Caver

by J. B. Hogan

Table of Contents
Part 1 appears
in this issue.

conclusion

The marauders took off away from the cave, Jimmy following with the remuda. The smaller horse hung back, confused for a moment, and Stephen ran to it and jumped onto its back. The horse reared and whinnied, raised its front legs. Stephen grabbed its mane and held on for dear life. The horse bolted after the others, chasing its mother. Looking back, Jimmy thought he saw something on the back of the yearling for a moment, but shook his head and rode on.

Stephen estimated that the ride took just over thirty minutes. He knew they were riding west because he could see the sun ahead of him in the sky. They had stayed along the banks of the Marais des Cygnes and finally slowed up when they reached a flat area with large, open fields on either side of the river. The leader Bill signaled for the others to rein in and the group moved away from the river and into a small grove of trees.

“They’s right over there in a farmhouse,” he told his marauders. “We go in fast and hard and take ’em. If they resist, shoot ’em dead.” Jimmy swallowed hard.

“Ain’t we gonna give ’em a chance?” he asked temerously.

“They didn’t give none of such to our women,” Bill snarled at the boy. “They’ll get none in return.”

“But these ain’t the same ones...” Jimmy began.

“If you’re spooked or yellow,” Bill growled at the boy, “go on home now. To your momma.”

“I ain’t none of that,” Jimmy countered, but with cowed head.

“Then let’s go,” Bill said.

“Head ’em out,” Frank called from his position behind Bill. “Check your pistols and powder. Got your caps?” All the men had. “Then ride on,” Frank said. “Get the Jayhawkers.”

Stephen hung on for dear life again to the little horse’s mane as the Border Ruffians stormed out of the woods and encircled a small farmhouse. The assault was so fast, so unexpected by the occupants, that within moments the marauders held four men and a young woman hostage.

“Take ’em back down by the river,” Bill told his troops.

The marauders drug their captives by rope to the banks of the Marais des Cygnes where Bill held a colloquy with them.

“Are you Unionists?” he demanded to know, waving a pistol before them.

The captives, unsure what to say, unsure who these armed men were, tried to avoid an answer.

“We are farmers,” the oldest of the group, a man of about forty years of age said. “That’s all.”

“For the Union?” Bill asked again, then added: “Or for the Confederacy?”

The terrified men tried to tell from their captors’ ragged clothes and partial uniforms which side they represented. There was no way to know.

“Union?” the older man said, very doubtfully.

“That’s it,” Bill said coldly.

“Why are you doing this?” the girl cried, seeing Bill draw a pistol. “We’ve done nothing to you. We just want to live in peace.”

“Move her out of the way, Bates,” Frank told the thick-boned raider.

Bates grabbed the girl and dragged her kicking and screaming away from the captured men.

“Leave my sister alone, you bastards,” a younger captive yelled at Bates.

The young man stepped forward, towards Bates and his sister. At the same moment, Bill fired one of his pistols at point blank range, dropping the young boy.

“Tommy,” the girl cried out, struggling against Bates’ strong grip.

Suddenly, the marauders lost all discipline. They fired with abandon into the remaining captives. The sound was deafening and smoke filled the air around the river. When the shooting stopped, the four captives were dead on the ground, riddled with bullets. The girl, sobbing loudly, had slumped to her knees in the grass. Bates held onto her with one hand. She did not struggle to escape.

“Jesus,” Jimmy said, looking at the scene of carnage before him, then at his fellow marauders, “oh, Jesus.”

“What do we do with this here girl?” Bates called out into the smoky silence.

“Let me have her,” a tall, skinny boy who had fired on the captives from the back of the marauder gang. “I’ll take care of her.”

Stephen, still astride the little pony and near the tall boy, was nearly in a state of shock from witnessing the murders but he couldn’t bear to see anything happen to this girl. She was pretty, in a familiar way, and brave and it was more than he could stand. Whatever was happening, he wasn’t going to allow these killers to harm her. Leaping off the pony, he ran at the tall boy and took a swing at him — but his arm went right through the boy. A dream, Stephen instantly thought, this is a dream. But the boy Jimmy reacted.

“Watch out,” he called over to the tall boy, simultaneously pulling a pistol from his belt.

“Hey,” the tall boy yelled, ducking and jerking his own pony forward, “don’t point that thing at me. What the hell’s the matter with you?”

“I thought I seen somethin’,” Jimmy said, shaking his head, confused.

“You boys calm down,” Frank warned the young men, “’fore somebody gets shot.”

“And let the girl go,” Bill told Bates. “Let her be. We don’t harm no women.”

“Damn you bastards,” the girl cried when Bates released her. “You murderin’, evil bastards. I hope you rot in hell.”

“We no doubt will, miss,” Bill told her, “we no doubt will. Now, head ’em out, boys,” he told his gang, “back to Missouri.”

The marauders turned their horses and trotted them back down the banks of the Marais des Cygnes. The girl ran to the bodies of the men and threw herself on them crying inconsolably. Stephen remained for a moment watching the girl, but she never looked up. In profile, he was sure she was someone he knew. Someone he knew well. He started to reach for her but stopped. He realized the girl had no idea he was there.

Grabbing and remounting the little pony, Stephen let the animal guide itself in the direction the marauders had gone. The little horse had a strong homing device and didn’t like being away from the other mounts, especially its mother. Still, by the time Stephen and the little horse reached the cave again, the band of outlaws were already back and settling in. A fire had been started and something like a stew was being prepared in a big, black iron pot above the flames.

