashlight. “It can get tight through the entryway, but it’ll widen out.”

  Caroline stuck close to Noah as they entered the cave. After a few seconds, the opening gave way to a huge room, and a blast of cold air hit her in the face. It took a second for Caroline’s eyes to adjust. “It feels great in here,” she said, her voice echoing off of the cave’s walls.

  “I know,” Noah replied. “It’s not a huge cave. This is the main room, but there are three or four passageways that give wa
y to other rooms. The rest of the passageways are too small for people to get through, so I know there are caverns farther down that haven’t ever been seen.”

  “How long have you known about this place?”

  “A long time,” Noah said. He handed Caroline the flashlight. “My father showed it to me just before he . . . before he died. He made me swear I wouldn’t tell my grandfather.”

  Caroline shone the flashlight around the cave and stopped at a dripping stalactite. “Why would you want to keep this a secret?”

  “Jep Cranwell keeps everything a secret,” Noah replied. “But at least with the cave he had a good reason. Here, let me see the flashlight.”

  Caroline handed it over.

  Noah shone the light high on the walls. “Do you see what’s up there?”

  Caroline squinted. “It looks like lamps on a string?”

  “Gas lamps,” Noah said. “The whole cave is full of them.”

  “Why?”

  “Because my great-grandfather needed the light.” Noah led her back farther into the room. “It would have been hard to have a speakeasy without some light.”

  “You’re kidding me.” Caroline couldn’t believe it. “Your family had a speakeasy in a cave?”

  “Sounds crazy, I know,” Noah said. “But look.” He shone his light onto the remnants of something wooden. “There was a bar back here, and even a little stage for music.”

  “I read about this,” Caroline said. She placed her hands on one of the wooden planks. “There are others like this one, here in Missouri. But I never imagined there would be one across the road from me.”

  “Now that I own the land, I’ve thought about making it public,” Noah said. He sat down on what was left of the damp stage. “But my grandfather would never forgive me.”

  “I don’t understand why it matters,” Caroline replied. “If he’d done it himself, he could have saved the station with the money.”

  “My grandfather hates money.” Noah laid the flashlight down next to him. “He hates it almost as much as he hates people in his business. He would never tolerate people he doesn’t know crawling all over his land.”

  “But it’s your land now.”

  “I own it, that’s true, but I respect my grandfather too much to do something like that,” Noah said. “Maybe someday, but for now, this has got to stay our secret.”

  “Of course. I just can’t believe it’s all true.”

  “This is the only evidence left that my family was involved in making moonshine.”

  “Everybody knows that the Cranwells still have stills out here in these hollers.”

  “But can you prove it?”

  “I guess not.”

  “It’s all just become Ozark folklore, and that’s how my grandfather likes it.”

  “I used to try to sneak out to Cranwell Corner when I was a kid. I’d tell my mom I was going fishing and then walk all the way down to that cattle gate. Once I even got brave enough to climb over it, but my mom caught me and about blistered my hide.”

  “What did you think you were going to find?”

  “I don’t know.” Caroline shrugged into the darkness. “Sometimes I think my mother knew, and that’s why she wanted to keep me away.”

  Noah scooted closer to her, filling up the space that was between them. “Ever since this afternoon, all I’ve been able to think about is getting you alone and undressing you.”

  Caroline could hear her heart pounding in her chest. It was so loud she was certain that it was echoing off the walls of the cave. “So this was all a ploy to get me alone in the dark?”

  “Something like that.” One of his hands wandered between her thighs.

  Caroline wanted, more than she could ever imagine wanting anything, to let Noah undress her. Even in this damp, dark cave . . . especially in this damp, dark cave. She pulled him hungrily towards her; she felt like she was starving, as if she’d been starved, and she needed him closer to her, right up against her, inside of her.

  Noah eased her down onto the wooden stage, hooking his thumbs through her belt loops and pulling down, kissing her belly, his mouth wet and hot against her skin.

  Caroline watched his shadow in the dark as he raised himself up from on top of her, pulling at his clothes. She wished for the flashlight so she could see him, all of him, but instead she pulled him back down to where she was. Her fingertips grazed his body and she felt a jagged, puckered line of skin amidst the smooth skin of his back. It felt like a scar, but she couldn’t tell, couldn’t think about it.

  Noah grabbed her hand where she was touching him, and laced his fingers through hers. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”

  When his free hand brushed against her panties, Caroline felt her whole body quiver. “I don’t think I can wait any longer,” she said.

  Noah hovered over her, his teeth grazing her bottom lip. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

  She’d been waiting forever for him, for this moment, as strange and silly as it sounded inside of her head. She knew that he was what she’d been searching for out here all these years. He was everything she wanted, but the only word she could muster was, “Yes.”

