The Secret in the Whiskers

by Patricia Fry

  “Hey, that could be one way into that pipeline I told you about,” Harrison said.

  Damon got down on his hands and knees and reached into the opening. “Yeah, I think there’s a pipe in there. I wonder what it’s for, or what it was for.”

  “Flood control, maybe?” Savannah offered. She moved closer. “Gads, if you removed all of this wood framing, you could almost walk right down into there.”

  Craig nodded. “I think you’re absolutely right, but is the framework shoring up the old pipe?”

  “Or did someone add it to hide their secret cavern?” Damon suggested. He looked around at the empty land that surrounded them. “I wonder where it goes. How deep is it?” He faced Harrison. “Do you know?”

  “I don’t remember,” Harrison said. He pointed. “But it looks like that’s the trajectory it would logically follow.” He chuckled. “I think the cat wants to go in there.”

  “Well, that’s not going to happen,” Savannah said. “We have no idea where it goes.” When she saw Craig looking at her, she spat, “No, Craig. I’m not sending him down there.”

  “Wait,” Damon said.

  “What?” Craig snapped.

  “Let’s see if we can figure out how long this section of pipe is and which way it goes.” He walked close to the opening and shouted. “Hello!” He shouted again, then said, “I don’t think it goes very far. There might have been a cave-in or something.”

  Craig shaded his eyes and looked toward the tractor. “It sure appears to run in that direction. In fact, that’s probably why the tractor is sitting cockeyed like that. Someone drove over that old pipe years ago and it gave way.” He looked at the others. “Do you suppose those kids crawled down in there for some reason and got caught in a cave-in?” He shook his head. “But how? Why?”

  “Look at this, Craig,” Harrison said. “I don’t think we’re the first ones to use this piece of wood to move that boulder. See how it’s scuffed up here, and here? That looks fresh.”

  “Well it should,” Craig snapped, “we just used it.” He looked more closely at the piece of four-by-four and scratched his head. “But, yeah, it is kinda scraped up on both sides, isn’t it? Hmmm,” he muttered, “we may not be the only ones to have used this tool lately.”

  Savannah gasped. “You mean someone might have lured Bruce Lang in there and blocked the entrance?”

  Craig sighed in frustration. “If there was ever a time and place when we could use the cat, this has got to be it.”

  “No, Craig,” Savannah protested. “You don’t even know where that goes or what danger might lurk under there, or even if there’s anyone down there. I’m not risking Rags’s life like that.”

  Before Craig could respond, Damon said, “Hey, rather than send the cat in, let’s see if we can figure out if anyone’s down there.”

  “How?” Harrison asked.

  “By using our voices and our ears.” Damon moved closer to the opening, shoved some brush aside, and called loudly, “Hey, anyone down there?” He turned his ear toward the opening and listened. “Hello!” he called. “Can you hear me?”

  “Let Savannah get down there with you,” Craig said. “She has the scariest bionic ears anywhere.”

  Damon looked at her, then moved to make room. She walked closer, with Rags on the leash. “Get ready,” Damon said, calling loudly again.

  Savannah kneeled next them and listened. “Nothing,” she said quietly.

  Damon looked toward the tractor. “Okay, let’s try this: we’ll walk in the direction of the tractor stopping every ten feet or so to call out again.”

  “Will he or they be able to hear us through all that dirt?” Harrison asked.

  Damon shrugged. “All we can do is try.”

  After the group had worked their way to the tractor without hearing anything from under ground, Craig said, “Well, the cat was interested in something around this old tractor earlier, let’s see if we get a response here.”

  “Wait,” Harrison said, pointing at a pipe sticking up from the ground. “What’s that?”

  “What?” Craig asked.

  “That little pipe, and here’s another one. What do you suppose they’re for?”

  “Air?” Damon said quietly. He faced the others. “I wonder if someone has put those in to allow air into a chamber under that tractor.”

  “‘Under a piece of farm equipment,’” Savannah recited quietly.

  “Huh?” Harrison questioned.