“Jimmy,” Bates called from the cave entrance, “the little yearling is back.”

“Boy, that’s good,” Jimmy said. “That little horse was really actin’ funny today. I swear I seen somethin’ on him one time.”

“Yeah, and you damned near shot me ’cause of it,” the tall boy reminded Jimmy.

“I’m awful sorry ’bout that, Gardner,” he told the tall boy.

“Nothin’ for it,” Gardner said.

“You boys cut the jawin’,” Bill said, coming up to Jimmy and the others. Jimmy wouldn’t look at Bill. “You hear me?”

“Yes, sir,” Bates and Gardner said, busying themselves with other work.

“What about you, boy?” Bill addressed Jimmy directly. “You understand me?”

“I understand you,” Jimmy grumbled.

“You got somethin’ to say?” Bill asked.

“There weren’t no need to kill them men like that,” Jimmy said, still not looking up.

“Boy, this is war,” Bill said.

“They was farmers,” Jimmy said, finally looking up. “Like us.”

“Maybe you are too ‘fine’,” Bill said harshly, “maybe you don’t belong here.”

As Jimmy framed a retort, Stephen suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He jumped and moved in the direction of the arguing men. Jimmy seemed to see the motion and went for one of his pistols. Bill saw the boy’s move and went for his.

“Duck, Bill,” Jimmy yelled and the commander dodged to this left.

Jimmy aimed his pistol directly where Stephen stood. Stephen tried to cry out and threw up his hands. The last thing he heard was the booming of the black powder revolver. The last thing he saw was the wild look in the marauder Jimmy’s eyes.

When Stephen’s eyes next opened it was nearly completely dark in the cave. He was flat of his back and his head hurt badly. It seemed as if his eyes were going to explode out of their sockets. He sat up gingerly, holding his head with both hands.

“Oh,” he moaned, rubbing his eyes.

Then, remembering his last waking moment, he forced his eyes open and struggled to his knees. He expected at any moment to be shot by the marauders. He crawled as fast as he could on his hands and knees toward the cave entrance. But there was no need, there was no one in the cave but himself. He stopped and turned on his headlamp. Looking back, where all the fantastic shapes and events had occurred, there was no sign whatsoever of anything ever having been there.

“My God, what was that?” Stephen asked the empty cave.

He struggled on towards the cave entrance, stumbled to his feet near the opening and staggered out into the fresh air. He breathed deeply the humid, river-moist air. It was getting late in the day. The sun was very low on the western horizon. After a moment his head began to clear and his breath came easier, slower, calmer. He was going to be alright.

“Wait’ll I tell Tom and Lisa about this,” he said out loud. “They’ll never believe it. Tom will...”

He paused at the second utterance of Tom’s name out loud. Other names and images rushed back to him. Bill, the marauders’ leader, Frank and Jimmy, Bates, Gardner. The dead Jayhawkers. The girl crying beside her murdered brother. The little pony. Good heavens, he thought, the stash of guns and ammo. Without hesitation, Stephen turned and practically ran back into the cave.

He hurried past the main portion of the underground lair, repositioned himself where the fantastic events had seemed to transpire. Yes, he thought, right about here. And over there, that’s where the guns and other things had been kept. Reaching into his bag, Stephen took out his digging implements and headed for where he had seen the boy Jimmy stash the marauders’ bullets, powder, and weaponry.

In less than a quarter hour of searching and digging, he hit something solid with the small pick. He excavated the area carefully and then used the trowel to finish up. About a foot or so below the cave surface it was there. The rotted remains of a wooden box. Stephen carefully scooped out the area. There didn’t seem to be anything left. They must’ve taken everything at some time after the Kansas raid. Left nothing. But just as he was about to give up, the trowel made contact with something else metal.

“Oh, Lord,” Stephen said, his breath catching as he spoke out loud to himself.

He dug quickly but carefully. Then he found it. Removing dirt and mud carefully from the metal object, Stephen held it up to the light from his headlamp. It was an old revolver. A black powder, Civil War era weapon. The caps, if they had ever been there, were long since decomposed but pistol balls were still in the cylinder.

“Man, oh, man,” Stephen exclaimed, “wait’ll the guys see this one.”

He checked around some more but found nothing else. That did not bother him. Whatever had happened here in the cave had led him to this historical prize. He carefully placed the pistol into his backpack and then smoothed the dirt and rocks back over the area where he had dug to find it.

Crawling, then walking, Stephen made his way out of the cave. It was completely dark outside now but he had the headlamp on and used it to make his way back to his car. He couldn’t wait to get back to town and show Tom the pistol. He wasn’t sure he would tell about the other things that he had seen in the cave, they seemed too fantastical even to him to relate to others. He would have liked to tell Lisa about the farm girl though. There was something there about the two women that Stephen couldn’t quite get a handle on. And he would need some time to process the visions he’d had. They seemed so real. The marauder boy Jimmy, at least, had apparently sensed him in the other world, had even shot at him.

That was pretty hard to explain alright. But for the time being Stephen wouldn’t worry about it. He had found the cave and could return to it any time he wished. He felt it might have other treasures hidden inside — further back, back into some of its deeper rooms. Next time, he told himself, I’ll leave earlier, bring more food. Maybe not fresh mushrooms but something good, and enough of it to let him spend all the time he needed to explore the cave.

As he drove back to town, he was feeling really good. Work didn’t seem like such a bad thing at the moment. Life was good. He had the cave and he would go back to it again. Soon.