  This time Noah’s hand did more than brush against her panties—it pushed aside the delicate fabric, his fingers lingering for just long enough to make Caroline even wetter with anticipation. And then suddenly, without warning, he was inside of her.

  Caroline gasped, breathing in for the first time in what felt like forever. Her lungs were on fire. Her face was on fire. Every piece of her was on fire, and there was nothing she could do to make it stop except meet Noah’s rhythm with her own, lifting her hips to meet each thrust, to meet his lips on hers.

  When they finally collapsed, intertwined together amongst scattered boards and dripping stalactites, Caroline could feel Noah’s heart beating against her own chest, she could feel his sweat against her skin, and despite the cavern’s blanket of darkness, Caroline could see, really and truly see, for the first time in a long time.

  CHAPTER 22

  ON DECEMBER 19, 1931, TWO MEMBERS OF the Ma Barker Gang shot and killed Sheriff C. Roy Kelly in West Plains, Missouri. The gang had been hiding out in Thayer, Missouri, for weeks when the sheriff was murdered in front of Davidson Motor Company. The night before, C. C. McCallon’s clothing store was robbed of 2,000 dollars’ worth of merchandise. Alvin “Creepy” Karpis and Fred Barker entered the store through a back window. The two men were only interested in the latest fashions. The most expensive socks, ties, gloves, sweaters, and shirts were stolen, as well as an expensive, diamond-encrusted lady’s watch.

  Barker, Karpis, and a young hitchhiker pulled into the garage needing two tires replaced. The garage owner, Carac Davidson, recognized the clothing two of the men were wearing as clothing that had been reported stolen. Additionally, the tread on the tires matched tire marks left at the scene of the crime. Quietly, Davidson slipped away to call Mr. McCallon to see if he could come down and identify the clothing.

  As McCallon headed down to investigate, Sheriff Kelly came out of the post office. Davidson walked across the street to let the sheriff know what was going on at his garage. Sheriff Kelly proceeded to slip his gun under his coat and followed Caric Davidson over to the garage to question the men in the blue DeSoto.

  Just as the sheriff got to the garage and opened the car door, Barker and Karpis began shooting. One of the men ran outside, reloading his pistol as he fled. Turning down an alley, he made his escape from the sheriff, McCallon, and Davidson. The blue DeSoto roared out onto the street, hitting the curb, and disappeared down East Main Street.

  The Barker Gang escaped, and Sheriff Kelly was dead. The sheriff was shot twice in the chest and two more times in the left arm. His right hand was still inside his overcoat.

  The people of West Plains began looking for the outlaws, but the only thing they found was a red scarf. A group of men went in search of the sheriff’s killers, and crowds of people gathered in front of the
police station, waiting to hear whether or not the gang had been caught. Even state lawmen came to West Plains to help with the manhunt, and they soon discovered that the gang had been hiding out in Thayer, a twenty-two-mile drive from West Plains.

  Eventually, the abandoned DeSoto was found by a group of hunters. When they realized there were bullet holes in the back of the car, they knew something was wrong and called the law. After checking the registration, the lawmen discovered that the car belonged to Alvin Karpis.

  When the lawmen arrived in Thayer, Missouri, they found an abandoned farm that had been rented by a Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Dunlop of Oklahoma. However, “Mrs. Arthur Dunlop” was really Ma Barker. The gang had been using the farm as a hideout, and it was rigged to make a bell ring inside the house if the front gate was opened. This allowed the gang to escape. Half of the clothes stolen from C. C. McCallon’s store were found in the farmhouse, and more had been burned in a barrel outside. On the kitchen table, the lawmen found a map of the First National Bank of West Plains. The gang clearly planned to rob the bank, but the incident at Davidson’s spoiled their plans.

  The Barker Gang left a trail of blood behind them when they went, killing a night watchman in Pocahontas, Arkansas, and a policeman in Monett, Missouri.

  Three years after the murder of Sheriff Kelly, Ma Barker and her son, Fred, were killed in a bloody shootout in Florida, and a year and a half after their deaths Alvin Karpis was arrested in New Orleans by the head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover. Like so many of the gangs of the Midwest, the members of the Barker Gang died by gunfire or were remanded to prison. Decades later, it was still one of the most exciting things to have happened in the Ozarks.

  Caroline learned about it in elementary school when her sixth grade class did a unit on local history. The story of the Barker Gang was by far her favorite. She went to the Cold River library the next day and tried to check out books about Ma Barker and other 1930s gangsters like John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson, but the librarian told her she wasn’t old enough to read about such violence and sent her home empty-handed. She was eventually able to convince her father to get the books for her with the promise that she wouldn’t ask for a tommy gun for her next birthday.