  More excitedly, she said, “That’s where Rochelle said we’d find someone.”

  With renewed energy, Damon ran to where Rags had been digging earlier, and he called out, “Hello! Anyone down there?” When he didn’t hear anything he motioned for Savannah to join him and instructed, “Listen.”

  She shook her head. “Call again.” Hearing nothing, she looked around. “Let’s call down into one of those pipes—all of us.”

  The quartet crouched over one of the small vertical pipes and shouted loudly for a moment. Savannah listened intently. She started to shake her head, then said, “Wait. I think I hear something.” She turned toward the others. “You weren’t mumbling were you? Anyone’s stomach growling?” When everyone shook their head, she leaned closer to the pipe. “I hear him. Someone is down there. In fact…”

  “In fact what?” Craig asked curtly.

  “Craig, I think there is more than one person down there. I’m pretty sure I’m hearing at least two voices.”

  Craig stood up and called out, “Damon, get on the phone and call search-and-rescue, then get a hold of that heavy equipment company in town. Have them get out here on the double with some sort of digging machine.” He scrutinized the tractor. “Maybe a crane. Wait, is there a key in that tractor?”

  “No,” Harrison said, “I looked. Besides, what are the chances of it having any gas?”

  “Damon,” Craig continued, “take a picture of the tractor and send it to them. Tell them there may be someone trapped underneath it. They’ll know what to bring out here. We just don’t want a cave-in. Hurry,” he said, rushing back to where Savannah had heard the voices. “Hello down there! We’re getting help! We’ll have you out of there shortly! Just hang on!”

  “No, Rags,” Savannah shouted, when the cat began pulling toward the small opening he’d created earlier in the soft dirt. “No. You can’t go in there.”

  Craig looked at the cat and said, “Let him go, Savannah.”

  “What? No. We don’t know what’s down there.”

  “Hold onto the leash,” Craig insisted. “What is it, ten feet long? That’ll give us an idea how deep and at what level the victims are. Go ahead. Let’s see what he does. Just hold onto the leash.”

  Reluctantly, Savannah moved closer to the place where Rags had been digging. She gave him some slack and he immediately edged toward the hole, slid down into it, and disappeared. Savannah held tightly to his leash. “He’s at the end of it,” she announced moments later.

  “So that means he’s about ten feet in?” Craig surveyed the area. “The den or whatever it is must go beyond the tractor.” He looked at the leash. “It seems that he went straight in—in a straight line under the tractor, and he’s just on the other side of it. That’s where we should dig.” He looked at Savannah, who struggled to hold the end of the leash. “Or farther,” he muttered. “He might not have reached the main cave. Let him go,” Craig said.

  “No,” Savannah spat. “I won’t. In fact, I’m going to get him back up here now. I won’t let you put my cat in any more danger.” She tugged on the leash and continued pulling, then suddenly the tension eased. Savannah was left with a slack leash in her hands. Panicked, she pulled on it until the end was in sight. “Someone has removed it,” she said, falling to her knees at the opening. “Rags! Rags, come back up here, boy!” she shouted. “Rags!” She listened and heard only silence. She glared at Craig. “Now look what you’ve done! How could you?” she said, standing up.

  “He’ll be all right,” Crai
g said dismissively. “He always comes out on top. You just watch.”

  “Yeah? How do you know? Have you suddenly become psychic?” Savannah stomped one foot. “Oh, Craig, I’m so angry with you right now!”

  “I know, honey. I’m sorry,” he said more gently, “but I really believe he’s okay.”

  Before Savannah could respond, Damon pointed. “Look, here he comes.”

  “Who?” Savannah asked, turning quickly. “Rags!” she shouted when she saw him emerge from the hole he’d dug. “Rags!” She picked him up and checked him all over. “You’re dirty. Are you okay?”

  “He seems to be,” Craig said, smiling.

  “What’s that he dropped?” Harrison asked, walking forward. He picked it up and looked it over, then handed it to Craig. “It’s a glove—a cyclist’s glove.”

  “How do you know that?” Craig asked, taking it from him.

  Harrison chuckled. “Leah bought me a pair for Christmas when I told her I wanted to start riding my bicycle more. Never did use them. Yeah, that’s what it is, all right.”

  “Well, I’ll be,” Craig said, glancing at Rags, then at the hole. “Good job, boy. Savannah, go ahead and put his leash on him. He’s done his job. You can keep him with you now, if you want.”

  “Thank you,” she said, relieved, fastening the leash to Rags’s harness. She looked up and said, “Here comes your heavy equipment.”

  “Yeah, let’s make sure they don’t bring that stuff any closer than this,” he said, gesturing. “We don’t need that thing inside there to collapse.” He turned to Savannah. “Whether you know it or not, that little journey Rags took into the underground cavern might have saved some lives.”

  “How’s that?” she asked.

  “We know now where the cavern is, so we can more accurately direct the operator.”

  Unsmiling, Savannah petted Rags.

  Craig watched as the equipment pulled closer. “Good. They brought a crane. I’m pretty sure that’s the safest way to get that tractor out of the way.”

  “Whatcha got here?” a man asked, approaching Craig and the others on foot. He held out his hand. “I’m Bill, the crane operator.” He briefly acknowledged two other men, saying, “This is Art and Manny.”

  “Craig Sledge,” he said. “This is Damon and Harrison.”

  The men nodded at one another. Bill asked, “What makes you think there’s someone trapped out here—you say, under that old tractor?”

  “Yes, we believe they’re in a section of some sort of pipeline—possibly an old drainage pipe,” Craig explained. The men waited for him to continue, so he nodded toward Harrison. “He lives over yonder, and a cat has been visiting him, bringing all sorts of things belonging to an individual who has been reported missing.”

  Manny scratched his head. “A cat?”

  Craig nodded. “Listen, I don’t know how much time we have, but we’re certain that someone’s down under there. We heard voices, and someone unfastened the cat’s leash when we sent him down there. I think we’d better figure out how to get them out.”

  “Okay,” Bill said. “So you think they’re inside a pipe?”

  “Yeah,” Craig said. “Apparently right under that tractor. I say let’s move the tractor and see what we have to work with.”

  After carefully examining the area, Bill used the crane to lift the tractor and set it aside, out of the way. Then Manny went to work with the backhoe, carefully digging into the soil. After several minutes someone shouted, “We’ve hit something solid!”

  Craig and the workmen gathered to discuss their next tactic.

  “Maybe we’d better use shovels,” Art suggested.

  “Yeah,” Bill said, “now that we know the cavern is shored up, I’m not so worried about it collapsing.”

  “How many shovels do you have?” Craig asked.

  “Enough,” Art said, trotting off to retrieve them. When he returned, he handed out the shovels and said, “Take her easy. We don’t know exactly where those fellows are.”

  “Savannah,” Craig said. “Did you call for paramedics?” Before she could respond, he said, “Oh, here they come now.”

  Bill glanced around.

  “What are you thinking?” Craig asked.

  “I’m just wondering if there’s another way into this cavern. I mean, how did those fellows get down under that tractor?”

  Damon pointed. “We found a section of corrugated pipe coming out of the ground up on that mesa. The opening was covered by a boulder. We figure that’s how they got down in there. My sense is that the pipe collapsed somewhere between here and there. Why? Do you think we’re making a mistake by excavating from this end?”

  “Maybe,” Bill said.

  “Hey, Damon,” Craig called, “why don’t you take him up there where we found the other opening?” He nodded toward Savannah. “Take the cat and go with them, would you?”

  The man turned to look at Savannah, then down at Rags. “A cat, huh?”

  “He’s a search cat,” Craig said. “He led us to this spot.”

  “Okay,” the man said. He held out his hand to Savannah as they walked toward the main opening. “I’m Bill.”

  “Savannah,” she said. When she saw him watching Rags, she said, “This is Rags. He really does work with the police department. He went into that cave earlier and brought out a cyclist’s glove. The guy we’re looking for is a cyclist on his way to Washington, and he’s been missing for a few days.”

  “No kidding? So you really think someone found his way in there and can’t get out?” He answered his own question. “I guess there could have been a cave-in.”

  “Yeah, but someone must have used that cave at some point, because there are pipes coming up out of the ground as if they were put there for ventilation.”

  Bill stared at her. “No kidding. I saw those. Wondered what they were. Are you a policewoman?”

  She laughed. “No. I’m a veterinarian.” The look he gave her made her laugh again. “It’s the cat that works with the sheriff’s office. I’m just his handler.”

  After examining the opening into the pipeline, Bill shook his head. “Yeah, I think we’re better off to go with plan A. Let’s get started and see if we can find that dude or dudes.” He called out, “Man the shovels!”

  It didn’t take long for the men to realize they were on the right track. “Did you hear that?” Art asked. “There surely is someone down there. I hear voices.”

  “Voices?” Savannah repeated. “It is more than one person, and they’re alive. Wow!” she cheered. She picked up Rags and snuggled with him. “You already knew that, didn’t you?”

  Craig smiled at her. He walked closer and said, “You know, you can get back to your life, if you want. I think Rags has done his job for the day.”

  “Are you kidding?” Savannah said. “I’m not one to leave in the middle of a good movie.”

  “We’re in!” came an announcement a little while later. “Can we get some oxygen in here?”

  A couple of firemen carried a large hose to the opening, and worked it into the cavern. After a while someone called, “Coming out!”

  Firemen were ready with stretchers and portable oxygen tanks. Paramedics were eagerly waiting their turn to help.

  “Nervous?” Harrison asked Savannah.

  She nodded. “Yes, I just hope he or they are all right.” She faced him. “What do you suppose happened? How did they get down in there?”

  Harrison shrugged. “You got me. I imagine we’ll find out soon enough.” He ruffled the fur on Rags’s head as the cat sat near Savannah watching the activity. “He’s something else. I’ve heard stories about him, but to see him in action…man, what a trip.”

  “Here he comes!” someone shouted.

  There was a flurry of organized activity as several men and women received one victim and made him comfortable on a stretcher. Everyone was surprised to see him sit up and look around. Damon approached him and took a few pictures with his phone. He aske
d one of the rescue team, “Who is he? Do you know his name?”

  “Jimmy,” the rescuer said quickly, returning to the opening and heading back inside.

  “There are two more!” someone shouted.

  When Damon saw Jimmy talking to the authorities, he made his move. “I’m Damon Jackson with The Daily, can you tell me how you got stuck down in there? What happened?”

  “I hope it was an accident,” the young man answered, “but somehow I don’t think so. My stuff’s missing, and I think I know who took it and who…” he coughed and struggled to catch his breath.

  “Let’s get this guy to the hospital,” a paramedic said. “You can talk to him later, okay?”

  Damon nodded.

  Craig patted Damon on the back. “Yeah, kid, let’s give them a chance to get their bearings before you interview them.”

  “So there’s more than just the one, huh? I wonder why?” Damon said.

  Craig shrugged. “Maybe they met up somehow and thought this would be a good place to spend the night.”

  Damon looked around the area where the young men had been virtually buried alive. “Yeah, some idiots must have thought it would be fun to seal their fate.”

  ****

  “Are you okay, hon?” Michael asked that evening as they prepared for bed.

  “Yeah. It was quite a morning, but I managed to get everything packed and ready for our trip.” She touched his arm. “Thank you, by the way, for doing the banking, and cleaning out the car, and...”

  “Sure.”

  “I don’t know if I could have done it without Mom’s and your help. You know, she delayed her date with Karl to help me out. I’m glad she has decided to spend time with Karl in Arizona while we’re in Oregon. That took some of the guilt off me.”

  “But hon, if you hadn’t gone out there with Craig today, those poor guys might have died,” Michael said. “From the sounds of it, they’d been stuck in there without water for almost two days.”

  She nodded. “They were pretty close to digging themselves out, but they were definitely running out of energy.”